Embedding Mātauranga Māori in Architectural Education

Abstract

The School of Architecture at Unitec | Te Pūkenga has developed a te reo Māori kuputaka (glossary). This resource is included in the first-year Bachelor of Architectural Studies content to help embed mātauranga Māori in pedagogy. The initiative reflects the determination on the part of Te Whare Wānanga o Wairaka Unitec | Te Pūkenga and the School of Architecture to honour te Tiriti o Waitangi (the Treaty of Waitangi) and meet programme aims. This bicultural approach mirrors professional practice: in Ōtautahi Christchurch, after the 2011 earthquake, Indigenous sustainable practices were successfully integrated during the rebuild in collaboration with Ngāi Tahu and local hapū Ngāi Tūāhuriri; in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland, Te Aranga Māori Design Principles recognise the authority of mana whenua and ensure Indigenous values are incorporated in the design of the built environment. Frameworks for the integration of te ao Māori sustainable values into Building Information Modelling (BIM) data are currently being developed to become a nationwide resource expanding and enriching the New Zealand BIM Handbook. Including specific architectural vocabulary in te reo Māori sensitises all involved in the course to the interaction and layering of languages. The poetic and resonant qualities of te reo equivalents of English terms enrich the discussion of a more existential significance of architecture’s concepts, components and acts. Cases in point are ‘āputa whai take’ – ‘purposeful gap/space’; ‘nōhanga hāneanea’ – ‘comfortable habitat/ergonomics’; and ‘whare kiato’ – ‘compact house/tiny home’. This additional layer of meaning reflects our bicultural circumstances. In addition, the kuputaka introduces tikanga Māori in terms such as ‘tapu’ – ‘sacred, set apart’ – and ‘noa’ – ‘common, ordinary’ – as well as ‘iwi’, hapū’ and other essential components of te ao Māori.Introducing mātauranga Māori and a te reo Māori kuputaka creates foundations that successive years of architectural study can build on – this provides our graduates with essential skills and the instruments to engage effectively within professional practice and to shape our environment.