Fekumi kihe potupotutatau ʻa e Tonga: Finding a balance of Tongan identity
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Other Title
Authors
Kaufusi, Rick
Author ORCID Profiles (clickable)
Degree
Master of Architecture (Professional)
Grantor
Unitec Institute of Technology
Date
2022-05
Supervisors
Budgett, Jeanette
Hoskins, Raoul
Hoskins, Raoul
Type
Masters Thesis
Ngā Upoko Tukutuku (Māori subject headings)
Keyword
Neiafu (Vava’u, Tonga)
Tonga
Tongan youth
tala tupuʻa e kava (Tongan creation myth)
cultural identity
cultural centres
architecture and culture
narratives
Tongan architecture
Pasifika
kava (beverage)
learning spaces
Tonga
Tongan youth
tala tupuʻa e kava (Tongan creation myth)
cultural identity
cultural centres
architecture and culture
narratives
Tongan architecture
Pasifika
kava (beverage)
learning spaces
ANZSRC Field of Research Code (2020)
Citation
Kaufusi, R.(2022). Fekumi kihe potupotutatau ʻa e Tonga: Finding a balance of Tongan identity (Unpublished document submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Architecture (Professional)). Unitec Institute of Technology, New Zealand https://hdl.handle.net/10652/6093
Abstract
RESEARCH QUESTION
How can traditional Tongan narratives shape and inform cultural learning spaces?
ABSTRACT
Like most stories and traditions learned as children, it is through word of mouth. With every passing generation, slight changes to those practices are moulded into the perspectives of the time. A big misconception is that youth and young adults in Tonga are fully immersed and involved in the culture. This is simply not the case. The younger generation must learn these traditions before the ‘cultural library’ inside the generation above them is gone. The practices that will be explored in this project are the main three Tongan artforms, tufunga (material arts), nimamea’a (fifine arts), and faiva (performing arts). A fourth discipline will also be explored, lea (language), to help users navigate and utilise both Tongan and English. Providing a cultural learning space will help the youth and young adults who do not experience their heritage fully. By looking at the tala tupu’a e kava (Tongan creation myth of kava), an aspect of Tongan culture known and shared throughout its culture and tradition, a dialogue of connectivity and learning emerges. Kava encompasses multiple customs and connects all three artforms in traditions through protocols like the taumafa kava. Utilising kava’s inflfluence in these artforms can help embed them within the project. Breaking down the myth into core values and ideas, Balance and Honour, an architectural design process can be explored. Tevita Ka’ili’s tauhi vā theory will aid in understanding Tongan spatial relationships (vā ) and will be used to speculate how design might successfully incorporate these sociospatial dynamics. Using the tala tupu’a e kava as a catalyst, this project seeks to design a cultural learning space dedicated to the betterment of Tongan identity and the preservation of traditional Tongan artforms.
OBJECTIVES
• Design a space to bring back a traditional learning environment that locals feel comfortable in.
• To provide an adjustable spatial design for the community for events and activities
• To capture the essence of the myth in the design through the values it demonstrates and help establish a deeper connection to the architecture
• Selecting a site that will achieve the greatest visibility, access, and success for the project
• To provide an emphasis on traditional learning to allow youth and even adults, young and old, to reconnect on an identity level with their culture and each other
• This project will also seek to address how architecture can help facilitate the relationships between people through socio spatial
principles found in Tongan culture
• Illustrate how architecture helps occupants reconnect to their Tongan cultures through learning traditional practices, using the four artforms tufunga, nimameaʻa, faiva, and lea
Site: Neiāfu, Vavaʻu, Tonga
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