M¯aori and Pasifika build ‘new norm’
They are carving out a unique New Zealand identity for contemporary architecture that will transform the built environment for everyone. Colleen Hawkes reports.
Trailblazing Ma¯ ori architects, such as the late John Scott and Rewi Thompson, would be impressed – the work being done by their followers has taken on a new significance in recent years, as architects strive to create stronger, more meaningful connections between the built environment, tangata (people) and whenua (land).
It is enough of a change to lead Ma¯ ori architect Nicholas Dalton, principal of Ta¯ maki Makaurau Office Architecture (TOA), to describe it as a ‘‘powerful point in history’’.
‘‘I think the tide has completely turned,’’ he says. ‘‘People who have not been given a voice over time, are now being given a voice and we need to celebrate it. I am grateful for the people who are driving this and it is not just us.’’
Dr Deirdre Brown (Nga¯ puhi, Nga¯ ti Kahu), head of school at the University of Auckland school of architecture, says the change has been building for some time and is reflected in policy guidelines for much of our urban infrastructure – with councils, hospital boards and various ministries, notably education, health and justice, taking a lead.
Brown says architecture is a profession that is very open to this transformation: ‘‘It is a natural fit – dealing with ‘site’, a desire to be local, and the move towards sustainability and indigenous [interests] are all important design drivers for contemporary architecture. It is where the profession is going.’’
Pioneering Ma¯ ori architect Rau Hoskins, who established the designTRIBE architectural practice, is credited for playing a key role.
Hoskins co-developed the Te Aranga Ma¯ ori design principles for Te Kaunihera o Ta¯ maki Makaurau (Auckland Council), which have been applied to large infrastructure projects in the city. Many of these, including the City Rail Link, are still under development.
‘It did not feel right’
For Dalton (Te Arawa, Nga¯ i Tu¯ hoe, Tu¯ wharetoa, Nga¯ ti Whakaue, Nga¯ ti Pikiao, Pakeha¯ ), who topped his final year at architecture school, the move was personal. The architect says some multimillion-dollar projects he worked on when he was a new graduate were compromises, which led him to believe there had to be a better way to work.
‘‘It did not feel right,’’ he says.
‘‘I wanted to make a difference. ‘‘It [good architecture] is more about values, the people, the design process and the journey, than it is about bricks and mortar.’’
Ten years ago, when Dalton set up TOA Architects, te reo Ma¯ ori was not widely accepted. Today four of the staff of 22 have te reo as a first language because they grew up in households that spoke Ma¯ ori.
‘‘Te reo is spoken in this office a lot as the first point of conversation,’’ he says.
TOA Architects won an NZIA Housing Award last year for Maunga¯ rongo, a house in
Otu¯ moetai, Tauranga, designed for a family coming back to its ancestral whenua. The architect says the project prompted the question: ‘‘What does contemporary Ma¯ ori architecture look like?
‘‘I asked the owner, ‘How brave do you want to be?’ And he said, ‘Oh, about a 6 [out of 10], so not very brave.’ ’’
But Dalton took the owners on a journey with the project, which started with a design, by good friend Dane Fasenkloet, of a silhouette of
Mauao [Mt Maunganui].
‘‘We looked at it and we all cried,’’ the architect says.
Making the journey
Emotional connection is a key part of the bicultural journey contemporary Ma¯ ori and Pasifika architects are making – the design process is intricately tied with the past, when indigenous people did not have a voice.
Apenti Tamanui-Fransen (Nga¯ riki Kaiputahi, Te Aitangaa-Ma¯ haki, Nga¯ ti Manu, Te Whakato¯ hea), strategist with Jasmax’s Waka Ma¯ ia team, speaks of a post-graduate student wanting to write a thesis on Ma¯ ori architecture in the early 1970s. The student’s plan was dismissed with the comment that Ma¯ ori and Pacific people did not create architecture – ‘‘they only made huts’’.
Waka Ma¯ ia was formed five years ago, in recognition of the desire by Jasmax to engage with Ma¯ ori on all projects – to have an authentic Ma¯ ori voice. Other firms have similar teams on board. Warren and Mahoney, for example, has the advanced Ma¯ ori design unit, Te Matakı¯rea.
For Jasmax, the formation of the team was also a recognition of the low number of Ma¯ ori and Pasifika working in architecture. The name, gifted by kauma¯ tua Haare Williams, references a courageous journey forward with hope.
Senior associate and Ma¯ ori design leader Elisapeta Heta (Nga¯ tiwai, Waikato Tainui, Sa¯ moa, Tokelau) was instrumental in the formation of the Waka Ma¯ ia team, and the writing of a covenant of pou (principles), which is ‘‘less about acknowledgement and more about action’’.
‘‘There is a rigour of design excellence in both traditional Ma¯ ori and modern architecture – it is not just the Western world that has the rigour,’’ she says. ‘‘We are strengthening trust and building relationships so we can create things [buildings] that are living up to the conversation.’’
Heta has served as a member of the New Zealand Institute of Architects (NZIA) board: ‘‘For the first time we were starting to get a Ma¯ ori voice at the architecture table,’’ she says.
Today, the Waka Ma¯ ia team is consulted right from the outset on every Jasmax project. ‘‘And there are touch points right through the process,’’ says Tamanui-Fransen.
Architecture – and the Jasmax office – is all the richer for the diversity: ‘‘This office is 100 per cent funnier than it was,’’ someone jokes.
Senior associate architect Marianne Riley, who is on the kaia¯ whina team that helps effect the role of the Waka Ma¯ ia team within
Tomorrow’s architects
All parties recognise there is a long way to go to embed Ma¯ori and Pasifika culture in our built environment, and are aware of the challenges.
‘‘Architecture is a tough industry,’’ says Elisapeta Heta. ‘‘Burnout is common for young Ma¯ori and also women. We see it happen but we also understand we have an important role to be political in architecture – to be advocates for better built environments.’’
Dr Deirdre Brown says there are scholarships available, and the school of architecture at Auckland University is looking at additional ways to encourage more Ma¯ori and Pasifika students to enter architecture – numbers have dropped recently. People from refugee backgrounds and of different abilities are also a focus.
And the Waka Ma¯ia team has plans to reach out to students in high schools. Already, Jasmax has a scholarship programme.
Early in December, Ben Tunui (Nga¯ti Awa, Te A¯ tiawa) won the top prize in the Te Ka¯hui Whaihanga (NZIA) Resene Student Design Awards, a national competition for final-year architecture students.
Tunui says his project, called Utu, ‘‘draws architectural form and spatial composition from Ma¯ori rituals of encounter, and questions how elements of contemporary tikanga Ma¯ori can be expressed architecturally’’.
The judges comments were unanimous: ‘‘Ben’s thesis presentation marks the emergence of a genuinely important new voice in New Zealand architecture,’’ Judi Keith-Brown said.
‘‘Ben’s clear proposition, methodical interrogation of his idea, creative exposition of his findings, and beautiful yet tangible final designs reveal an already impressive architectural mind at work.’’
Former architect, educator and cultural design adviser Keri Whaitiri was also impressed: ‘‘This is a visionary architecture that is immersed in whakapapa, wairua, tikanga, kawa – and aroha.
‘‘Ma¯ori architecture and material culture has long been subject to colonial definition through Western instruments of cartography, anthropology, history and theory.
‘‘This project offers a staged methodology that allows for innovative and experimental development of propositions as described in a rich and alluring selection of images, drawings and models.’’
The future is indeed bright.
the office, says it has been a big cultural change for Jasmax.
‘‘Pa¯ keha¯ can’t always cope with that but [the humour] is part of the consciousness of the group and the way everyone supports each other.’’
Support for the architectural graduates includes safeguarding them from being thrown into presentations before they are equipped with the necessary skills, because ‘‘grabbing a brown person’’ for a client meeting ‘‘happens all the time’’.
Diversity brings value
The team, which includes young architectural graduates, is well aware of the statistics that show lower standards of living for Ma¯ ori and Pasifika peoples, and low levels of home ownership. Their own experience is of particular value.
‘‘We know the realities of how houses will work,’’ says Heta. ‘‘We know garages will be used for housing, for example, and we can ensure they are designed accordingly.’’
Tamanui-Fransen says his own grandfather was one of 16 children growing up in a ka¯ uta, a small home built from corrugated iron and ponga walls, with a dirt floor.
‘‘A lot of us have complex relationships with our wha¯ nau,’’ says Heta. ‘‘There is no perfect way to be Ma¯ ori. Some of us have been to private schools and others have stories that beg the question: How did you survive your life?’’
Tamanui-Fransen says this contrasts with the more ‘‘comfortable’’ and privileged background most Pa¯ keha¯ architects bring to the job. And this diverse experience is a vital part of Jasmax’s ‘‘journey towards biculturalism’’.
Affordable models
Inequalities are addressed every step of the way as architects strive to find solutions to numerous challenges, including the current housing crisis.
TOA Architects is working on a modular housing model for Ma¯ ori, and Dalton says it is an honour to work with iwi and mana whenua, holders of the pu¯ ra¯ kau (myths and legends) – ‘‘it always makes for beautiful projects that are of the tangata and whenua’’.
‘‘There is no one answer to the housing shortage but one of the big unlocking factors has to be the countless hectares of Ma¯ ori land.
‘‘Our modular houses will enable people to return to their ancestral land and have a reasonable mortgage of less than $300,000.’’
Te Kaunihera o Ta¯ maki Makaurau (Auckland Council) recently launched a refreshed Ma¯ ori Design Hub, which includes Ka¯ inga Hou design thinking for urban Ma¯ ori housing, developed in partnership with TOA Architects.
‘‘This is a great resource for all involved in the making of great places for people and the exploration of a Ma¯ ori design kaupapa for
Ta¯ maki Makaurau,’’ says NZIA president Judi Keith-Brown.
Pasifika housing
Former Samoan rugby player Lama Tone, who has established his own architectural practice in Auckland – New Pacific Architecture – is working on housing models for
Ka¯ inga Ora in Ma¯ ngere.
Tone was instrumental in updating Pacific Design Guidelines for Housing New Zealand in 2010 and says he was humbled to be shouldertapped recently by Ka¯ inga Ora to come up with a concept design for Pacific ‘‘pilot houses’’.
He acknowledges the commonality between Pasifika and Ma¯ ori: ‘‘While we celebrate our differences, we share common values and our experience of living in New Zealand in the 21st century.’’
As with the Ma¯ ori architects, Tone has witnessed ‘‘tokenism’’ in architecture and strives to promote authenticity. He has seen premier firms look to embed Pacific concepts in projects, only to fail because they did not do their research.
‘‘Some firms are still grappling with the notion of the Pacific – they want to have an indigenous signature on the wall but there is a lot more to it than that. The culture deserves more respect.’’
Tone says it is far more about materials, and the way a space is designed for people so it enhances a building’s performance and identity.
Tone, who also teaches at architecture school, brings a gentle, humble approach to his work.
Outside a cafe in Ma¯ ngere Bridge, which he laughingly calls ‘‘the foyer’’ of his office, he is besieged constantly by locals wanting to say hello. He smiles and stands to shake hands with everyone.
It is not surprising – the concept of ‘‘community’’ is embedded within Polynesian culture and is a driver for Tone’s work. One of his first jobs was an extension to his own parents’ house that includes a large covered deck capturing an elevated view. ‘‘We wanted a space for family gatherings. We were tired of all the walls. The communal space was small . . . and Dad is in a wheelchair. We wanted to open it all up.’’
The economics of building a new house are such that most of Tone’s architectural work for Pasifika clients involves renovations and extensions, and adapting houses to better suit modern lifestyles and intergenerational living.
‘‘Costs make the quarter-acre dream unattainable today,’’ he says.
‘‘Housing is more dense, and people are busier.
‘‘It is a lot different to 20 to 30 years ago.
‘‘The Western model of compartmentalised spaces has not suited the Polynesian requirement for open, communal spaces.’’