Those of you with sharp eyes, or even sharp ears, will have seen, or heard, of Deidre Brown’s new book Maori Architecture.
Brown has consistently been a productive writer on Maori art and architecture since the 1990s and this new work is, I think fair to say, a landmark achievement.
She elaborates on the thin-ish section of Maori architecture in Peter Shaw’s New Zealand Architecture in an extensive consideration of whare, Maori churches, iconic buildings such as:
Hakari stages, Te Hau ki Turanga, Rua Kenana’s Hiona (Maungapohatu), Ratana Temples, Maori churches (such as Rangiatea), Turongo (Turangawaewae), Futuna Chapel (Karori), and the Maori Battalion Memorial Centre (Palmerston North), as well as more recent projects such as Thompson‘s Rata Vine development (Wiri), and Hoete’s Hackney Nursery School (London).
Brown’s work demonstrably illustrates the diversity, richness and innovative natures of Maori architecture, challenging the dominant and narrow image of Maori architecture as wharenui, encouraged by Apirana Ngata‘s “architecture renaissance.”
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