A Māori perspective

Traditional architecture in Aotearoa did not begin with European settlers.

A Māori perspective.

Traditional architecture in Aotearoa did not arrive with European settlers. The wharenui, the carved meeting house at the heart of the marae, is one of the great building traditions of the Pacific. Every post, panel and rafter carries meaning, and the house itself is understood as the body of an ancestor: the ridgepole its spine, the rafters its ribs.

Whakairo (carving), tukutuku (woven lattice panels) and kōwhaiwhai (painted rafter patterns) do exactly what classical ornament does. They tell the story of a people and a place, and they reward anyone who looks closely.

A New Zealand revival of traditional building should draw on both traditions. Civic buildings, squares and public art can weave Māori design into their structure and decoration, developed in partnership with iwi, so that what we build could only belong here.