The Make/Shift Space “What if Whakatū Nelson…?” was open at 263 Hardy Street between 13 November and 17 December.
It was a space where the public could engage with ideas for how to create a vibrant, liveable city.
As the weeks progressed the space evolved with posters, displays, ideas and interactive exhibits.
It hosted 62 presenters, 29 talks and generated almost 300 ideas to help revitalise the central city and beyond.
“What if Whakatū Nelson…?”
12 November 2023.
Make/Shift Spaces
What is your vision for Whakatū Nelson? What would you like to see the city look, feel or sound like in 10 or 20 years time? What are some of the roadblocks to creating change in Nelson, and how can we remove them?
An ideas hub opening in central Nelson wants to collect ideas, start conversations and motivate positive change on how to help make Nelson a vibrant and liveable city for everyone.
“What if Whakatū Nelson …?” is a Make/Shift Space initiative and is supported by Nelsonian’s who are tired of talking about Nelson’s challenges and want to help generate change.
“What if Whakatū Nelson …?” ideas can be big or small - from What if Whakatū Nelson created a youth hub? What if we had a spring-cleaning campaign for the city and everyone participated? to What if we had a Margaret Mahy style playground?
The space also aims to be a place to share knowledge and ideas. It will host design concepts, artwork, ideas and interactive exhibits for the public to have their say.
The Make/Shift Space at 263 Hardy Street will host a series of lunchtime talks, panel discussions and workshops, with speakers and participants who have interesting ideas and visions for Nelson. These sessions are for the general public and are intended to create a movement to help these ideas flourish and become reality.
Speakers will be drawn from across the community including architects, landscape architects, artists, the business sector, retailers, developers, migrant communities, iwi organisations, with opportunities for others to get involved.
“What if Whakatū Nelson …?” will be open Monday to Friday from 12-2 pm, and on Saturday from 10 am to 1 pm.
Architect William Samuels says we are at a point in our history where we have the opportunity to bring truly positive transformation to Nelson, but to get there we need to have a shared vision and aspiration for what our city can become.
The “What if Whakatū Nelson…?” space is intended to provide our community with a platform to engage with these ideas, add their own thoughts and be a part of the discussion about how to make Nelson great.
Starting with the built environment, we need to explore the question of what our city will look like in 10, 20 or even 50 years’ time. How will we live, work, and relax in Nelson, and how can the design of our city facilitate this?
“What could well designed housing within the CBD look like, how can we create public areas that are enjoyable to occupy and allow people to linger and better engage with our retail and hospitality sectors? What if we provided spaces that properly catered for families, youth, elderly, tourists, students? These are all big questions that we need to discuss if we want to create a collective vision for Nelson and to enable real, tangible progress for our city.”
The space will run for six weeks but may run for longer. Make/Shift Spaces is moving its office to the space for the five weeks.
Make/Shift Spaces’ Anne Rush says cities are dynamic places that change in waves and cycles. They are built by thousands of actions from hundreds of individuals and their collaborations.
“Many Nelsonians are concerned about the state of our city centre at present. Maybe we need to look each other in the eye and say to ourselves; ‘What are we doing about it as a community’?’ We all have a part to play however small.”
“The Make/Shift Space ‘What if Whakatū Nelson …?” is our chance to start these conversations and try and identify what actions our city requires to regain a unique vibrancy into the future?”
ABOUT
Make/Shift Spaces works with a range of artists, creatives, property owners, community and special interest groups to fill empty spaces in Nelson with vibrant installations and activity. It uses some of the spaces to tell stories about Nelson’s community with window displays and images. The duration of each installation varies.
The space is supported by Nelsonians from a range of sectors including the arts, business, communications, real estate, IT and development. A lot of people are talking about the challenges Nelson faces and the intent is this space will help the public participate in those conversations.
The second week’s speakers focus is on Community Led Development.Talks start at 12.30pm.
A line up of other speakers from Nelson Whakatū’s social, cultural, arts and economic and environmental sectors are being finalised for the following five weeks.
HOW WILL THE SPACE FUNCTION
• The Make/Shift Space “What if Whakatū Nelson…?” will operate at 263 Hardy Street between November 13 and December 17. It is a space where the public can engage with ideas for how to create a vibrant, liveable city. It will contain posters, displays, ideas and interactive exhibits. It will also host talks and workshops for people to discuss their ideas for how to improve our city.
• The space will be open from 12pm-2pm on five days each week (Monday and Friday) for lunchtime talks. Talks will begin at 12:30pm and will last for 20mins or so, with 10mins of discussion after. Attendees are welcome to engage with the displays and add their own ideas “What if Whakatu Nelson …?” before and after the talks.
• The space will also be open from 10am-1pm on Saturday mornings. This is an ‘unprogrammed’ time, with visitors directly engaging with the posters on the wall and adding their own ideas to the list.