Heaton Intermediate School 2015 Whole House Reuse

heaton normal 2015 intermediate whole school house reuse

FURNITURE AND PRINTS BY STUDENTS AND THEIR FAMILIES

Published December 2015

Heaton Normal Intermediate School P.O. Box 5242, Papanui, Christchurch 8542, New Zealand www.heaton.school.nz

Design: Susan Gee Photos: Fiona Taylor, Susan Gee, students, Whole House Reuse, Canterbury Museum Printed in Christchurch, New Zealand by Printers Inc.

2015 Whole House Reuse

WHEN THE WHOLE HOUSE REUSE PROJECT WAS IN FULL SWINGTHE ART ROOM WAS A MUDDLE OF NOISY DRILLS, PEOPLE PLANNING THEIR PRINTS AND PEOPLE POSING WITH THEIR FINISHED ITEMS. - NGAIO

FOREWORD In the first term of 2015 Heaton Normal Intermediate School art students and their family were offered the opportunity to be involved in the Whole House Reuse Project. A 1925 house, 19 Admiral’s Way, in the seriously earthquake damaged Christchurch suburb of New Brighton, was deconstructed. Every single part of the house, from beautiful pieces of Rimu to a pair of old socks, was saved and catalogued. Currently many of the houses being demolished in Christchurch are ending up in landfill, and the potential to reuse the material contained in each house is lost. Concern for these wasted resources resulted in a project that aims to draw attention not only to the volume of material locked up in a typical Christchurch house but also to the potential for reuse of that material. The Whole House Reuse Project invited creators to transform these materials into beautiful, purposeful works. I went to the old church where the deconstructed house was stored to make a selection of pieces to work with. As I walked around various pieces called to me to be transformed and so the journey of repurposing them began. I was also provided with blocks of MDF and builders paper with which we were to produce woodcut prints. Ideas were work-shopped in class, then art extension and art club students and their families were invited to join in creating prints and furniture from these materials. We were delighted to be involved in this project; we admired the philosophy behind its conception and relished the challenges it posed not only to our creativity but also to our own attitudes about waste and recycling. It was wonderful to see the Heaton community working together with such excitement, fun, commitment and passion. We were invited to The Whole House Reuse Exhibition opening at Canterbury Museum on June 5th 2015. As we stood beside other creators and listened to the original owners of the house speak with such feeling about the project we were filled with an immense sense of pride. We are delighted to share our work with you in this book.

FioNa taylor, Visual Art Specialist, Heaton Normal Intermediate School

HANDS ON WORDS: ADAM MOORE, BEN BAILLIE GEE, FRANKI TELLICK Year 8 art extension students

WHAT' S I N A HOUSE? Everyone in Christchurch has seen earthquake damaged homes being demolished around them. 7839 houses. That’s a lot of houses, a lot of materials, and a lot of memories and history. How much of that is just going off to be dumped in landfill?

The Whole House Reuse project was set up to help make us aware of just how much re-usable material there is in every one of those homes. They have taken one house from the Red Zone that is being demolished and taken every single thing from it and catalogued it. That means every single thing - from the wood to the light fittings to the bath tub to the tiny scraps of wallpaper. Then they have asked people to make things that are beautiful and useful out of those parts. So every part of 19 Admirals Way, New Brighton is going to be upcycled in some way.

FACING PAGE: ART EXTENSION STUDENTS WITH CREATIONS. Front: Franki Tellick. Back: Brydie Washington, Piper Pengelly, Ella Kortegast, Benjamin Baillie-Gee, Sophie Bailey, Ngaio Shaw. Absent for photo Adam Moore PREVIOUS PAGE: ART CLUB STUDENTS WORKSHOPPING IDEAS.

with Kate McIntyre the Whole House Reuse project manager

Including at top right students discussing ideas

6

GETTING INVOLVED Our art teacher Mrs Taylor went and collected a pile of bits and pieces from the house and then our job was to transform them. Here at Heaton we have two art groups – there is the Art Club that students can come along at lunchtimes, and an Art Extension class that students apply to join. The students taking art as a specialist learning rotation subject brought their ideas too. That’s quite a few students, but we had less than a term to get it finished so sometimes it felt like a race against time. Mrs Taylor organised a workshop on a Saturday where students and their families could come along to work on the project. Having the parents and in one case a granddad involved in the project brought in some more hands for the construction side of the furniture making. It’s awesome that Heaton’s part of the project had three generations involved.

Let’s be honest, that pile of materials looked more like a rubbish dump than an art store, but when we looked at it with different eyes there was all sorts of potential. We all had different ideas as we brainstormed what we could do. One of the main projects was to make woodcut prints and print them on to builder’s paper and wallpaper from the demolished house. This was a great way to involve lots of people. We had some pretty crazy ideas along the way about how to use the rest of the materials but by the end we had some great furniture and pieces that you could be proud to have in your living room. A rimu shelf became a chair and a table, and a metal bin became the lampshade to shine on it. A piece of old lino and some left over wood became a coaster. A drip pan became a side table and an old broken concrete pile became a candle holder to put on it. The door off a kitchen cupboard became a coffee table, and all those prints transformed the old lampshade into something pretty unique.

FACING PAGE: BUSY AT THE WORKSHOP.

WE MADE IT Near the end of the term we displayed all our art prints and objects in the art room at school for an exhibition for the students and parents to come and take a look at the finished products. Then the next day all our creations were taken away to prepare for the major exhibition. Our work went on display at the Canterbury Museum as part the Whole House Reuse Exhibition from 5th June – 23rd August 2015.

We loved the concepts behind this project. It helped us all to realise that you can look beyond the obvious and recycle much more than you initially think, but also to show how much material there is in a house that would otherwise just go to landfill. We were able to exercise our creative thinking in our designs but also to consider the issues that this project raised about resources, value, the environment and waste.

You may never look at that old shelf lying at the back of your garage in the same way again.

FACING PAGE: ART ROOM EXHIBITION POSTER AND SCENES

prin ts

THE PRINTS We made woodcut prints and printed them on to builder’s paper and wallpaper from the demolished house. We got our inspiration from some photos of the 19 Admirals Way. Lots of people were inspired by the wallpaper and the stained-glass window of the house and used those in their prints. We drew up our ideas on paper and then onto a block of wood and then cut away the background we didn’t want printed. Then we rolled ink onto them and put them in a press. One set of prints were printed on the black builder’s paper from the house. Another set was printed on white paper, and they were used to decorate a lamp shade from the house.

Making the prints made us think about not just all the materials in the house but the family that lived in the house: the little boy with the tricycle and racing car, the parents that looked out the stained glass window each day and all the memories they must have of the house. #154 Builders paper #059 Wallpaper PREVIOUS PAGE: MAKING PRINTS

WE MADE OUR DESIGNS INCLUDE THE HOUSE AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE USING THE ORGINAL WALLPAPER AND PICTURES OF THE HOUSE. -FRANKI

SOPHIE BAILEY

BEN BAILLIE-GEE Year: 7

Year: 8 Description:

Description:

My print was inspired by the floral wallpaper as well as the pattern on the front door, merged together.

I loved the stained glass window and we have one at home, so this house reminded me of home and Christchurch.

TIO SASANUMA HOWARD

ELLA KORTEGAST

Age 9, family

Year: 7

Description:

Description:

It is a kiwi. I did it because I love birds. Those patterns are leaves.

My print is of the window and curtains with the blossom tree and the square lightshade. I have put some of the wallpaper in because I thought it included lots of things from the house.

LUCAS LEIGHS

KAELIN LEWIS Year: 7

Year: 7 Description:

Description:

I chose the quote “Home is where our story begins” because for me it is where the story begins and also home is where you make memories and you can tell stories of you and your family at home. When you are born you go home and so that is why I chose that quote.

I choose the kiwi because it symbolises the New Zealand culture. I chose the NZ because it’s short for NZ and the peace sign is to show New Zealanders only bring peace not war.

LU MILN

ADAM MOORE Mother Description: The design represents nature and upcycling, growth and renewal. The heart-warming daisy is from the orange and yellow wallpaper from the house.

Year: 8 Description:

My print is of the lead light window in the house that the family would’ve looked out of every day and probably not thought much of it, yet it holds so many memories of what ever happened in the hallway it looks onto. The flower design in the window is a flower from the wallpaper in the house.

DAWON PARK

PIPER PENGELLY Year: 7

Year: 8 Description:

Description:

My print is based on the young boys that used to live in the house. They used to play cars in their bedroom. I have taken the cornices from the house and used them to frame the print.

Numbers and other details from the house also feature in the print.

I did the trike because it looked really cute. The hello and goodbye means the goodbye to the old house and hello to the new house.

AKIKO SASANUMA

CAROLINE SHI Trainee teacher Description:

The people who lived in this house might have looked at their window without thinking much of it every day. Yet, I am sure that it is subconsciously connected to their memories in their house. I was hoping to bring back the good times that are associated with it.

Year: 8 Description:

I really like the old wallpaper, blossom.

IONA TAYLOR

FRANKI TRELLICK Year 9, family Description:

The strong flower pattern on the wallpaper contrasts with the delicate blossom flowers on the tree through the window. A remnant of the wallpaper has been collaged into the woodcut, this represents the old house and its past whilst the viewer looks through the window to the new life growing outside.

BRYDIE WASHINGTON

Year: 8 Description:

I wanted the owners to be in my print. They were a big part of this project, this was their beloved house through the years. The flowery background was the wallpaper in one of the rooms. I used the wallpaper as a background because it looks as if they are standing in a flowery forest!

WHOLE HOUSE PRINT BLOCK STOOL

Year: 8

Construction: Whole House Reuse

Description:

Description:

I chose to print the view from the street looking to the house so that you can see the exterior of the house as well as some of the landscaping.

When I did the blossom tree I used part of the wallpaper as the flowers.

I also included the old bike lying out the front.

The print blocks created by the students from house materials were repurposed as a triangular stool, creating a useful object that celebrates and preserves the creativity and craftsmanship of the students.

#303

#043

#003

#008

#059

#018

#154

#300

#308

#202

#235

#013

OBJECTS

RE-USE An unpreposessing collection of scraps were transformed into functional furniture and objects for a living room. The objects are listed here with the name of the ‘leader/s’ for each project, however many students were involved in dreaming up ideas and helped along the way. The attendees of the weekend workshop in particular worked on many of the projects during the day.

At the workshop: Sophie Bailey (yr 7), Benjamin Baillie-Gee (yr 8) and mother Susan Gee, and Grandfather Chris Gee (helping at home), Kate Gardiner (yr 7) and father Dave Gardiner, Finley Keating (y 7) and younger brother Liam and mother Lu Miln, Ella Kortegast (yr 7), Lucas Leighs (yr7), Adam Moore (yr 8), Dawon Park (yr 7), Piper Pengally (yr 7), Akiko Sasanuma (trainee teacher) and sons Isaac and Tio, Caroline Shi (yr 8), Fiona Taylor (teacher) and daughter Iona Taylor (yr 9), Franki Tellick (yr 8) and father Bob Tellick, Georgia Thompson (yr 7), Brydie Washington (yr 8).

I 'M ALWAYS EXCI TED

BY THE CHANCE TO RE-USE SOMETHING. THE ONLY SLIGHTLY DISAPPOINTING THING WAS THAT I DI DN'T GET TO USE ANY OF THE THINGS IN MY GARAGE! -CHRIS

LET THERE BE LIGHT STUDENTS & FAMILY, FIONA TAYLOR The wood cuts made by the students and helpers were printed onto Chinese paper and used to cover an old lampshade from 19 Admirals Way. The prints also helped repair torn parts of the shade. In a nice twist one of the prints included this lampshade in its design.

This project brought together the creativity of many of the students involved in the project into one object.

#202 Light fitting White paper shade, wooden ceiling rose Shade W300, rose 85mm diameter Quantity: 1.

New Chinese paper

#202

MEMORIAL CHAIR FIONA TAYLOR This rimu shelf called to me whilst looking for materials to take back to school. I was inspired by some Malawi chairs I have at home, the chairs in the One Tree Project by Robert Kilvington and the White Chair Memorial. I love the simplicity of the construction. I chose to make the chair on the 4th anniversary of the February earthquake. The nail design at the top of the chair is taken from the orange and yellow flower wallpaper in the house. 186 nails were used, one for each person who died. Other numbers were included in the design; 19 the number of the house; 8061 the postcode; 22/2/11, #018.The chair pieces may be reversed.

One side remains untouched, the other has been sanded and polished with beeswax. Stripes of orange and yellow connect the chair with the small table made from the rest of the ‘shelf’ and pile candle holder. The colours come from the wallpaper. #018 Joined timber Rimu, with shelf rungs both sides, lemon yellow paint W290 x L2800mm Quantity: 1

#018

SMALL TABLE BOB TELLIK (FATHER) FRANKI TELLIK (YR 8) FIONA TAYLOR

This small table was made to match the memorial chair using spare wood from the #018 shelf. The legs made from shelf supports removed from the main wood. The same motif of a nail pattern based on the wallpaper design was used on the top of the table as on the chair and other items of furniture. Stripes of orange and yellow paint were used to visually connect the furniture and the original wallpaper. The nail holes were filled with solder, evoking the Wabi Sabi concept, the beauty of the imperfect. The table was polished with beeswax polish. #018 /038 Joined timber Rimu, with shelf rungs both sides, lemon yellow paint W290 x L2800mm

#018

RISE-UP TABLE

DAVE GARDINER (PARENT), KATE GARDINER (YR 7), BEN BAILLIE-GEE (YR 8), CHRIS GEE (GRANDPARENT), SUSAN GEE (PARENT) This table uses a metal drip tray as a table top. The tray has been decorated with the nailhead pattern of the wall-paper, with the majority of the holes being left bare for contrast on the metal surface. The rustic wooden legs are on the diagonal. The metal pan’s catalogue number has been stenciled on one of the legs. Kitchen drawer fronts have been used to make a shelf for the table. The sides and central panel of the shelf have been decorated with a seismograph inspired pattern, while the outlet has become a rose window.

#235 Water catchment tray. Steel with pipeW640 x D640 x H55mm #018 / 038 shelf legs; #? Kitchen drawers

#235

TO ME IT FEELS LIKE THE GRAVE OF THE UNKNOWN SOLDIER. WE DEMOLISH ALL OF THESE HOUSES AND THEN WE USE THIS ONE TO SYMBOLISE ALL OF THE HOUSES THAT HAVE GONE - TO HONOUR ALL THOSE HOUSES. -BEN

STRATA FIONA TAYLOR

This candle holder uses a broken concrete pile as its basis, and was designed to sit on the rise-up table. New plaster was added to form level top and an indentation made to form a candle holder. The yellow and orange paint connects the piece to the chair and tables.

All the yellow and orange paint used is left over from the school paint scheme and echoes the orange and yellow flower wallpaper from house. A wooden base was formed from an off cut of wood from the shelf that was used for the chair and tables. Polished with beeswax. #300 Piles Concrete with newspaper print. 14 at H380 x 150mm diameter plus bulge,3 at H320 x 137mm diameter flat bottom, 13 at H320 x 137mm diameter

#300

GONE HOME: TABLE SUSAN GEE (PARENT), CHRIS GEE (GRANDPARENT), BEN BAILLIE-GEE (YR8) This three generation project reflects on home and memory through the motif of the trail-craft symbol for "gone home" (a circle with a central dot) and a range of voices. The words stamped on the table top read: It was kind of the first house that we’d been in as a family of three, so it was a pretty special place / I knew every inch of it / I remember everything about the kids and the parties we had / It’s like this place is something really solid in my life – it’s given me lots of memories and lots of strength / shelter and stories . . an embrace of space. These quotes are drawn from, respectively, the owner of 19 Admirals Way, a red-zone home owner, a centenarian facing a rebuild, a Christchurch teenager, and poet Charlene Langfur. The gone home symbol appears on the top of the table as a nail pattern with 19 nails for 19 Admirals Way and is also stencilled on the inner side of the legs, with a single orange symbol amongst the brown. The wallpaper flower pattern common across the Heaton furniture is worked in copper nails on the table-top. To mark the source of the materials the table carries a stamp adapted from the New Zealand Red Admiral 1cent stamp of the 1970s. As the kitchen is the heart of the home it was perhaps fitting that the top of the table is a kitchen cabinet door. The ‘slot together’ table construction is inspired by the Columbian design studio Vida Util. #043 Cupboard doors Cream, 4 x doors MDF, timber frame, 2 knobs missing H1790 x W993mm [part of]; #013 and # 008 MDF

#043

LINO COASTER & Cupboard FIONA TAYLOR

MONTY BROWN (YR 7)

Beautiful but paint-stained lino found in the wardrobe of the front bedroom of the house was cleaned up and attached to the front of a broken cupboard.

Finding a use for a small timber offcut, the simple coaster is another way to show this exotic blue-patterned lino. These simple acts of care and attention illustrate how easily value can be added to items that could easily have been discarded, transforming them back to an object with meaning and function. #308 Lino Blue patterned, old, perished and cracked W600 x L1200mm; [part of] #018 rimu shelf; #022 cupboard

#308

LAMP DAVE MCTAGUE, FIONA TAYLOR This lamp is a team effort, with the original idea coming from Fiona Taylor.

Fiona handed it over to recently trained electrician Dave, who problem solved its simple yet endearing construction. The lamp uses bits and pieces from the house that were left at the end of the project that seemed to have little appeal on their own #231 Conduit #277 Roofing iron #300 Piles

#300

TEXTURE MAP LAMPSHADE FIONA TAYLOR This lampshade started out life as a kindling bin. A multi-media printing block was made from a rolled out piece of rusty metal, a piece of original lino and some embossed wallpaper from the house which were all glued onto a piece of board from the bathroom. The three textures encompass the whole house: the metal the roof, the wallpaper the walls, and the lino the floor. The block was printed onto builder’s paper to create an amazing abstract pattern to wrap around the bin.

The bin was then fitted as a standard lamp. #003 Kindling bucket. Tin, copper colour, lightweight. H290 x 300mm diameter #154 builder’s paper, #308 lino, #059 /#303 wallpaper

#003

o bj ec t s

EXHIBITION

FROM WASTE TO PRECIOUS ARTIFACTS The unique challenge of reusing an entire house to save it from waste formed the basis for an inspiring exhibition called Whole House Reuse that opened at Canterbury Museum on 5 June 2015. Over 250 people from around New Zealand and the world invented ways of reusing these resources and the result was a huge collection of objects from a delicately carved taonga puoro (flute), to a finely crafted backyard studio. This exhibition showcased original works by some of the country’s finest designers and craftspeople and it also included works by school children, retired experts, community organisations like Kilmarnock Enterprises, and students of various arts and crafts.

Participants created works all over New Zealand and as far away as Illinois and Ohio in the USA, London and the Isle of Tiree in the UK. Objects included chairs made of lath wood, delicate bowls made from window glass, precious musical instruments carved from framing timber and games made from plastic piping. From fine jewellery and cutlery to furniture and toys, the reused materials took on a new life in the form of nearly 400 objects.

The project was the brainchild of Rekindle - a social enterprise that seeks to bring about creativity and positive change in the way resources are valued. As Kate McIntyre, Project Co-Director says “It is powerful and inspiring to see the degree of care that so many people have put into making beautiful work from this house. It’s such a striking contrast to what would have happened if the demolition had gone ahead as scheduled. This project honours the previous life and material of one typical home, by creating a legacy from what would have otherwise been wasted.” This exhibition not only demonstrated the scale of waste occurring and the value of these materials, but also celebrated the power of design and craft as tools to address, and benefit from, wasted resources.

MARGUERITE HILL, Curator, Canterbury Museum

FACING PAGE: A FEW OF THE EXHIBITS

4

THIS HOUSE TELLS A STORY For all of us, homes mean a lot. For our family this house, 19 Admirals Way, meant a lot. It was where we were able to drive my newborn son Caspian home after four weeks in the neo-natal unit. It was where Charlotte and I struggled through the trials and experienced the joys of being new parents. At the mercy of Cas and Joel the house was mistreated and abused with a range of baby messes. Our house was here we faced some tough things as a family and some wonderful things as a family. It had served as a faithful house for years before us, and we loved being there. The home tells a story. All homes do.

To lose our home because of the quakes was difficult and quite unexpected. And one of the most awkward things, once the stress of finding a new place was out of the way, was leaving behind our home, knowing that it would be smashed with as little time and as much efficiency as our busy world could muster. Our home would be destroyed with its memories and history. Not only our brief personal history, but all the years of life that this home had witnessed, and all the months of skilled craftsmanship it took to construct the home‌the rimu, copper and all the other building materials would be trucked away and buried. What a tragic end to a great story!

For us, we are blessed and chuffed that this house gets to go on telling a story. This house gets to say that, despite the deconstruction of 6000 other homes as a results of the Christchurch earth quakes, there is ingenuity, resourcefulness and creativity that is embedded in our kiwi souls. This house gets to tell the story of a community of creatives across the land, connected by something as simple as the idea of a home and its materials. The house gets to speak of conservation, community, creativity, connectedness ‌ My prayer is that those who have lost their homes due to the quakes will be able to share in the joy, skill, cheekiness and defiance of these wonderful pieces of functional art.

LUKE BUXTON, Owner of 19 Admirals Way

FACING PAGE: 19 ADMIRALS WAY, HEATON'S EXHIBITS

THANKS Thank you to the Heaton community, students and families, who gave their time, creativity, and enthusiasm to the Heaton contributions to the exhibition. Special thanks to the Heaton PTA for supporting the publication of this book. We are proud to have been involved in such a unique and meaningful – and ambitious – project. The inspiring museum exhibition was made possible by the extraordinary efforts of Kate McIntyre, Juliet Arnott, and the whole House Reuse team. The Whole House Reuse project was facilitated by Rekindle and supported by Creative New Zealand, Canterbury Museum, and the Sustainable Initiatives Fund (SIFT). Thanks also to the Buxton family who wholeheartedly embraced the project, and especially to Luke Buxton for his contribution to this book.

Fiona Taylor (Heaton Visual Art Specialist), Susan Gee (Parent, book design) BLOG

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