Te Tatau Kaitiaki
The Te Ao Mārama South Atrium project deepens the relationship between the Auckland War Memorial Museum, and its unique place in Auckland Tāmaki Makaurau, delivering bicultural spaces and enriching the visitor experience. Together the architecture and artwork pay tribute to the museum’s heritage and express in contemporary language new concepts, form, and materiality to connect visitors to the building, the museum
collections and its’ context in Tāmaki Makarau, and beyond to Aotearoa and the South Pacific.
Agency
Graham Tipene artist in collaboration with Jasmax, FJMT and DesignTRIBE
Practice Area
Client
Auckland War Memorial Museum, Tāmaki Paenga Hira
Industry
The Challenge
The key challenge faced by the artist and design teams was how best to integrate the artists creative intent into the ceremonial doors designed as a key feature at entrance of the redeveloped South Atrium.
The work blends traditional Māori design and concepts with a modern fabrication technique using digital carving. The artists original idea was backlit, CNC- routed perspex, however after months of prototyping and tests in routed veneer board ultimately proved unsuccessful due to poor aesthetic results.
It was then decided to establish a multi- disciplinary team to explore new approaches to how the artists creative intent could be ‘digitally carved’ and arranged around the exterior skin of the doors.
The redeveloped Te Ao Mārama South Atrium, Auckland War Memorial Museum, Tāmaki Paenga Hira
© Lightforge, © Auckland War Memorial Museum Tāmaki Paenga Hira
Ceremonial entrance way to Te Ao Mārama South Atrium, Auckland War Memorial Museum, Tāmaki Paenga Hira
© Lightforge, © Auckland War Memorial Museum Tāmaki Paenga Hira
Detail of the digitally carved artwork Te Tatau Kaitiaki by Graham Tipene
© Daan Hoffman, © Auckland War Memorial Museum Tāmaki Paenga Hira
Detail of the digitally carved artwork Te Tatau Kaitiaki by Graham Tipene
© Daan Hoffman, © Auckland War Memorial Museum Tāmaki Paenga Hira
Design + Execution
Te Tatau Kaitiaki is fabricated in totāra, a New Zealand native timber renowned for its resilience. The sourced tōtara is from a tree that was felled 100 years ago and was 800 years old when it was felled. The artwork was executed using indigenous knowledge with the modern technology of digital fabrication, acknowledging the theme of connecting new with old, modern with historic, and north with south which carries throughout the interior of the new South Atrium Te Ao Mārama. The artist’s original drawings were interpreted by the projects brand and architectural teams who created a solid timber batten system to integrate the artwork within the ceremonial doors. The work was then CNC machined or digitally carved into the totāra battens and installed into the door joinery.
The artist Graham Tipene pictured with his artwork Te Tatau Kaitiaki
© Daan Hoffman, © Auckland War Memorial Museum Tāmaki Paenga Hira
The artist Graham Tipene with his mokopuna and artwork Te Tatau Kaitiaki
© Daan Hoffman, © Auckland War Memorial Museum Tāmaki Paenga Hira
© Daan Hoffman, © Auckland War Memorial Museum Tāmaki Paenga Hira
Project Details
Design Team
Artist
Graham Tipene – Ngāti Whātua, Ngāti Hine, Ngāti Manu, Ngāti Kahu, Ngāti Haua
Design Team
Jasmax (architecture team)
Marianne Riley (south atrium redevelopment co-project architect and Te Tatau Kaitiaki project leader), Hunter Gillies, Justine Goode, Icao Tiseli (architectural detailing),
Jasmax (brand design team)
Raph Roake (creative design interpretation and collaboration with the artist), Clem Devine (creative design interpretation and brand/architectural team integration)
designTRIBE
Rau Hoskins (creative collaborator with the artist and design teams)
FJMT
Richard Francis Jones (Te Ao Mārama south atrium redevelopment co-project architect), Simon Barr (Te Ao Mārama south atrium redevelopment architect)
Collaborators
Finework (cnc machining of timber battens and creative collaborator with the artist and design teams), Savory Construction (joinery and installation of artwork), ASPEC (Te Ao Mārama south atrium build contractor), Auckland War Memorial Museum, Tāmaki Paenga Hira: Anna Doran-Read (project manager for Te Ao Mārama artwork installations), Chris Smith (lead project manager for Te Ao Mārama south atrium redevelopment), Grant Rewi (curatorial assistant)
Photo Credits
© Daan Hoffman, © Auckland War Memorial Museum Tāmaki Paenga Hira, © Lightforge
Open Date
November 2020