Indigenous architecture

The Jean-Marie Tjibaou Cultural Center by architect Renzo Piano, Nouméa, New Caledonia (Kanaky) The complex was named after Jean-Marie Tjibaou, the leader of the independence movement (assassinated in 1989), who had a vision of establishing a cultural centre which included the linguistic and artistic heritage of the Kanak people.

The field of Indigenous Architecture refers to the study and practice of architecture of and for Indigenous people (including landscape architecture and other design for the built environment). It is a field of study and practice in Australia, New Zealand, Canada and many other countries where Indigenous people have a built tradition or aspire translate or to have their cultures translated in the built environment.

Australia (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Architecture)

Traditional Architecture (Ethno-architecture) of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples

The traditional or vernacular architecture of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people varied to meet the lifestyle, social organisation, family size, cultural and climatic needs and resources available to each community.

Walter Roth: Studies of Aboriginal ethnoarchitectural forms, Queensland, 1897

Aboriginal boys and men in front of a bush shelter, Groote Eylandt, circa 1933

Ethnoarchitectural forms constructed by the Torres Strait Islanders on the exposed beaches and cays at Mt Ernest Island (Naghi or Nagheer). Lithograph with hand colouring by Melville, c. 1849

Example of Mer Island (or Murray Island) architecture (Torres Strait Islands). Round form covered with dried banana leaves with sleeping platforms placed inside. Lithograph with hand colouring by Melville, c. 1849

The types of forms varied from dome frameworks made of cane through spinifex-clad arc-shaped structures, to tripod and triangular shelters and elongated, egg-shaped, stone-based structures with a timber frame to pole and platform constructions. Annual base camp structures, whether dome houses in the rainforests of Queensland and Tasmania or stone-based houses in south-eastern Australia, were often designed for use over many years by the same family groups. Different language groups had differing names for structures. These included humpy, gunyah (or gunya), goondie, wiltja and wurley (or wurlie).

Until the 20th century, a fallacy existed that Aborigines lacked permanent buildings. Europeans’ early contacts with Indigenous populations led them to misinterpret Aboriginal ways of life. Labelling Aboriginal communities as 'nomadic' allowed early settlers to justify the takeover of traditional lands claiming that they were not inhabited by permanent residents.

Stone engineering was utilised by a number of Indigenous language groups. Complex examples of Aboriginal stone structures come from Western Victoria’s Gunditjmara peoples These builders took utilised basalt rocks around Lake Condah to erect housing and complicated systems of stone weirs, fish and eel traps and gates in water courses creeks. The lava-stone homes had circular stone walls over a metre high and topped with a dome roof made of earth or sod cladding.

Evidence of sophisticated stone engineering has been found in other parts of Australia. As late as 1894, a group of around 500 people still lived in houses near Bessibelle that were constructed out of stone with sod cladding on a timber-framed dome. Nineteenth Century observers also reported flat slab slate-type stone housing in South Australia’s north-east corner. These dome-shaped homes were built on heavy limbs and used clay to fill in the gaps. In New South Wales’ Warringah area, stone shelters were constructed in an elongated egg shape and packed with clay to keep the interior dry.

Australian Indigenous Housing Design

Housing for Indigenous people living in many parts of Australia has been characterised by an acute shortage of dwellings, poor quality construction, and housing stock ill-suited to Indigenous lifestyles and preferences. Rapid population growth, shorter lifetimes for housing stock and rising construction costs have meant that efforts to limit overcrowding and provide healthy living environments for Indigenous people have been difficult for governments to achieve. Indigenous housing design and research is a specialised field within housing studies. There have been two main approaches to the design of Indigenous housing in Australia - Health and Culture.

The cultural design model attempts incorporate understandings of differences in Aboriginal cultural norms into housing design. There a large body of knowledge on Indigenous housing in Australia that promotes the provision and design of housing that supports Indigenous residents’ socio-spatial needs, domilicary behaviours, cultural values and aspirations. The culturally specific needs for Indigenous housing have been identified as major factors in the success of housing and failing to recognise the varying and diverse cultural housing needs of Indigenous peoples have been cited as the reasons for Aboriginal housing failures by academics for a number of decades. Western style housing imposes conditions on Indigenous residents that may hinder the practice of cultural norms. If adjusting to living in a particular house strains relationships, then severe stress on the occupants may result. Ross noted, "Inappropriate housing and town planning have the capacity to disrupt social organisation, the mechanisms for maintaining smooth social relations, and support networks." There are a range of cultural factors which are discussed in the literature. These include designing housing to accommodate aspects of customary behaviour such as avoidance behaviours, household group structures, sleeping and eating behaviours, cultural constructs of crowding and privacy, and responses to death. All of the literature indicates that each housing design should be approached independently to recognise the many Indigenous cultures with varying customs and practices that exist across Australia.

The health approach to housing design developed as housing is an important factor affecting the health of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Substandard and poorly maintained housing along with non-functioning infrastructure can create serious health risks. The 'Housing for Health' approach developed from observations of the housing factors affecting Aboriginal peoples' health into a methodology for measuring, rating and fixing 'household hardware' deemed essential for health. The approach is based on nine 'healthy housing principles' which are the:

1. ability to wash people (especially children),
2. ability to wash clothes and bedding,
3. removing waste,
4. improving nutrition and food safety,
5. reducing impact of crowding,
6. reducing impact of pests, animals and vermin.
7. controlling dust,
8. temperature control, and
9. reducing trauma.

Contemporary Indigenous Architecture in Australia

Defining what is 'Indigenous architecture' in the contemporary context is a debate in some spheres. Many researchers and practitioners generally agree that Indigenous architectural projects are those which are designed for Indigenous clients or projects that imbue Aboriginality through consultation Aboriginal involvement. This latter category may include projects which are designed primarily for non-Indigenous users. Notwithstanding the definition, a range of projects have been designed for, by or with Indigenous users. The application of evidence-based research and consultation has led to museums, courts, cultural centres, keeping houses, prisons, schools and a range of other institutional and residential buildings being designed to meet the varying and differing needs and aspirations of Indigenous users.

Uluru-Kata Tjuta Cultural Centre (Architect: Gregory Burgess)

Notable Projects include:

• Marika Alderton House (Yirrkala, Northern Territory)
• Uluru-Kata Tjuta Cultural Centre] (Uluru, Northern Territory)
• Brambuk Cultural Centre (Halls Gap//Budja Budja , Grampians National Park Victoria)
• Wilcannnia Health Service (Wilcannia, New South Wales)
• Birabahn Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Centre, University of Newcastle, NSW
• Girrawaa Creative Works Centre(Bathurst, New South Wales)
• Achimbun Interpretive and Visitor Information Centre, (Weipa, Queensland)
• Tjulyuru Ngaanyatjarri Cultural and Civic Centre (Warburton, Western Australia)
• Port Augusta Courts Complex (Port Augusta, South Australia)
• Kurongkurl Katitjin Centre for Indigenous Australian Education and Research (Edith Cowan University, Perth, Western Australia)
• Aboriginal Dance Theatre (Redfern, New South Wales)
• Nyinkka-Nyunyu Art and Culture Centre (Tennant Creek, Northern Territory)
• Karijini National Park Visitors Centre (Pilbara, Western Australia)
• West Kimberley Regional Prison (Derby, Western Australia)
• Djakanimba Pavilions, (Wugularr or Beswick, North Territory)

Indigenous architecture of the 21st century has been enhanced by university-trained Indigenous architects, landscape architects and other design professionals who have incorporated different aspects of traditional Indigenous cultural references and symbolism, fused architecture with ethnoarchitectural styles and pursued various approaches to the questions of identity and architecture.

Prominent Practitioners

• Glenn Murcutt
• Gregory Burgess
• Dillon Kombumerri
• Kevin O'Brien
• Finn Pederson

Prominent Researchers

• Paul Memmott
• Paul Pholeros
• Elizabeth Grant
• Helen Ross

Canada

Canadian First Nations Traditional Architecture

A group of Haida bighouses

First Nations people of Canada developed rich building traditions thousands of years before the arrival of the first Europeans. Canada contained five broad cultural regions, defined by common climatic, geographical and ecological characteristics. Each region gave rise to distinctive building forms which reflected these conditions, as well as the available building materials, means of livelihood, and social and spiritual values of the resident peoples.

A striking feature of all First Nations architecture was the consistent integrity between structural forms and cultural values. The wigwam, (otherwise known as 'wickiup' or 'wetu), tipi and snow house were highly evolved building-forms perfectly suited to their environments and to the requirements of mobile hunting and gathering cultures. The longhouse, pit house and plank house were diverse responses to the need for more permanent building forms.

Tipi outside the Royal Military College of Canada

The semi-nomadic peoples of the Maritimes, Quebec, and Northern Ontario, such as the Mi'kmaq, Cree, and Algonquin generally lived in wigwams '. The wood framed structures, covered with an outer layer of bark, reeds, or woven mats; usually in a cone shape, although sometimes a dome. The groups changed locations every few weeks or months. They would take the outer layer of the structure with them, and leave the heavy wood frame in place. The frame could be reused if the group returned to the location at a later date.

Further south, in what is today Southern Ontario and Quebec the Iroquois society lived in permanent agricultural settlements holding several hundred to several thousand people. The standard form of housing was the long house. These were large structures, several times longer than they were wide holding a large number of people. They were built with a frame of saplings or branches, covered with a layer of bark or woven mats.

On the Prairies the standard form of life was a nomadic one, with the people often moving to a new location each day to follow the bison herds. Housing thus had to be portable, and the tipi was developed. The tipi consisted of a thin wooden frame and an outer covering of animal hides. The structures could be quickly erected, and were light enough to transport long distances.

In the Interior of British Columbia the standard form of home was the semi-permanent pit house, thousands of relics of which, known as quiggly holes are scattered across the Interior landscape. These were structures shaped like an upturned bowl, placed on top of a 3-or-4-foot-deep (0.91 or 1.22 m) pit. The bowl, made of wood, would be covered with an insulating layer of earth. The house would be entered by climbing down a ladder at the centre of the roof. See Quiggly hole.

Some of the most impressive First Nations architecture was that of the settled people of the west coast such as the Haida. These people used advanced carpentry and joinery skills to construct large houses of redcedar planks. These were large square, solidly built houses. The most advanced design was the six beam house, named for the number of beams that supported the roof. The front of each house would be decorated with a heraldric pole, the pole and sometimes the house would be brightly painted with artistic designs.

In the far north, where wood was scarce and solid shelter essential for survival, several unique and innovative architectural styles were developed. One of the most famous is the igloo, a domed structure made of snow, which was quite warm. In the summer months, when the igloos melted, tents made of seal skin, or other hides, were used. The Thule adopted a design similar to the pit houses of the BC interior, but because of the lack of wood they instead used whale bones for the frame.

In addition to meeting the primary need for shelter, structures functioned as integral expressions of their occupants' spiritual beliefs and cultural values. In all five regions, dwellings performed dual roles - providing both shelter and a tangible means of linking mankind with the universe. Building-forms were often seen as metaphorical models of the cosmos, and as such they frequently assumed powerful spiritual qualities which helped define the cultural identity the group.

First Nations Housing in Canada

As more and more settlers arrived in Canada, First Nations peoples were strongly motivated to move to newly created reserves. Upon their relocation to the reserves, the Canadian government encouraged Aboriginal people to build permanent houses and adopt farming in place of their traditional hunting and trapping. Not familiar to a sedentary lifestyle, many First Nations people continued to nomadically hunt and trap on their traditional hunting grounds. However, as much of southern Canada was settled in the late 1800s and early 1900s, traditional hunting and trapping grounds were no longer available to the First Nations people. Due to increasing pressure from the government and the loss of access to hunting and trapping grounds, most First Nations people gave up their nomadic way of life for a sedentary existence on Canadian reserves.

First Nations people were relative non-participants in the housing and economic boom Canada experienced after World War II. The majority of First Nations people remained living on remote, rural reserves in dwellings that were crowded and lacking in most or all amenities. As health services on Aboriginal reserves were increased during the 1950s and 1960s, life expectancy of First Nations people greatly increased. The increase in health services also resulted in a dramatic drop in the infant mortality rate in First Nations communities. The increase in life expectancy and decrease in infant mortality made the existing overcrowding situation in First Nations communities substantially worse.

Since the 1960s the living conditions in on-reserve housing in Canada has not improved significantly. Overcrowding remains a serious problem in many First Nations communities. Many houses are in serious need of repair and others still lack basic amenities. Poor conditions of housing on First Nations reserves has contributed to a large number of Aboriginal people leaving reserves and migrating to urban areas of Canada. Unfortunately, many First Nations people do not find refuge from paltry housing conditions upon arriving in urban areas of Canada. First Nations peoples living off-reserve have recently experienced high levels of homelessness, child poverty, tenancy, and transience.

Contemporary Canadian First Nations and Métis Architecture

Museum of Civilisation - The Public Wing containing the museum's galleries and other public spaces, the glazing of which is intended to symbolise a melting glacier.

Museum of Civilisation - The entrance to the Public Wing, evocative of a turtle head, native symbol of Mother Earth, with the entrance plaza along Laurier Avenue.

Notable Projects include:

• First Nations Longhouse (University of British Columbia Vancouver)
• Carlton University Library, (Ottawa, Ontario)
• The Canadian Museum of History (French: Musée canadien de l’histoire,(Gatineau, Quebec).
• The Spirit Garden, (Prince Arthur's Landing, Thunder Bay, Ontario)
• First Nations University, (Regina, Saskatchewan)
• Aboriginal Gathering Place Pavilion (Capilano University, Vancouver, British Columbia)
• Squamish Lil'wat Cultural Centre
• Hôtel-Musée Premières Nations (Wendake Québec)
• Precious Blood Roman Catholic Church (Winnipeg)

Prominent Practitioners

• Douglas Cardinal
• Etienne Gaboury
• Alfred Waugh
• Vivian Manasc
• Lubor Trubka

New Caledonia (Kanaky)

Kanak Traditional Architecture

Kanak cultures developed in the New Caledonia archipelago over a period of three thousand years. Today, France governs New Caledonia but has not developed a national culture. The Kanak claim for independence is upheld by a culture thought of as national by the indigenous population. Kanaks have settled over all the islands officially indicated by France as New Caledonia and Dependencies. The archipelago includes the principal island, Grande Terre, Belep Islands to the north and Isle of Pines to the south. It is bordered on the east by the Loyalty Islands, consisting of three coral atolls (Mare, Lifou, and Ouvea).

La Grande Case (Chief's Hut) at the Jean-Marie Tjibaou Cultural Centre, Nouméa, New Caledonia.

Kanak society is organised around clans, which are both social and spatial units. The clan could initially be made up of people related through a common ancestor, comprising several families. There can be between fifty and several hundred people in a clan. This basic definition of the clan has become modified over the years due to historical situations and places involving wars, disagreements, new arrivals etc. The clan structure, therefore, evolved as new people arrived and were given a place and a role in the social organisation of the clan, or through clan members leaving to join other clans.

Traditionally a village is set up in the following manner. The Chief's hut (called La Grande Case) lies at the end of a long and wide central walkway which is used for gathering and performing ceremonies. The Chief's younger brother lives in a hut at the other end. The rest of the village lives in huts along the central walkway, which is lined with auracarias or palms. Trees lined the alleys which were used as shady gathering places. For Kanak people, space is divided between premises reserved for important men and other residences placed closer to the women and children. Kanak people generally avoided being alone in empty spaces.

Fragment of a flèche faîtière of a La Grande Case made of houp wood, 18th century

The inside of a Grande Case is dominated by the central pole (made out of houp wood), which holds up the roof and the rooftop spear, the flèche faîtière. Along the walls are various posts which are carved to represent ancestors. The door is flanked by two carved door posts (called Katana), who were the “sentinels who reported the arrival of strangers”. There also is a carved door step. The rooftop spear has three main parts: the spear facing up, which prevents bad spirits coming down onto ancestor. The face, which represents the ancestor. The spear on the bottom which keep bad spirits coming up to ancestor.

The flèche faîtière or a carved rooftop spear, spire or finial is the home of ancestral spirits and is characterized by three major components. The ancestor is symbolized by a flat, crowned face in the centre of the spear. The ancestor's voice is symbolized by a long, rounded pole that is run through by conch shells. The symbolic connection of the clan, through the chief, is a base, which is planted into the case's central pole. Sharply pointed wood pieces fan out from either end of the central area, symbolically preventing bad spirits from being able to reach the ancestor. It evokes, beyond a particular ancestor, the community of ancestors. and represents the ancestral spirits, symbolic of transition between the world of the dead and the world of the living.

The arrow or the spear normally has a needle at the end to insert threaded shells from bottom to top; one of the shells contains arrangements to ensure protection of the house and the country. During wars enemies attacked this symbolic finial. After the death of a Kanak chief, the flèche faîtière is removed and his family takes it to their home. Though it is allowed to be used again, as a sign of respect, it is normally kept at burial grounds of noted citizens or at the mounds of abandoned grand houses.

The form of the buildings varied from island to island, but were generally round in plan and conical in the vertical elevation. The traditional hut features represent the organization and lifestyle of the occupants. The hut is the endogenous Kanak architectural element and built entirely of plant material taken from the surrounding forest reserve. Consequently, from one area to another, the materials used are different. Inside the hut, a hearth is built on the floor between the entrance and the centre pole that defines a collective living space covered with pandanus leaf (ixoe) woven mats, and a mattress of coconut leaves (behno). The round hut is the translation of physical and material into Kanak cultures and social relations within the clan.

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  Detail of carved door posts (Katana)
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  Detail of carved door posts (Katana)
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  Interior view of hut with a hearth
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  Exhibit of the various stages of construction of a Kanak hut

Kanak Contemporary Architecture

Contemporary Kanak society has several layers of customary authority, from the 4,000-5,000 family-based clans to the eight customary areas (aires coutumières) that make up the territory. Clans are led by clan chiefs and constitute 341 tribes, each headed by a tribal chief. The tribes are further grouped into 57 customary chiefdoms (chefferies), each headed by a head chief, and forming the administrative subdivisions of the customary areas.

Jean-Marie Tjibaou Cultural Centre in Nouméa

The Jean-Marie Tjibaou Cultural Centre (French: Centre culturel Tjibaou), on the narrow Tinu Peninsula, approximately 8 kilometres (5.0 mi) northeast of the historic centre of Nouméa, the capital of New Caledonia, celebrates the vernacular Kanak culture, amidst much political controversy over the independent status sought by Kanaks from French rule. It opened in June 1998 and was designed by Italian architect Renzo Piano and named after Jean-Marie Tjibaou, the leader of the independence movement who was assassinated in 1989 and who had a vision of establishing a cultural centre which blended the linguistic and artistic heritage of the Kanak people.

The Kanak building traditions and the resources of modern international architecture were blended by Piano. The formal curved axial layout, 250 metres (820 ft) long on the top of the ridge, contains ten large conical cases or pavilions (all of different dimensions) patterned on the traditional Kanak Grand Hut design. The building is surrounded by landscaping which is also inspired by traditional Kanak design elements. Marie Claude Tjibaou, widow of Jean Marie Tjibaou and current leader of the Agency for the Development of Kanak Culture (ADCK), observed: "We, the Kanaks, see it as a culmination of a long struggle for the recognition of our identity; on the French Government’s part it is a powerful gesture of restitution."

The building plans, spread over an area of 8,550 square metres (92,000 sq ft) of the museum, were conceived to incorporate the link between the landscape and the built structures in the Kanak traditions. The people had been removed from their natural landscape and habitat of mountains and valleys and any plan proposed for the art centre had to reflect this aspect. Thus, the planning aimed at a unique building which would be, as the architect Piano stated, "to create a symbol and ...a cultural centre devoted to Kanak civilization, the place that would represent them to foreigners that would pass on their memory to their grand children". The model as finally built evolved after much debate in organized 'Building Workshops' in which Piano’s associate, Paul Vincent and Alban Bensa, an anthropologist of repute on Kanak culture were also involved. The precursor for this cultural centre was the first cultural festival held in 1975 in New Caledonia, which was a focused celebration of Kanak culture. The Melanasia 2000 Festival was also held at the same venue where the centre has been established now. The centre is also termed as "A politicized symbolic project", which evolved over long period of research and intense debate.

The Kanak villages planning principles where made the houses in groups with the Chief’s house at the end of an open public alley formed by other buildings clustered along on both sides was adopted in the Cultural Centre planned by Piano and his associates. An important concept that evolved after deliberations in the 'building workshops, after Piano won the competition for building the art centre, also involved "landscaping ideas" to be created around each building. To this end, an interpretative landscape path was conceived and implemented around each building with series of vegetative cover avenues along the path that surrounded the building, but separated it from the lagoon. This landscape setting appealed to the Kanak people when the centre was inaugurated. Even the approach to the buildings from the paths catered to the local practices of walking for three quarters of the path to get to the entrance to the Cases. One critic of the building observed: "It was very intelligent to use the landscape to introduce the building. This is the way the Kanak people can understand".

New Zealand/Aotearoa

Traditional Māori Architecture

Pataka with tekoteko

The first known dwellings of the ancestors of Māori were based on houses from their Polynesian homelands (Māori are known to have migrated from eastern Polynesia no later than 850 A.D.). The Polynesians found they needed warmth and protection from a climate markedly different from the warm and humid tropical Polynesian islands. The early colonisers soon modified their construction techniques to suit the colder climate. Many traditional island building techniques were retained, using new materials: raupo reed, toetoe grass, aka vines and native timbers: totara, pukatea and manuka. Archeological evidence suggests that the design of Moa-hunter sleeping houses (850-1350 AD) was similar to that of houses found in Tahiti and eastern Polynesia. These were rectangular, round, oval, or 'boat-shaped' semi-permanent dwellings.

These buildings were semi-permanent, as people moved around looking for food sources. Houses had wooden frames covered in reeds or leaves, with mats on earth floors. To help people keep warm, houses were small, with low doors, earth insulation and a fire inside. The standard building in a Māori settlement was a simple sleeping whare puni (house/hut) about 2 metres x 3 metres with a low roof, an earth floor, no window and a single low doorway. Heating was provided by a small open fire in winter. There was no chimney. Materials used in construction varied between areas, but raupo reeds, flax and totara bark shingles for the roof were common. Similar small whare, but with interior drains, were used to store kumara on sloping racks. Around the 15th century communities became bigger and more settled. People built wharepuni – sleeping houses with room for several families, and a front porch. Other buildings included pātaka (storehouses), sometimes decorated with carvings, and kāuta (cooking houses).

The classic phase (1350-1769) which was characterized by a more developed tribal society expressing itself clearly in wood carving and architecture. The most spectacular building type was the whare-whakairo, or carved meeting house. This building was the focus of social and symbolic Maori assemblies, and made visible a long tribal history. The wall slabs depicted warriors, chiefs and explorers. The painted rafter patterns and tututuku panels demonstrated the Maori love for land, forest and river. The whare-whakairo was a colourful synthesis of carved architecture, expressing reverence for ancestors and love of nature. In the classic period, a higher proportion of whare were located inside pa than was the case after contact with Europeans. A chief's whare was similar but larger—often with full headroom in the centre, a small window and a partly enclosed front porch. In times of conflict the chief lived in a whare on the tihi or summit of a hill pa. In colder areas, such as in the North Island central plateau, it was common for whare to be partly sunk into the ground for better insulation.

A marae at Kaitotehe, near Taupiri mountain, Waikato district, 1844. It was associated with Pōtatau Te Wherowhero, a chief who became the first Māori king.

Ngāti Porou ancestor, Ruatepupuke is said to have established the tradition of whare whakairo (carved meeting houses) on the East Coast. Whare whakairo are often named after ancestors and considered to embody that person. The house is seen as an outstretched body, and can be addressed like a living being. A wharenui (literally 'big house' alternatively known asmeeting houses, whare rūnanga or whare whakairo (literally "carved house") is a communal house generally situated as the focal point of a marae. The present style of wharenui originated in the early to middle nineteenth century. The houses are often carved inside and out with stylised images of the iwi's ancestors, with the style used for the carvings varying from iwi to iwi. The houses always have names, sometimes the name of an ancestor or sometimes a figure from Māori mythology. While a meeting house is considered sacred, it is not a church or house of worship, but religious rituals may take place in front of or inside a meeting house. On most marae, no food may be taken into the meeting house.

Food was not cooked in the sleeping whare but in the open or under a kauta (lean-to). Saplings with branches and foliage removed were used to store and dry item such as fishing nets or cloaks. Valuable items were stored in pole-mounted storage shelters called pataka. Other constructions were large racks for drying split fish.

The marae was the central place of the village where culture can be celebrated and intertribal obligations can be met and customs can be explored and debated, where family occasions such as birthdays can be held, and where important ceremonies, such as welcoming visitors or farewelling the dead (tangihanga), can be performed.

The position of the maihi shown in red

The building often symbolises an ancestor of the wharenui's tribe. So different parts of the building refer to body parts of that ancestor:

• the koruru at the point of the gable on the front of the wharenui can represent the ancestor's head
• the maihi (the diagonal bargeboards) signify arms; the ends of the maihi are called raparapa, meaning "fingers"
• the tāhuhu (ridge beam) represents the backbone
• the heke or rafters signify ribs
• internally, the poutokomanawa (central column) can be interpreted as the heart

Other important components of the wharenui include:

• the amo, the vertical supports that hold up the ends of the maihi
• the poupou, or wall carving underneath the verandah
• the kūwaha or front door, along with the pare or door lintel
• the paepae, the horizontal element on the ground at the front of the wharenui, acts as the threshold of the building

Contemporary Māori Architecture

Whenuakura Marae in Taranaki. Marae continue to function as local community centres in contemporary Māori society.

Rau Hoskins defines Māori architecture as anything that involves a Māori client with a Māori focus. “I think traditionally Māori architecture has been confined to marae architecture and sometimes churches, and now Māori architecture manifests across all environments, so we have Māori immersion schools, Māori medical centres and health clinics, Māori tourism ventures, and papa kāinga or domestic Māori villages. So the opportunities that exist now are very diverse. The kaupapa (purpose or reason) for the building and client’s aspirations are the key to how the architecture manifests.”

Tānenuiarangi, the wharenui at Waipapa marae, University of Auckland, New Zealand.

From the 1960s, marae complexes were built in urban areas. In contemporary context these generally comprise a group of buildings around an open space, that frequently host events such as weddings, funerals, church services and other large gatherings, with traditional protocol and etiquette usually observed. They also serve as the base of one or sometimes several hapū. The marae is still wāhi tapu, a 'sacred place' which carries cultural meaning. They included buildings such as wharepaku (toilets) and whare ora (health centres). Meeting houses were still one large space with a porch and one door and window in front. In the 1980s marae began to be built in prisons, schools and universities.

Notable Projects include:

• Tānenuiarangi, Wharenui at Waipapa Marae, (University of Auckland)
• Māori Studies facilities, UNITEC and Tairawhiti Polytechnic
• Ruapoutaka Marae, Glen Innes
• Ngäti Otara Marae and Te Rawheoro Marae (Tolaga Bay)
• Futuna Chapel (Karori, Wellington)

Prominent Practitioners

• John Scott
• Wiremu Royal
• Rewi Thompson
• Rau Hoskins

Prominent Researchers

• Elsdon Best
• Diedre Brown

External links

• Australian Institute of Architects (AIA)
• ArchitectureAU - online repository of Architecture Australia, the magazine of the Australian Institute of Architects
• Center for Vernacular Architecture-Bangalore-India
• Vernacular Architecture Forum
• Vernacular Architecture Examples at GreatBuildings
• Vernacular Architecture and Landscape Architecture Research Guide – Environmental Design Library, University of California, Berkeley
• Himalayan Vernacular Architecture - Technische Universität Berlin