Conversing with Horotiu

CONVERSING WITH HOROTIU

RECONNECTING PEOPLE WITH TAMAKI MAKAURAU

University of Auckland | Master of Architecture (Professional)

Advanced Design 1 | Daniel Ho

Supervisor | Julie Stout

ABSTRACT

A meaningful Heart of the City should encourage an active relationship between people and the primordial entities of the land. The ripples of the Waihorotiu stream have suggested that Central Auckland’s primordial entity, Horotiu has been present throughout history. But the physical territory it guards and sustains is the most tangible mark of Horotiu’s existence. Thus, Horotiu’s presence cannot be separated from the land itself.

‘Daylighting’ Horotiu requires an understanding of how the physical geography of Central Auckland has evolved. The story is segmented into 6 chapters, each expressing changes of Horotiu’s territory in human history.

Conceived from a psycho-geographical recording of these events, the landscape mutates as one walks through each chapter. The catharsis of the puna emerging from underground; the respectfully terraformed pa terraces of the first Maori settlers; the topographic diaspora of European town planning; the Waihorotiu Stream exiled and entombed below the pavement; the human discourse that gradually erased Horotiu’s presence; the leaks in our existing pavement that prelude Horotiu’s rediscovery and re-emergence.

In the end, we witness Horotiu rising back into Tamaki Makaurau. Its body fluctuating underneath the pavement; lifting the pavement and revealing passageways that descend into its domain. This forms the main Urban Room. A place where people can gather, discuss, and mediate on how Auckland should be in the presence of Horotiu. These spaces empower Horotiu; informing through its story the evolution of Auckland and advocating a more meaningful discussion on how we co-exist with the land.