Sunday, August 16, 2015

Temuka, Timaru and Oamaru - sketches from the edge of the world

Guest Post originally posted on Urban Sketchers by Peter Rush

I often fly to New Zealand for short visits to see my dad, who lives in Temuka on the east coast of the South Island.

All my trips begin with a quick reconnaissance of Christchurch to see how the demolition / reconstruction is going following the terrible earthquake of 2011. I have only brought myself to sketch the devastation on one occasion. That was the Catholic Basilica, which was enough for me. So many long loved buildings are now gone. Maybe once the reconstruction really kicks in, I might start sketching the new streets that will emerge.

The Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament, Christchurch

Temuka is a small town, 150km south of Christchurch with a population of just over 4,000. It has a good main street, though I think the local shops struggle. The larger town of Timaru, population around 31,000, is close by, with the bigger supermarkets and big box retail. Between family time, I either head off to Peel Forest for a bush walk or to the main streets of Temuka and Timaru to sketch.

I really do like these Victorian retail strips. Temuka and Timaru are similar to my local streets in Sydney with their ornate parapets, signs and large awnings. They consist of continuous rows of often small buildings and built in an infinite variation of a similar form. It makes the streets very dynamic and lively. More...

King Street, Temuka


Peter Rush is an architect based in Sydney Australia. To read Peter's full post click Here.

1 comment:

  1. This sketch from Timaru its awesome and the technique really suits very well with the "canvas"

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