Abstract:
This thesis explores the significance of social forms within Fa’a Samoa and its relationship to architectural form. The term fa’a samoa literally means the Samoan way (in accordance the customs and traditions). Auckland is one of the largest Polynesian cities in the world. With a diverse range of culture it is easy for cultural identity, or sense of self to be filtered or muffled through the process of translation. Samoan sense of self is ultimately communal rather than individual, it can be found in Fa’a Samoa. The significance of Fa’a Samoa is in its maintenance of its own cultural values and traditions in an environment outside of Samoa. Therefore the maintenance of Fa’a Samoa is important to Samoan identity. The assumption is that the best way to revive and sustain Fa’a Samoa in Auckland is through interaction within its social forms. The proposed project seeks to move on with a cultural identity without imitating a past. It moves away from the fascination of adapting pacific aesthetics. It instead analyses traditional social ceremonies and processes and explores its architectural implications. The thesis isolates three key social forms important to Fa’a Samoa. The role of religion, the ava ceremony and ceremonial exchanges (fa’a lave laves). It investigates their social significance and architectural implications, and seeks to find ways that will support and strengthen social ceremonies and processes architecturally.