Local Cultures – Global Spaces

Abstract

Architecture is meant to be ‘read’, it is a language that operates within a semiotic system relevant to cultural, social and political values and behaviours. As a ‘language’ system we require understanding of it in order to make meaning, and through this meaning we establish an identity whereby we see ourselves through its (the architectural form) representational attributes. This is the obligation of architecture as a form of cultural narrative. Within a New Zealand context, our understanding of architecture as a post-colonial nation was heavily informed by the seminal text “The Elegant Shed”. This became synonymous with concepts of NZ architecture aligning to understated, utilitarian precedents such as the well-recognised farm shed typology. Within this framework, the contextual reading of form, signposted through ‘shed’, implied a separation of structure from surface articulation (Owen Jones, 2001). In essence, the ‘shed’ is decorated. In re-reading the language of post-colonial architecture, it is noted that applied ornamentation through the use of Māori motifs and symbols was, at a time, a nod towards recognising our bi-culturalism. However, these attempts often failed to transcend the surface, literally and metaphorically and, retrospectively, reinforced Jones’s proposition that the ‘grammar’ of ornamentation is subservient to architecture. As we stand today, Aotearoa New Zealand’s collective voice is shifting. Our reading of architecture as a post-colonial nation, is no longer sufficient as we seek to embody bi-culturalism under Te Tiriti o Waitangi. Currently, the contextual reading of built form challenges the pre-existing understanding of cultural inclusion as an applied practice. Evidence suggests that a move towards co-design within architectural practice is occurring, however we are seeking to understand how this ‘new’ architecture is to be read.