Gap Filler is the community organisation that turned Christchurch's post-earthquake vacant lots into one of the most talked-about urban design experiments in the world. The basic premise was simple: take the empty spaces left by demolished buildings and fill them temporarily with something useful or delightful. The results have ranged from vegetable gardens and performance stages to a miniature golf course, a pocket library, and the Dance-O-Mat — a coin-operated outdoor sound system on a painted concrete slab in a parking lot where people turn up and dance.
Not all of the original projects survive. The city has filled in considerably, and some of the most famous temporary interventions have given way to permanent buildings. But Gap Filler continues to operate, new projects appear regularly, and the organisation's walking map (available from the i-SITE or downloadable from their website) is a good guide to what exists at any given time. The Pallet Pavilion, the covered outdoor stage built from recycled wooden pallets, and various mosaic and mural projects are worth tracking down. This is street art and urban experiment treated with genuine seriousness, and it changed how cities think about recovery.