Contested Histories aims to analyse and interpret the histories of conflict within three sites of Tāmaki Makaurau. It does so by developing a new methodology based on site-specific analogue explorations. The unique explorations undertaken on each site are subsequently developed into three open-ended architectural proposals which challenge the hegemonic histories evident across all of Tāmaki Makaurau.
The city of Tāmaki Makaurau/Auckland has had a highly contested and conflicted history, largely due to its desirability as a settlement with abundant natural resources and ideal location. The common threads of contest and conflict, particularly between Māori and European populations, have been deposited on sites throughout the city. This thesis aims to analyse and respond to these histories at three different sites within the city. The process of analysis and response has explored the following question:
How can creative methods discover and extract contested histories, and how can these histories be revealed and enhanced by architecture?
The three sites explored within this thesis are representative of Auckland’s geographical, cultural, and political history: Meola Reef, Ihumātao, and Bastion Point.
Meola Reef is a physical stratification, where different layers of the landscape each represent a moment on the site.
Ihumātao represents a timeline of how the use of land has been abused over time but also how modern protests and resistance are fighting against this change.
Bastion Point brings the political layer to the forefront, highlighting how the Māori people were fragmented and marginalised by colonial powers.
Creative emphasis is placed on the processes used to reveal and re-interpret the layering of histories in sites of conflict. Iterations of collages, physical modelling, and on-site explorations are undertaken on all three sites. However, as each site is further understood, a unique methodology is formulated to respond to sites of conflict. The methodology follows a structure comprising of four phases: research, documentation, abstraction, and reinterpretation. This methodology allows an open-ended use of methods, informed by the process applied on site. The methodology draws upon theories such as design as research, and ethnographic approaches.
The three interventions developed in response to the contested histories challenge the existing readings of each site. The architecture proposes new ways of use and occupation on the site that challenge the hegemony present in landscapes of colonial history.
