Papakainga te whau o te matauranga : hei ronaki wa i te ao Māori ki a puawai he oranga hou hei kitenga tangata

Abstract

This project titled “The Garden of Knowledge” presents a holistic exploration of a sustainable contemporary Māori urban design solution. The location is the ipukarea (ancestral lands) of the hapū (sub-tribe) Ngāti Whātua o Orakei at Orakei (Bastion Point) in Tamaki Makaurau (Auckland).

The research question posed is how can Architecture inform the sustainability of contemporary urban Māori development? The project presents an alternative “belonging-based approach” (“he ara mana motuhake”) to urban design and architecture, and assumes a perspective of the land as a lived cultural reality which necessitates an understanding the whenua (land) and the communal layers of meaning and narratives imbued within it.

It is argued that the dominance of the values of individualism, private property rights, and our addiction to the motor vehicle and other technocratic solutions is resulting in unsustainable urban design approaches that perpetuate these norms and fail to address the fundamental problems around our relationships with our resources and each other. Māori are kaitiaki (guardians) of their ancestral lands, and have a matrix of cultural understandings and practices inherited by their tūpuna (ancestors) that form a comprehensive sustainability ethic. This project presents a challenge to acknowledge the dominance of western cultural values infused in our practice of “sustainable” urban design and architecture in Aotearoa/New Zealand, and offers an example of how examining the issue from a Māori cultural context results in radically different outcomes.

The design outcomes are directed by these values and include many features such as: housing solutions that meet intergenerational needs and fluctuating populations; inspiration sought from traditional Maori land developments including Pa sites; a focus on horticultural gardens for economic sustainability and food sovereignty; inclusion of communal values through collaborative living solutions; and using a platform of tikanga Māori (values and practices) to direct the spatial layout.

For Ngāti Whātua o Orakei, and Māori nationally this project represents a design solution embedded in the holistic wellbeing of the people and the whenua, and for Architecture this project contributes to the diversity of design generators and approaches that seek to move beyond the status quo.