Taumata o Kupe

Background

Te Māhurehure is a sub-tribe of Ngāpuhi from the Hokianga region.^[1] Post World War II, diaspora in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland searched for a site to maintain cultural identity and belonging in a predominantly non-Māori population.^[1] The site of Taumata o Kupe used to be Auckland's tip,^[2] and the current site is a result of decades of commitment from numerous people in and around the Te Māhurehure community.^[3] In 1969, a plot of land was purchased in Point Chevalier which housed a rugby field and clubhouse.^[1] The Te Māhurehure Cultural Marae Society was formed here, dedicating funds from community events to the mortgage and further marae development.^[1] Elders began discussing the need for a designated space for communicating oral histories, a place where mātauranga Māori, especially that to do with Kupe, could be received.^[1] The name Kupe recalls the Polynesian navigator thought in Māori legend to be the discoverer of Aotearoa New Zealand.^[4] The sails on the waka of which Kupe arrived on were a starting point for TOA Architect's design.^[2]

TOA Architects worked closely with Te Māhurehure when creating this site, as well as Matua Rereata Mākiha.^[5][6] Consultation and co-designing was an important aspect in the process, in order to acknowledge the indigenous people of the land, ensuring their needs are represented and accounted for.^[2] Construction was slowed during COVID-19 due to lockdowns, supply-chain distributions and contractor changes.^[1]

On the 12th November, 2022, Taumata o Kupe opened with a dawn ceremony attended by 300 people.^[1] It cites itself as a location "designed for the exchange and passing down of esoteric knowledge," aimed particularly at enriching Māori youth and those of Ngāpuhi descent.^[7]

Architecture

The construction and design of Taumata o Kupe is an example of Aotearoa New Zealand's contemporary Māori architecture. The site measures at 600 square feet over two levels.^[5] The building veers from the structure of a conventional wharenui (Māori meeting house) with its rectangular gabled-shaped building.^[4]

The glass facade is split in two, with the bottom tilted inwards, suggesting alluding to the nautical themes of sails and rudders.^[2][4]The diagonal black wind brace which traces the front façade recalls the forms of stays used on Māori sails.^[8] Multicoloured glass panels feature on the front and back of the building, with designs informed by mātauranga (knowledge) shared by Rereata Makiha.^[1] The glass panels illustrate Kupe's journey, drawing inspiration from whakairo rākau and kōwhaiwhai traditions as well as contemporary Māori artist Cliff Whiting's aesthetic and colour palette.^[1]

TOA Architects designed the raised platform of the building to reference the Society Islands taumata (hill) from where Kupe departed for Aotearoa New Zealand.^[4] The entry sits to the side of the building, built with timber from a 3500-year-old Northland swamp kauri.^[4] In Māori tradition, the kauri is the tree that created all life.^[2] Suspended from the entryway is a pare - a carved lintel made out of the same kauri wood.^[2] This is a integral piece in a marae believed to guard the entrance, separating the outside and inside world.^[9]

The interior is split into two floors, with the ground floor dedicated as an open-discussion space that can accommodate up to 300 visitors.^[4] The ground floor is designed to represent the terrestrial world and the mezzanine floor, with its light constellation ceiling, represents the celestial realm.^[2] The mezzanine provides an area for communicating tapu (sacred) knowledge and provides space for overnight stays.^[1][2]

The north-eastern end of the building stretches into a deck which looks over Waitītiko Creek and is surrounded by native vegetation planted throughout the years of Te Māhurehure's ownership of the land.^[4]

Recognition

Taumata o Kupe was the 2023 New Zealand Institute of Architects Awards Winner for Public Architecture in Auckland.^[3]

At the Best Design Awards in 2023, TOA Architects won gold in the Toitanga category, as well as the supreme purple pin, for work which raises the bar for New Zealand design.^[10]

In 2024, Taumata o Kupe received the John Scott Award for Public Architecture.^[11] The award recognised the history of which the design arose from as well as its enrichment of the community it serves.^[6] Also in 2024, the building was shortlisted in two categories—best use of colour, and civic and community—at the World Architecture Festival.^[12]