Unitec’s learning space Puukenga on Te Noho Kotahitanga marae was recently celebrated at Te Kāhui Whaihanga New Zealand Institute of Architects 2021 Local Awards, winning an award in the Enduring Architecture category, which celebrates buildings 25 years or older that have stood the test of time. The jury said Puukenga was a significant example of translating Māori design ideas into built form.
Build in 1993, Puukenga was designed as marae, wharekai, classroom space and administrative centre by architect Rewi Thompson, (Ngāti Porou), whose designs often reflected the natural world, and explored biculturalism and how two cultures might inhabit the same place.
The shape of Puukenga recalls that of a traditional gabled wharenui in its central part, with the outline of the main roof reaching out like a traditional maihi to shelter the cubic, galvanised iron clad containers which contain classrooms. [1]
The building materials represent the natural world, with concrete standing in for earth, glass for air, and wood for the clouds.
The first encounter with a marae and its people is normally in a pōwhiri. When Puukenga served as the Māori Faculty building, a marae and a teaching space, the pōwhiri would begin on the open lawn in front, and then proceed into the building.
The interior unfolds around a watercourse, constellations and a carved pouihi, which anchors the plan with woodchips from the carving sealed into perspex screens.
The central pou shows Tane pushing apart his parents, Ranginui the sky-father and Papatūānuku the earth-mother. It reaches up into a skylight, through which rain, Ranginui’s tears, can sometimes be seen to fall on Papatūānuku.
Woven panels, the spatial layout and lighting design for the auditorium (which refers to constellations in the night sky), as well as the preserved shavings set between glass partitions to reference the act of carving, all function like a library.
The jury said: “Tikanga and kawa shape the architecture, with prominence given to formal entry and spatial division around noa and tapu areas. Rewa Thompson designed Puukenga to take visitors on an architectural journey.”
In 2009, the wharehui Ngākau Māhaki, designed and carved by master carver Dr Lionel Grant, was opened to complete Unitec’s Te Noho Kotahitanga marae, and Puukenga became a dedicated teaching space.
Images: Courtesy of Samuel Hartnett
[1] Engels-Schwarzpaul, A. C. (2019). ATMOSPHERIC THRESHOLDS AND THE PRODUCTION OF CROSS-CULTURAL SPACES. Non-Standard Architectural Productions: Between Aesthetic Experience and Social Action.