ABSTRACT As the architectural profession adopts a more enlightened and collaborative turn by increasing engagement with indigenous knowledges, this paper explores the case study of Auckland Free Library and Art Gallery (1885–1888) and Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tamaki (2008–2011). Using archival material and grey literature, the critical analysis invites us to consider trans-Tasman circulations that impact the production of architecture. With a sustained focus on three key periods of time: pre-federation, the 1970s and the 2000s the entanglement of the Australian and New Zealand settler colonial project is considered and indigenous methods to subvert cultural schema through civic architecture are revealed. Supporting the findings of earlier research in this under explored field, this paper also finds that continuing tensions are inherent within civic projects that seek to represent indigeneity. Finally, the limit of contemporary architecture to fabricate “new” optimism is theorised, with indeterminate and unsatisfying conclusions from which further research directions emerge.