Ōtautahi / Christchurch Daily Photo

I haven’t paid much attention to the new office complex that was built off Lincoln Road – but since many of my favourite cafes are out of action I have been going to the EAT cafe (which I highly recommend). I’m in two minds about the buildings, before the earthquake I liked them – thought they were well designed and interesting and liked the green section in front of the cafe (and how the cafe is set between the buildings as a central meeting point). But now, after the earthquake, my thoughts about them are divided – yes I can see they have architectural merit, but they are still essentially ‘boxes’. Great for city edge office sections, but not appropriate for central city at all. I think one of my fears for the future of the city is that we will see a whole bunch of tilt slab office buildings appear overnight (and they build those things with a rapidity that amazes me).