Caleb Mokomoko from Te Wānanga Aronui o Tāmaki Makau Rau—Auckland University Of Technology, School of Future Environments—Huri te Ao is a finalist for his project 'Te Whare o te Ao Hou'.
Project description
Te Whare o te Ao Hou (The House of the New World) sits adjacent to Ōpape Marae, grounded in the landscape of rural Ōpōtiki. It speaks to the self-determination of new life, tracing the passage from Te Pō into Te Ao Mārama, a journey of emergence and renewal. This project proposes a new vernacular of Māori birthing architecture, one that honours wāhine, restores spiritual connection, and reclaims birth from the rigid, linear systems of the institution. It imagines architecture as a vessel for sovereignty, resilience, and intergenerational knowledge.
The series of whare, Te Hā, the birthing house; Te Ahi Kā, the burning house; and Te Wai Ora, the bathing house, are arranged to allow wāhine to move freely between them towards the end of their hapūtanga. This separation of whare offers agency and choice, dissolving institutional boundaries and creating a spatial and spiritual rhythm aligned with Te Ao Māori understandings of birth, renewal, and care.
