Hotunui and the Maori Marae

http://www.travelblog.org/Photos/4170099

1. It is unusual to have a self contained structure like the Hotunui wharenui situated in the interior of another building, the Museum. The context of the building changes how it feels to approach the wharenui on a Marae. Being placed in a Museum it becomes less a focus of community and more an artefact of history that can be physically experienced by moving through it. It is less unusual once inside as the mausoleum like structure of the museum recedes and the surroundings are once again on a human and intimate scale. The process of removing shoes and crossing the threshold from a (perceived) exterior to interior has an aura of ritual and mystery to it that is enhanced when viewing the old carvings and thinking - "who made them, when and what do they represent?'. It is a very special experience.

2. Michael Austin is a Professor and Programme Leader of Architecture at Unitec New Zealand.

3. Austin has a Master's of Architecture and his doctoral thesis from 1976 was the first to argue that "Maori buildings were architecture, not just shelter, and deserved to be recognised with the same level of respect as Western architecture." (Barton, 2009). I agree with Austin as I feel vernacular architecture is increasingly important in the twenty first century especially for its ability to instruct contemporary architects how to design buildings that are sympathetic to their local environments and have a light ecological footprint on it.

4. Austin believes the experience of visiting a Marae and understanding the importance of it can only be "...interpreted by considering the architecture, social action and world view of the Maori." (Austin, 1976, p.223.)

5. Austin describes the Maori concept of community home (Marae) as being of greater importance than the individual family home. Austin states, "Marae, the place that a Maori refers to and expects to return to - on his death if not before." (Austin, 1976, p. 224)

This differs from the western sense of home because for westerners home usually refers to the house they primarily live in and can also be a parents or grandparents house, which is known as the 'family home'.

6. My home is the house I own with my fiance. My parents are divorced and neither live in the house I grew up in so I do not have a "family home" connection with either of their houses. However, a house I would consider a secondary home is my aunt and uncle's place  in Wellington, the city my father's family are originally from. I have lived with my aunt at different times through my life and going to stay at her place feels like 'going home'.

7. Austin defines the marae as... "the space IN FRONT OF the house. This is paralleled by social roles where those who speak on the marae are known as the 'man in front' (tangata i umua) emphasising that the house is necessary for the marae to operate. This space is further defined by the host group who range themselves on one side or the other of the facade of the house." (Austin, 1976, p. 228)

8. The social roles discussed by Austin, Tangata i mua (men who stand in front), Tangata i waho (men who stand outside) and Tangata i muri (men who stand behind) (Austin, 1976, p. 228, 229, 230) lay the marae out spatially so that it occupies not just the buildings of the space but the areas in between. These are emphasised as being just as important as locations of interaction and activity as the structures within the space.

9. According to Austin, how does the meeting house discuss notions of embodiment?
Austin describes the meeting house as spatially embodying the social positions of those within and that the structure of the house represents a geneology and history of the inhabitants. He sums it up as "when one enters the enclosure of the house, one enters the body of the ancestor." (Austin, 1976, p.231)


References

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/news/article.cfm?c_id=1501119&objectid=10570249

Austin, Michael. “A Descripton of the Maori Marae (1976).” New Dreamland: Writing New Zealand
Architecture. Ed. D. L. Jenkins. Auckland: Random House New Zealand; 2005. pp. 222-235