Container City

I was just over at Desire to Inspire and the lovely Jo had written a post about containers being used by a Brazilian architect for retail space, it inspired me to write about my hometown Christchurch in New Zealand where both myself and my husband come from.
As you all would be aware Christchurch suffered 2 major earthquakes with the worst being in February killing 182 people, one of those 182 people was my Uncle, Ross Bush, a man who was so well loved and so well known in not only Christchurch but New Zealand for his many cycling achievements, but also as a loving dad to 4 girls, grandfather, husband to my beautiful aunty and uncle to many nephews and nieces.  There are so many stories I have heard of utter terror and sadness and as a daughter, sister and niece it was a terrifying 5 hours trying to get hold of everyone we could think off to see if they were ok.  In the city centre that day there are stories that are too hard to even bare thinking about.
But as Cantabrians and New Zealanders do (just like the Queensland flood victims), they get on it with it and a few weeks ago a portion of the city mall was reopened to the public and renamed Container City. The cargo containers have been fantastically converted into bright, smartly branded stores which house some boutique stores, large franchises and even one bank.  There are a lot of people that cannot bear to step foot back into the city so soon but for others that feel they can, at least a small portion of the city looks bright and happy.  It will be a long hard road back but the people of Christchurch will not give in....

Vanessa