Abstract:
As a South Pacific island nation, Aotearoa New
Zealand and its people are intrinsically linked to coast
and sea, historically and today. Culturally, the Māori
and Pākehā may have different attitudes towards
the sea or moana, but many of us are never far away
from it. In 2006, 65% of New Zealanders and 96% of
Auckland residents live within at least five kilometres
of the coast. With climate change predicted to cause
constant sea levels to rise 0.8m – 5m above existing
levels in the next 30 to 70 years, all of our shoreline
is under threat. Large swathes of our coastal cities
will gradually be submerged including the Waitematā
shores and the reclaimed land of our waterfront.
As well as rising sea levels, within the next 30 years
the city of Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland will also face
the possible relocation of its port in the coming
years as the Ports of Auckland outgrows its present
location in the centre of the city. These challenges
and changes gives us an incentive to take a fresh
look at how the Waitematā and the waterfront
could be developed in the next 100 years. They
present an opportunity to look afresh as to how
we might develop our waterfront spaces as places
for all cultures, especially the influence Oceanic
- Māori culture. They also require us to address
the increasingly pressing environmental issues to
mitigate the effects of sea level rise, by rethinking the
way we live and activate our new coastal lands and
shores.
As Aotearoa New Zealand grows more confident
in being a bi-cultural, South Pacific nation, we are
starting to look at how architecture might adapt to
the 21st century and the challenges that come with it.
This speculative project ask: what does 21st century
urbanism in the South Pacific mean and look like
under the conditions of climate change?.
In this thesis, I intend to investigate how the Pacific
ways of living and making - tectonics of light, flexible,
tensile, dynamic and resilient structures along with
the Pacific’s holistic attitudes towards the land and
sea can work today, within the high density, coastal
urban setting of Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland, a city
bound to face the impacts of rising sea levels in
the next half century? What opportunities does this
bring to a bi-cultural nation and water city of Tāmaki
Makaurau Auckland? What could a contemporary
Pacific way of urban living that is highly mobile,
flexible, resilient and responsive to change look like?