Design scholarships aim to help Canterbury rebuild

New Zealand designers, architects and engineers with ideas for rebuilding earthquake-affected Christchurch are being offered two travel scholarships to Britain to meet with leading urban design practitioners, teachers and researchers.

The British Council Christchurch Scholarships, in partnership with Massey University, challenges current students and graduates to submit concepts to support Christchurch’s redesign. Two travel scholarships worth $6000 will be offered to the designers offering the best solutions in the fields of spatial, industrial and transport design, and architecture.

The scholarships will be open to current students of spatial, industrial and transport design, and architecture and to graduates who have completed their studies in the past three years.

British High Commissioner Vicki Treadell announced the scholarships at a Rebuild Roundtable meeting at the Canterbury Museum. The meeting brought together several big British companies and Christchurch business leaders.

Massey University Vice-Chancellor Steve Maharey says he is pleased to be involved in a partnership with the British Council that will have tangible benefits to Canterbury people and Christchurch's inner city reconstruction but also to young designers.

"Innovation, creativity and sustainability are recognised as essential to successful modern urban design, whether it is in transport, buildings, infrastructure, green spaces or the integration of all of these," Mr Maharey says. "Through its Wellington School of Design, Massey has 125 years of history of leading New Zealand in those fields. We now have the opportunity to develop innovative design solutions that help shape not only the future of Christchurch, but of the new New Zealand.

"This is an exciting opportunity for current design students and recent graduates of any New Zealand university or tertiary institution to think of ways to make a difference and we will ensure through Massey's contacts with some of Britain's top design teaching and research institutions that they have a rewarding and inspiring experience among world leaders in their chosen field.”

British Council New Zealand country director Ingrid Leary says Britain has a unique offer in terms of assisting the people of Christchurch to recreate their city in a dynamic and sustainable way after the devastating earthquakes, and is supporting the future leaders of the city to take ownership of how the new Christchurch will look and function.

She says both scholarships include return airfares and accommodation for 10 working days, with the two recipients meeting with staff from top university design faculties.

Each scholarship will be awarded for designing a vibrant and resilient society. “Through understanding the experience that the people of Christchurch have suffered and endured, we can respond with design solutions that develop resilient communities, systems, security, and connectedness for the city.

Christchurch provides opportunities for designers and architects, to deal with the city landscape. This involves re-thinking space, forming and constructing meaningful and appropriate physical and temporal environments for its inhabitants."

Scholarship applications open next month and entrants can seek information, and submit design concepts to http://creative.massey.ac.nz

The two scholarship recipients will be announced in August next year.