Abstract:
“There is no architecture without action, no architecture without events, no architecture without program…by extension, there is no architecture without violence”01 This thesis explores the narrative as a potential design generator. Key events are extracted to produce a lineage of abstractions which manifest latent memories embedded in the production language. The abstracted translate from interpretation to drawing to model, to create a repository of work through accidental discoveries. Maori concepts of architecture, genealogy and temporality are key concepts which have informed this investigation. The theatricality of architecture is explored as the narrative is re-enacted within and around the building. The narrative for this thesis is the battle of Gate Pa (1864), one of the few victories for the Maori battalion in the New Zealand Land Wars. The victory against the British can be accredited to the strategic location and architecture of the Pa. This thesis celebrates the innovation of the architecture and recognises the impact of land confiscation on the identity of the local Maori during this turbulent period. Colonial occupation, commercial development and transportation infrastructure have destroyed the majority of the Pa site; all that remains is a modest memorial. The intention of this thesis is not to memorialize the violence but give significance to the events that transpired, rehabilitate relationships between the Maori and the British creating a platform for both cultures to establish a collective identity. To ensure the re-established identity of the site is maintained, the architecture will be episodic02 to promote an ongoing dialogue between the story of Gate Pa and the public. 01 Bernard Tschumi, Architecture Concepts : Red Is Not a Color / Bernard Tschumi, Bernard Tschumi : Architecture Concepts : Red Is Not a Color (New York : Rizzoli 2012., 2012). Page 74. 02 Episodic architecture references the cinematic. An architecture consisting of a series of spatial revelations choreographed and performed over time. Not necessarily in order or performed in the same instance.