-78-
Te Papa as a Cultural Topography; A Metaphorical Landscape As architecture, there is a degree of solidity and permanence which is expected from Te Papa as a structure; yet some way must be found for this solid and unbending object to act as the physical representation of an entire nation. Museums are essentially a national mapping device, charged with the task of melding “...ontological meanings with cultural terrains.”67 By fufilling this task museums such as Te Papa Tongarewa have the potential to create cultural templates, cultural touchstones, for New Zealanders to live by. This potential is achieved through striking a balance between describing the (past and present) social and political climate, and helping to actively decide what that climate is.68 The concept of national identity is a troublesome one, as it is hard to define, create, or discover. It is such a fluid, complex, and therefore largely indefinable problem from which people within New Zealand have tried to force a solid and definable concept. Therein lies the biggest challenge for Te Papa Tongarewa. This is the challenge of addressing the conflicting societal expectations for the museum to be both a traditional representation of architecture, while making a physical statement on New Zealand’s constantly changing state of nation. From this problem landscape architecture emerges as a necessary tool for analysing and re-connecting these ambitions. Landscape is something to which everyone can relate. All people have memories, associations and expectations derived from the different types of lands to which we are exposed daily. We imprint our personal identity on the terrain, just as that terrain and land continues to imprint themselves on us, defining us within its larger system.
67 Williams, P. (2005). A Breach on the beach: Te Papa and the fraying of biculturalism. Museum and Society, 3(2). 83. 68 Ibid.