The Drawing Board: Tūrama, a whare that embeds whakapapa into the building

Tonight, Professor Derek Kawiti looks at the fabulous Rotorua retreat Tūrama and catches up with Professor Paora Tapsell.

Tūrama is a whare (home) that embeds whakapapa (ancestry) into the built form, creating a connection to a place beyond where the eye can see.

Tapsell (Te Arawa, Tainu) says viewers will see what the future of Aotearoa can be.

“Innovation comes out of both sides of Te Tiriti and up to current times, we have been doing the either/or but haven’t been looking how innovation sits between the two. That is the exciting part for New Zealand’s future,” Tapsell said.

“The home we built is on our nation’s foundation of both cultures and goes deeply into the whenua and 16 generations of identity that have been expressed above the land through its architecture.

“In a way, it’s ancestral re-representation as well an expression of identity to a whenua that has been mostly colonised.”

Paora Tapsell

Tapsell said the home acknowledges the heroics of Hineatūrama, the only daughter of Te Koeke and her husband Kahana-tokowai of Mokoia Island, Rotorua, and the ultimate sacrifice she gave at the Battle of Ōrākau.

The eight-part series The Drawing Board examines the past, present and what future architectural designs in Aotearoa might look like.

Professor of Architecture at Victoria University Wellington, Derek Kawiti. Photo / Supplied

Hosted by a professor of architecture at Victoria University of Wellington, Derek Kawiti (Ngāti Hine, Ngāpuhi, Tūhoe, Ngāti Porou), the series leads viewers on a journey of exploration, visiting construction sites and completed buildings.

See the full episodes on Whakaata Māori, Mondays, 7.30pm, or head to Māori+ or watch on demand.