Abstract:
A young man from South Korea is confused living in the multicultural nation of Aotearoa. After living the majority of his life in Auckland, his architectural view on this nation gets narrower, only believing what exists based on what he sees and experiences in his daily encounters. July 17th - as he visits the Tapu Te Ranga Marae in Wellington everything starts to unfold. This thesis explores in depth the architecture in Aotearoa and not architecture in New Zealand, where it is looked at from a bicultural viewpoint. Polynesian architecture has tended to be neglected or dismissed as a field of serious study by architects in New Zealand. This can be seen throughout the modern Pacific architecture that has been completed in 20 th century Aotearoa. Its architectural quality feels that there is a lack of knowledge and historical traditions incorporated into these individual Pacific monuments. Is this the right direction and the approach that architects should be taking to create a true identity for New Zealand? It may be a correct answer for New Zealand, however it may be argued that this isn’t the suitable approach for creating an identity for Aotearoa. Thinking from an architectural perspective, the essence of the Pacific architecture is characterised by a strong knowledge in Pacific traditions and a strong language or architectonic for contemporary needs. This project imagines a ‘Tapu Te Ranga Contemporary Pa’ located in Browns Island which attempts to incorporate a series of early 1800’s traditional Maori architectonics and the historical Maori myths of the Rangi and Papa: Separation of heaven and earth as concepts to strengthen the identity of architecture in Aotearoa.
