October 09, 2023
Māori firm excels on Kupe commission
Te Mahurehure Marae chair Christine Panapa says the sweetest thing about the accolade for the marae’s new education centre was how it sprang out of its own soil.
Te Taumata o Kupe received a supreme award at this year’s at last Friday’s Designers Institute Best Design Awards, as well as a gold pin Toitanga category for Māori storytelling and artistic expression.
Ms Panapa says while Nicholas Dalton from Maori-led practice TOA Architects was the creative director, the bid was sealed by the involvement of Matekitātahi Rāwiri, who had been through the kohanga reo across from the Point Chevalier marae.
“We said, ‘oh goodness me Matekitātahi, you’re it, you’re going to be the architect.’ So that’s how it actually started. We did not know Toa Architects, we did not know, Nick, but when this young man stood up, and he pitched his korero to the people of Te Māhurehure, that was good enough for us. And then the rest is well, as you see outside here,” she says.
Matekitātahi Rawiri’s mother Kere Ainsley was the first wahine Māori to become registered as an architect.