The Canterbury Earthquake Memorial will be a unique and lasting tribute to the tragic events that have so dramatically reshaped the Canterbury region and people. The experience of the earthquakes has been profound, and people continue to mourn the losses and deal with the challenges of living in a damaged city.

This is your opportunity to create a place to remember.

History

At 4:35am on 4 September 2010, Christchurch residents awoke to an unimaginable new reality. A magnitude 7.1 earthquake occurred on a previously unknown fault. Over 14,000 aftershocks followed over the next three years, but it was the shallow 6.3 magnitude aftershock at 12:51pm on 22 February 2011, that brought death and devastation to the city.

185 people lost their lives in what was New Zealand's second-deadliest natural disaster. The centre of the city was cordoned off until July 2013, and only 20 percent of the original buildings will remain when demolition is completed.

While no memorial can ever restore what has been lost, the space will offer solace to all those affected.

Location

The Memorial will be on a stretch of Otakaro/Avon River, between the Montreal Street bridge and Rhododendron Island.

The site has been chosen for its size and surroundings, allowing it to provide a quiet, contemplative space and also host large events. It will comfortably fit a crowd of around 2,000 people, with the potential to include many more.

The Memorial will connect to the inner city via a tree-lined path, leading towards the Bridge of Remembrance.

Objective

The Memorial will provide a place to pay respect to those who died, and to the many hundreds who were seriously injured. It will honour the great losses that were experienced, in Canterbury and all over the world.

It will also acknowledge all of the individuals, communities and organisations that rose to help, including people from Australia, United Kingdom, USA, Japan, Taiwan, China and Singapore.

Who can submit entries

The Call for Ideas to Remember is open to everybody interested in submitting their ideas for the Memorial.

Responses are to be anonymous, using a unique registration number that will be the only form of identification accepted on the submission. This will allow the evaluation panel to assess all ideas without any professional or personal bias.

Approximately six designs will be selected to proceed to the next stage of development.

Important dates (2014)

• 12 July - Online registration opens
• 1 August - Questions close
• 12 August - Online submission opens
• 22 August, 12 noon - Submissions close (New Zealand Standard Time)

For more information,please visit website

> via ccdu.govt.nz