The Museum of Auckland: An Evolutionary Tale for Auckland's Architectural Heritage

Abstract

“The announcement that Aotearoa New Zealand history will become a compulsory school subject represents a transformative moment for our society. These history-empowered students will expect to see more of their living heritage reflected in our built and natural environments, and as architects, planners, urban designers and heritage consultants will be participants in the reconsideration, renewal and reconstruction of these places.” - Professor Deidre Brown, (2020).1 This Master of Architecture (Prof) thesis aims to build on the momentum of this statement, beginning with the question: How can Tāmaki Makaurau/Auckland’s architectural history be made more accessible? An attempt to answer this question is made through the creation of The Museum of Auckland (MOA) - a new central, local-facing architecture museum. Broken down into three stages of design, the thesis draws on an all-important theme of a museum institution - the evolution of time. By following this field of inquiry, the thesis adopts a creative writing piece as a means to critique the representation of architecture, both culturally and conservationally, pushing the design component into a realm of fiction. This is achieved by use of three ‘acts’ named: ‘1960: The Birth of The MOA’; ‘2020: The Evolution of The MOA’ and; ‘2xxx: The MOA Takes Flight’. The ‘acts’ are supported by research into the fields of heritage conservation, architecture museum design and exhibition, and the use of ‘paper architecture’ as a method of critique. What starts as a conventional museum design becomes a story of the evolution of an institution over time, concluding with a speculative design used to critique the future of a post-colonial society.