After the Earthquake in Christchurch a lot of the buildings we used to walk past everyday started to disappear as they were demolished and cleared. Cafes, historic places, bars and hangouts we used to frequent were erased from our lives overnight. The buildings that formed our landscape were gone and the conversation amongst people started to resonate with a familiar question — What used to be there?
We wanted to create a lasting memento of what was a lost, but do it in a refreshing way. Our aim was to create something that would appeal to a broad market and steer clear of the traditional tacky gift shop water colours of the Cathedral. We narrowed it down to 24 icons from the over 500 demolished buildings and illustrated each one in a simple, dual lineweight, style. From this we created a limited edition A2 Poster, individually numbered with a run of only 500 printed on heavy uncoated stock. The project was a success with all 500 sold in 4 months and a sizeable donation from the proceeds given to the New Zealand Historic Places Trust.