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Resurrecting Ghosts – Ravenscar by Patterson Associates
Instead of rebuilding a home for themselves following its destruction in the 2011 Christchurch earthquake, philanthropists Jim and Dr Susan Wakefield built a museum for the people of Christchurch – a monument to all that was lost and a testament to those who remain.
On Tuesday 22 February 2011, a shallow earthquake with a magnitude of 6.3 struck New Zealand’s second-most populous city, Christchurch. The extent of damage to the city was almost absolute, the tragedy unimaginable. The disaster drew international attention, but after the news cameras departed, the destruction remained, and residents of Christchurch were left surrounded by the remains of treasured places and buildings: 100,000 homes needed repair, and a further 10,000 were to be demolished.
One of those homes was Ravenscar, Jim and Susan’s cherished Scarborough residence. Purchased in 1994 and renovated in a Frank Lloyd Wright-style before the couple moved in in 1997, they named it Ravenscar House after a village near Susan’s birthplace. Jim and Susan adorned the space with an impressive collection of contemporary and historic New Zealand paintings, sculptures and designer furniture, eventually deciding to turn the building into a house museum before it was damaged beyond repair in the 2011 earthquake.
Not willing to give up their dream to gift a house museum to the people of Christchurch, the idea took on a new form: instead of the conclusion of a story of a family home, the house museum became a new beginning. The Wakefields engaged architects Patterson Associates to conceive a design for a new building that would echo the original. The design recalls the original block form, resurrecting elements of the former residence through “ghost rooms” – chambers composed in the same dimensions as the original home. Each of these rooms is set around a central courtyard containing a garden inspired by that of its now departed namesake.
Just as the residents of Christchurch can never forget the 2011 earthquake, Ravenscar also carries the memory of what came before.
In the same way that everything in the present is framed by the past, so too was the museum built to incorporate the events that led to its creation. The concrete that forms the commanding solid external and internal walls is composed of crushed bricks from the original home, combined with the rubble from other buildings lost in the quake. The integration of bricks and debris into the precast concrete walls of the new building embodies the essence of Greek tragedy: taking pain and loss and transforming it into something beautiful.
Just as the residents of Christchurch can never forget the 2011 earthquake, Ravenscar also carries the memory of what came before. After its completion in 2021, the new museum was handed over to Canterbury Museum to own and operate on behalf of the people of Christchurch. Ravenscar now displays the Wakefield’s extensive collection and is open to the public.
