Open Chch 2025: Call for nominations
New Brighton Surf Lifesaving Club, Southeast Architects with Snøhetta.
Mt Pleasant Community Centre, Chris Moller Architecture & Urbanism, 2016.
Fonua Mana, Bull O’Sullivan Architecture, 2022.
Open Christchurch is calling on curious neighbours, inquisitive passers-by, building owners and tenants, design professionals and architecture lovers to nominate notable buildings that they think are worth celebrating during the festival weekend of 2–4 May 2025.
This is a chance for anyone to put forward places that are important to them for festival organisers Te Pūtahi Centre for Architecture and City Making to consider for inclusion in Open Christchurch 2025.
The one-weekend-only celebration of architectural excellence returns for its fifth edition to shine the light on Christchurch’s buildings and landscapes of architectural, cultural and historical significance.
Participation in the 2021–2024 festivals indicates a widespread and genuine desire to discover and explore the city’s special spaces. Feedback on the free and accessible nature of the festival has been overwhelmingly positive, with many making a day of it on foot or by bike, and others travelling from afar to attend.
Te Pūtahi director, Jessica Halliday says, “If there’s a building you’d like to see us include in the 2025 festival, we encourage you to make a nomination. Every year the public nominations process results in us opening up new and surprising works of architecture for public access over the Open Christchurch weekend. So if there’s a building that you think is special, and hasn’t been included in Open Christchurch before — please tell us about it.”
The nomination process is simple. It just requires permission from the building owner and occupier. Being nominated is not a commitment to participate in Open Christchurch 2025.
The final selection of buildings and sites will be decided by Te Pūtahi’s Building Council. They’ll consider many ways in which buildings can be exceptional, including design excellence, rarity, contribution to the city’s history and sense of place, significance to Māori architecture and history, innovation, sustainability, and heritage significance.
Open Christchurch offers attendees the chance to experience great design first-hand and access buildings or parts of buildings that are normally off-limits. Festival organisers see the public nomination process as a means for more people to contribute to this endeavour.
The nomination form and the complete list of building criteria can be found on the Open Christchurch website.
Nominations close on 11 September 2024.
