Between Chromas of Borderline

Conflict is everywhere. It is evident both historically and in the present. Actual wars exhibit strategic greed, so much so that they even impact peace, leading to an ever-increasing demand for security against risks that may threaten the nation, its people, its property, and economic stability. The modern era of peace is maintained through infinite preparation for war—although this era of peace is highly selective, leaving those outside the Global North subject to endless sub-conflicts and threats. [1]

This ever-present prevention of war has metamorphosised and penetrated into our 21st-century society itself. At times, it seems as though we are at war with ourselves. Privilege rests on advantages exercised over others. Wealth is evident for some and plainly absent for others. Economic strain and the exercise of privilege over others, particularly cultural others, lead to resentment and, in turn, to suspicion, anger, desperation, and, in some cases, crime. In conjunction with quantitatively accessible, socially stratified, and aristocratically praised media and entertainment content that normalizes the definition of the "average," society becomes increasingly sensitive to these conditions and implements ever-greater security measures in its surroundings. Thus, protective border walls and other actual and ephemeral mechanisms are naturally built. Policing of speed and the protection of those with advantages are pervasive. The conflicting condition in our society between people of foreign cultures is a reflection of the warring ideologies, historical grievances, and social inequalities that continue to divide us, shaping both our perceptions of others and the policies that govern our interactions.

The project locates itself in the Auckland Domain, a place with a complex cultural and geological past, the volcanic craters serve as a strategic location, useful for both defense and habitation. Numerous battles were fought here between different iwi throughout the history of Tāmaki Makaurau. Post-colonization, this site has also been used for war preparation on a global scale.

In considering the site, and specifically the Auckland War Memorial Museum, there was a wonder of what other approaches to conflict and the countering of the losses associated with it might be expressed and developed. Sometimes, conflict and loss at the Domain have resulted in grand architecture and venerated spaces. At a more everyday level, conflict plays out in the ordinary sense of competitive sport. Thinking about this spectrum of scales in which conflict manifests, the project was driven by how the commemorative and ordinary competitiveness might transition into each other. Certainly, some have argued that sport is a surrogate for war, an activity that tempers our conflictual natures and teaches us about contest and its peaceful and joyful resolution. The project you see before you is the attempt to bring together the commemorative and the ordinary competitive wills.

We're all just humans with different chromas of borderlines within us. Humans are never just black and white. We’re made of walls that hold colourful values within ourselves. This is what makes humanity beautiful and simultaneously fearful. Even though we may sit on a different spectrum of borderlines, there are gradients in between that bridge us as a whole human being. This thesis aims to explore the concept of cultural spaces shaped by a range of identities. By integrating social, cultural, and personal perspectives in linkage with the concept of remembrance of our past and present, it seeks to foster a broader understanding of space—one that is inclusive, fluid, and continuously redefined towards a better future.