Architecture Dissertations and Theses
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Item Redefining the oncological healing environment(2024) Sitters-Neale, Katyana; Unitec Institute of TechnologyRESEARCH QUESTION How can integrating Māori health principles in the design of healing environments promote well-being and better health outcomes for cancer patients? • What role can natural elements, including materials, textures, light, and sound, play in creating healing environments, and how can the spatial layout be organised and optimised to support physical, mental, spiri tual, and family well-being in keeping with Te Whare Tapa Whā. ABSTRACT There is a constant need to redesign environments that promote health and well-being. While the primary design focus for traditional healthcare centres is on function, more consideration of design from a well-being perspective is required. There is increasing recognition of this approach through healthcare architecture and the role it plays in recovery. A salutogenic design approach focuses on factors that promote health. Incorporating biophilic elements and designs that are culturally inspired and congruent with Te Ao Māori would be relevant to all New Zealand healthcare facilities. He Korowai Oranga is the Government’s strategic paper outlining the best out-comes for Māori health. Given the increasing burden on the health system, it is up to all stakeholders to look for ways to optimise efficiency and seek better outcomes. This demand should inspire designers to rethink architecture in ways that can assist health and well-being. This project will investigate how Māori health and salutogenic principles can be incorporated into healthcare architecture, specifically an oncology ward. The study will include the principles of Tikanga Māori (correct customs, principles and practices), biophilic elements and salutogenic design to inspire and encourage better health outcomes for cancer patients. PROJECT SITE: Lake Wainamu, Auckland, New ZealandItem The Mind and Body Centre: A go-to place for growth and comfort(2024) Ferrer, Luis Lorenzo; Unitec, Te PūkengaRESEARCH QUESTION How can the integration of architecture and nature be optimized to positively impact mental health and well-being? ABSTRACT The COVID-19 pandemic has brought to light many nations' unpreparedness to address a surge in mental health challenges. This crisis has exposed systemic issues like limited treatment options, a scarcity of healthcare professionals, and inadequate access to natural environments, which can help alleviate distress during lockdowns. Mental health facilities and professionals were overwhelmed by the influx of patients, resulting in severe consequences for those in need. The surge in mental health issues during lockdown sparked concerns about a sudden onset of unpleasant feelings. Widespread sentiments of loneliness exacerbated many people's health concerns. Though this period eventually ended, and life returned to normal, the experience had a long-term influence. It serves as a reminder that some people relied only on themselves throughout the pandemic for survival. This emphasizes the importance of evaluating how our built environment contributes to resilience and coping approaches during crises like this. This project aims to redefine how mental healthcare facilities tackle mental health concerns, striving to eradicate associated stigmas. This study will explore the concept of a sanctuary—a welcoming community hub doubling as a healthcare facility. It will address and alleviate mental health issues and prioritize individuals' overall well-being. The facility aims to bolster resilience by fostering connections and nurturing personal growth, empowering individuals to navigate potential future pandemics and their daily challenges effectively. Mental healthcare facilities often overlook the psychological benefits of having access to and connection with nature. This oversight has a substantial impact on how individuals perceive mental health and their willingness to seek access to services. This project is situated within Newmarket's metropolitan cityscape, devoid of green spaces and dominated by filled parking lots and bustling streets. As a result, the study will look thoroughly into the use of biophilic, salutogenic, and restorative strategies to improve the design of mental health facilities. The goal of revitalizing the site through design is to create a supportive retreat from life's pressures, aid in the recovery from mental health issues, and promote a positive approach to managing work-life balance. The research outlined in this thesis highlights deficiencies in mental health services and the number of people affected. It also explores how architecture and nature can transform a place into a mental healthcare facility that cares for the ill and nurtures and maintains healthy individuals' well-being.Item Beyond dark: 明暗 [Míng-Àn](2024) Qi, Jiancheng (Felix); Unitec, Te PūkengaRESEARCH QUESTION How can the adaptive reuse of a heritage site inform the public about the past and drive new perceptions of the place? (a case study of Mt Eden Prison) ABSTRACT Throughout history, distinctive buildings become part of a cultures-built heritage, these buildings inherit values and meanings over time. These inherited meanings serve as a living anchor that influences and shapes modern values. However, not all heritage places represent positive meanings or values; some heritage buildings are associated with negative emotions and/or represent a dark episode in the history of a particular group. The Mount Eden Prison is an example of this. Mt Eden Prison is nationally significant and listed as a “historic place category one” by Heritage New Zealand. This means the building is recognised with the highest heritage value and status. However, the building has been uninhabited since 2011. Although it has been subject to continuing maintenance, as concluded by Archifact, implementing the accepted preservation strategy has been unsuccessful so far, and has significantly deteriorated and damaged the historic fabric. Twelve years later, there has yet to be an official update regarding the future use of this building. The building is in urgent need of a new programme. Through adaptation and reuse, this project could offer opportunities to promote understanding, tolerance, and empathy rather than the building being left with the associations of death, horror, and hate. This project intends to reframe the narrative of Mt Eden Prison as something that can be learned from and not forgotten. Historical events associated with the heritage site will be researched and ultimately developed into narrative-based architectural interventions to reframe the difficult past. The project will ultimately offer a museum where the public can learn about the cultural memories of a collective past and offer opportunities for them to think about how it continues to inform the present. 明是什么，暗又是什么？[What is light, what is dark?] "Freedom, it ain’t on the other side of those concrete brick walls or those cages. It’s found inside of us. It’s a choice. I’m thirty something years old and just realising now it’s a choice. I found it and the truth is I found it in jail" -- “Songs from the Inside,” March 7, 2012" "Songs from the Inside" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pzzEie50s0Y&ab_channel=WhakaataM%C4%81ori.Item Te kaitiaki = The guardian(2023) Pritchard, Monique; Unitec, Te PūkengaRESEARCH QUESTION How can regenerative design practices informed by Mātauranga Rongowhakaata inform the design of an awa based kaitiaki hub in Manutuke, Gisborne? ABSTRACT Ka ora te wai, Ka ora te whenua. Ka ora te whenua, Ka ora te tangata. If the water is healthy, the land will be nourished. If the land is nourished, the people will be provided for. For years many architects and academics have worked hard to ensure architecture helps sustain and rebuild the natural ecosystems and surrounding environment of a building site as well as minimizing its carbon footprint; today this is described as regenerative architecture. As we strive towards creating regenerative architecture and researching building practices that benefit the environment, we must take a step backwards into the past of Aotearoa, to a time where the built environment did not purely take from Papatūānuku, but also gave back. This was before the colonization of Aotearoa when indigenous Māori building styles prevailed. For many Māori people, their sense of belonging stems from their connection to the whenua and iwi that they whakapapa to. Our traditions and stories have been passed down from generation to generation so that Te Ao Māori can never be forgotten, however, colonisation caused significant land, culture and language loss, and as a result we have also lost our rituals that protect and respect our whenua. The reverence and acclaim that our people once had for ngā atua o te whenua and taniwha has diminished, and the tales of them have become nothing more than myths and legends. As a result, land is often no longer protected through traditional practices, and some cultural customs have been forgotten. As well as land loss the largest impact the modern built environment has had on native land is its pollution of sacred awa. This has left many awa stripped of natural resources, and no longer inhabitable for kaimoana or safe for swimming. A large percentage of the rivers in Aotearoa are now polluted, and steps need to be taken towards depolluting the awa whilst also preventing future pollution. This project aims to create a connection between regenerative architecture and te Ao Māori through researching ngā atua Māori, stories of taniwha and ancient practices unique to Rongowhakaata. In this research project pūrakau of Rongowhakaata are used as a method to explore indigenous ways of creating a built environment that preserves practices and teaches traditional knowledge unique to Rongowhakaata. By doing this, the buildings should work to protect and depollute the Te Arai River that is sacred to Rongowhakaata and the Manutuke communityItem Cycle to cradle: An urban mined, material-recovery exhibit, as a form of circular economy(2023) Drinn, Gavin; Unitec, Te PūkengaRESEARCH QUESTION How can a material recovery exhibit, form a circular economy through urban mining, to support Auckland as a carbon neutral future city? ABSTRACT Auckland is an established Smart City which aims at achieving a carbon-zero footprint by 2050. However, there are still major planning deficiencies related to materials and waste management that may hinder that goal. Aotearoa expels approximately 17.49 million tonnes of waste annually, with an estimate of 12.59 million tonnes of that sent to landfill, half of which is made up of construction and demolition waste. Cycle to Cradle endeavours to frame these specific conundrums through a lens of sustainable material recovery and re-use. A Material Recovery Centre as a form of Exhibit, on the fringe of an arts and cultural sector. This project identifies waste management as a point of order, aiming to locate and extract relevant low carbon materials, to frame solutions in a sustainable modular fashion. Upcycling is not a new concept, William McDonough and Michael Braungart provide a manifesto detailing various Upcycle and Cradle to Cradle design models. Here, they focus on completely eliminating waste through bio-technical and upcycle principles to achieve biomimetic solutions for sustainability. This project intends to discuss the benefit of Energy Climate Buildings with the goal of relating a cycled model for New Zealand’s future architecture. Understanding various supportive theories related to passive design and material re-use, this project intends to sculpt an innovative, sustainable ‘go-to’ typology meshed to a circular economy. The research aim is to support material recovery, creating an exhibit through specific retrieval processes and, in doing so, framing a cascading material life cycle for architecture. The site is located at the foot of Parnell, the birthplace of Auckland, a precinct in the Strand which is richly related to trade and industry through century long bicultural relations.