Designing Success from Childhood Dreams

From an early age Maia Ratana’s flair for building design was recognised and encouraged. Whenua talks to the PKW Trust 2018 Charles Bailey Scholar about her journey from those early drawings to Master’s study.

Maia Ratana remembers being about seven years old when an uncle first told her she should be an architect.

“I was always fascinated with the way buildings are used, the social implications more than what they were made of or how they looked,” she says.

“I was always drawing floorplans for buildings when I was a kid and I’ve still got them all.”

The 28-year-old has been selected to receive the PKW 2018 Charles Bailey Scholarship, worth $7,500 each year for a maximum of 3 years to support her in her studies towards a Master of Architecture (Professional) degree.

But the pathway to studying architecture wasn’t always so clearly in focus for Auckland-based Maia, who initially took another creative route into tertiary study.

But by the end of that first year of study, Maia knew continuing with music wasn’t hitting the right notes. Having gone straight to study from high school at Rotorua Girls’, she felt like she needed some space and time to figure out what she really did want to do.

A year spent living with her grandparents in Te Puke helped her refocus and re-energise, and the decision was made to learn how to turn her childhood floorplans into real spaces.

Maia returned to Auckland, where she completed her Bachelor of Architectural Studies degree at Unitech, followed by a Certificate in te reo Māori Proficiency at Te Wānanga Takiura o Ngā Kura Kaupapa Māori.

Now she’s back at Unitech, studying towards her Master’s, which she will finish in 2019.

But architecture isn’t just a focus of this wahine’s academic career – it is a passion that encompasses her whole life.

Maia is a consultant with ĀKAU, an innovative design and architecture not-for-profit organisation based in Kaikohe with a specific focus on engaging with young people when planning for the future.

Her current role involves developing a programme which will connect industry professionals with young people in regional communities. She is also involved in the Building Better Homes, Towns and Cities National Science Challenge, focusing on rangatahi engagement papakāinga revival.

“It’s important to have rangatahi involved because we’re providing for them, the next generations,” she says.

Maia’s ultimate dream is to help people around the country realise their untapped potential in the architectural space, to understand that those natural skills around drawing, design work and even graffiti can be transferred and developed into creating places and spaces for people.

“That’s my long-term vision, whether it happens here (at ĀKAU) or on my own,” she says.

“I learned classical violin growing up and thought I’d take that further, especially after all the effort, time and money Mum, Dad and I had invested, so I studied that for my first year of uni,” she says.

Mum is Simone Graham and dad is Rick Ratana. Her kuia is Meteria Ratana (nee Broughton) of Ngaa Rauru.

Maia says she also wants to help build strong, supportive networks because there’s far more than just studying to get through the qualifications.

“It’s about creating ways to help Māori students get through as it can be hard, especially here in Auckland.”

She is really grateful to her own whānau who have always been there for her.

“I’ve been really lucky, I’ve always had them to help me along the way, through all the decisions I’ve made over the years.”

In particular she’s very mindful of her partner Marshall (Mala) Tepania who is in the airforce and is ‘carrying the load’ while she studies.

She says there are not many Māori architects around and few of those are women, so she lists wāhine like politicians Marama Fox and Marama Davidson among her role models, alongside industry experts like Deidre Brown and her colleagues from ĀKAU.

Maia has worked under Rau Hoskins from designTRIBE, an architecture firm with more than 20 years working in the Māori building space.

She believes that the best people to design the Māori spaces of the future are Māori themselves because there’s a huge difference between being consulted on a project and having an architect who has a fundamental cultural understanding about what purposes buildings need to serve.

“It’s important that we do it ourselves, because no-one understands our needs like we do,”she states.

Maia is also a warrior for the environment, being active in Te Ara Whatu, a rangatahi-based group advocating for indigenous rights in the climate change conversation.

In October last year she was part of a delelgation that addressed the United Nations at the UNFCCC in Germany on this kaupapa, seeking to build capacity for indigenous youth to effect change.

It’s hard to imagine when she has the time, but relaxing for Maia means reading and hanging out with friends and whānau.

One day, she hopes that she will return to Taranaki, giving back to PKW and her wider Taranaki whānau.

“This scholarship has taken pressure off financially, especially living here in Auckland,” says Maia.

“I want to move to Taranaki when I finish my studies. I know PKW is more focused on farming than architecture, but it’s an interesting space and there’s opportunity to move with the future. I want to be involved with what’s happening.”

Maia has a closer look at the design and architecture of the Len Lye Centre in New Plymouth, Taranaki.