Missed Design Opportunity At Queens Wharf Unsettles Maori

The character of Auckland as a Super City is beginning to emerge for Maori as the finalists of the Queens Wharf design competition were announced without any reference to Maori or Pacific culture.

Maori and Pacific commentators are saying the development of Queen’s Wharf provides Auckland with a rare opportunity to create an internationally-recognised icon to showcase Auckland as a hub of Maori and Pacific culture. But with the finalists being announced the opportunity appears to have been lost.

Rau Hoskins, director of designTRIBE architects, lecturer in Maori architecture at Unitec and chairperson of Nga Aho, the national network of Maori design professionals, agrees.

“In 2009 to have a major design competition for a public amenity of national significance without tangata whenua input into the judging criteria and judging panel is astonishing.

“Is this what we’re calling our ‘post-settlement era’ where our cultural landscapes continue to be shaped without the key inputs of tangata whenua? It appears that no guaranteed Maori seats also translates as no guaranteed Maori input into major public projects.”

Hoskins says he was contacted by Auckland City to see if he would agree to be a judge. He was nominated by Ngati Whatua and by central government.

“I said yes and on that basis I would not put an entry in. Late in the piece I was advised I was no longer required. I wouldn’t have been too concerned about that if there was some Maori representation remaining on that panel. But today I found out there wasn’t.”

“What is going on?”

He says it puts Ngati Whatua particularly and other local iwi on to a negative footing where they’re having to throw rocks from the sideline about the design or elements of the design that either cut across their cultural historical realities or inappropriately use Maori motif or design features.

“It’s like returning to the 1980s where Iwi are consigned to the sidelines and seeing their cultural landscapes being inappropriately developed by others.”

According to Ngati Whatua o Orakei spokesman Ngarimu Blair Maori are getting an uneasy feeling about how those responsible for setting the agenda for the Super City are intending to proceed.

He says in the past on big projects they have either been on the judging panel
or waited to be consulted by the winner. Neither of which was satisfactory but they thought they could educate those around them about the importance of driving projects with a cultural base in place.

“Recently we tried a different tack and started entering design competitions so we could try and inculcate the process with a truer idea of what we mean by culture rather than having designers looking for a way something could/might be a marae or a tahuhu or look like a waka or a koru if you look really hard from the top of the sky tower.

“We don't expect to win every competition but as a principle there should be some Maori/Pacific input at judging whether it be Ngati Whatua or not.”

Pacific Islands Board Auckland City chair Bruce McCarthy says Auckland could have an international icon as identifiable as the Sydney Opera House, the Golden Gate Bridge, or even the Statue of Liberty.

“The experience of first seeing Aotearoa/New Zealand for many visitors must be unforgettable and allow even those who only have a day to spend here to absorb what makes our city unique.”

He says the new development at Queens Wharf must reflect Auckland’s unique position as the world’s largest Polynesian city.

“Polynesian cultures, and by that I mean Maori and Pacific Island, are vibrant and colourful and provide a synergy with the international sophistication Auckland has developed that puts it in a world class league.”

McCarthy says whatever happens in the Queens Wharf development it must reflect the spiritual and meaningful connection between Pacific and Maori peoples and also their connection with the water and the land.

Maori architect Rau Hoskins says however he is still an optimist and would like to think that at this late stage appropriate iwi cultural design inputs could be engaged to make the best of this opportunity.