St Margaret's Church Prestwich

This is the Transitional (Cardboard) Cathedral in Christchurch, New Zealand. It was built after the earthquake of 2011 which partly demolished the Victorian cathedral in the heart of the city. It was designed by Shigeru Ban, a Japanese “emergency architecture” practitioner and is made from shipping containers, tubes and sheets of perspex. I was privileged to visit this most remarkable building in January. Quite remarkable, beautiful, light and calm atmosphere, Built to last 50 years and to withstand earthquakes of the highest magnitude. There are thousands of earth tremors every day in this part of New Zealand, most are not felt of the surface, but it is a very vulnerable area. Beauty and strength in fragile materials. A great achievement and testimony to faith and resilience in the face of destruction.