Maori tradition honoured  

Designers called upon ancient Maori tradition to create Auckland’s newest wharenui.

TrustLine newsletter article, June 2009

Opened at Unitec’s Mt Albert campus recently, Ngakau Mahaki (respect) uses traditional building methods that have not been seen in marae building for almost 100 years.

Project leader and master carver Lyonel Grant led the team that built Ngakau Mahaki in the traditional fashion, reflecting their desire to revive the traditional art of building a whare whakairo with structural integrity.

"This is my third wharenui and most ambitious,” Lyonel says. “I wanted to do something new, not just decorate a box, but create a showcase for our culture that's unique in the world.

“To do that I had to turn the clock back 100 years, look at the traditional techniques and then work out how modern construction methods could be used to complement those techniques, given that this wharenui is maybe three times bigger than the classical model."

For that to work, the carvings were done on weight-bearing posts and beams which make up the actual structure, rather than on a decorative façade that is added to a pre-constructed frame on modern wharenui. The rear wall signifies all those who have gone before, the centre pillar, or pou, is constructed of bronze and represents everything up to 1840. The front of the house represents modern day Auckland.

Commenting on the work, Otago University Maori studies professor Paul Tapsell says that, without the carvings the building would not stand - figuratively and literally.

"the completed house represents the mission canon of New Zealand art: the joining of architecture (western practice) and whakapapa (Maori philosophy) by which future students can learn," Prof Tapsell says.

"Lyonel has brought to bear these twin streams of ancestral knowledge to create a compelling artistic narrative, giving geneological expression to Auckland's unique multicultural identidy.

"A humble man, Lyonel prefers to reflect his achievements back on the many people, institutions and tangata whenua who made it possible for his vision to become reality. But there is no denying Lyonel’s sheer mastery of design, balance and artistry: executed on a scale never before attempted and undeniably confirming him as a premier New Zealand artist."

In 2004 ASB Community Trust made a grant of $1.16m toward the project and Unitec now wants the marae to  be a place of welcome and a way to help  preserve tikanga Maori for posterity.

The whare whakairo (carved meeting house) will be a repository of local and historical information about Tamaki Makaurau and surrounding areas. In time, the marae will become a national archive of Maori taonga, including books, photographs, newspapers, audio and film resources.