He toi whakairo, he mana tangata, he mana tuku iho, he mana heke iho. Ina tō tātou tangata a Matangireia Yates-Francis tangata marae, hūmārie ngākau whakaiti.
Nā ōna mātua tana ara o te whakaniko me te toi i wāhi ai. Ko Richard Francis tona matua tāne he mātanga tā moko , otīā he mātanga mahi toi, whaihoki ko Mercia Dawn Yates tona matua wahine, he wahine mana nui hoki ia. I tīmatangia ai tana huarahi mahi hoahoa whare i Te Wānanga Aronui o Tāmaki Makau Rau i te tau e rua mano kotahi tekau mā whitu te tau, ko tana tohu tuatahi, he tohu paetahi pūwāhi whakaahua, ka kake ake ki te tāhū paerua hoahoa whare i te tau e rua mano e rua tekau te tau."
Nōku te maringinui i kitea e Nicholas Douglas taku ngākau kaha ki tēnei wānanga, ko ia te rangatira nui o TOA Architects (Tamaki Makaurau Office of Architecture), koia taku manu tākaha , nānā hoki te pōwhiri ki ahau ki te ohu o TOA, e tauira tonutia ana, nāku e whakaoti ana i taku tāhū paerua.
Kua oti i a ia tana tuhinga whakapae," "Tuhononga: Architecture Co-Occupying between Ranginui and Papatuanuku". Nānā tēnei i whakaoti i a ia e mahi tuturu nei hai pia hoahoa whare mā TOA , ko te whāinga tika kia rēhitangia ia hai mātanga hoahoa whare.
I whānau, i pakeketia ai a Matangireia Mita Ngarua Yates-Francis i Rotorua rāua tahi ko tona taina a Dixie Yates Francis me tō rāua whakapakanga a Te Mania Yates. Ko te Ao Māori me te taiao tōna whakaihiihi.
Kāua tātou e wareware,nā te āhuatanga o tōna anō ao ia i whakahihiko. " Koina te wairua o tō mātou whare, whakaaro pae tawhiti, kia whānui hoki te whakaaro whakarongo ki te wairua auaha kai roto i a koe".
"Nō mai anō tōna wairua ki te toi Māori, ki ōna kawekawe huhua hoki pēnei me te whakairo, te moko, te kōwhaiwhai me te whakaahua.
Tūturū te mōhiotanga nōku e itiiti ai koina hai huarahi māku, he ahakoa e āhua āmaimai ana i te āta koremōhio ko tēwhea huarahi te huarahi tika māku, ko te whakaairo , ko te moko ko te hoahoa whare he aha atu hoki.
Koi a nei te take i tahuri ai ahau ki te pūwāhi whakaahua ,nā te mea e tūwhera ana tōna ātea , kāore e noho tūnaha ki te huarahi kotahi, me te mea hoki he tohu e whakawhānake ai te wairua o te auahatanga, ā tinana, ā horopaki nei, ā pūwāhi hoki. Engari taihoa tēnā, kāore i tino taka mai te māramatanga ki ahau ko tēwhea ara e tika ai māku tae noa taku tau tuarua o te whare wānanga, kātahi nā ka whakatikangia te ihu o te waka ki te hoahoa whare".
"Kai pōhēhēngia ko te tohu hoahoa whare e rata nei e au, kāhore, ko te whakaara, ko te whaihanga ko te whakarite wāhi hāneanea mō ngā tini tangata kē, me te mea hoki he aroha pakeke mō ngā whakatupuranga kia whitia rātou e ngā painga o te taiao".
E kūware tonu nei a Matangireia ki te take he aha i riro ai māna i te pūtea e rima mano tāra te wāriu i Rotomā No1 Trust hai amo i tana tau tuatoru i Te Whare Wānanga, ka rua, i whakawhiwhia hoki e ia ki te Ponsonby Rugby Club Tertiary Scholarship.
'TUHONONGA' Front elevation of Living Pa (2021), Mixed Media.
Nō tēnei arohanui te nama o tana tohu paetahi e toru tau te roa i ea. Ka nui te tumanakohia kia tukuna e ia tana tuhinga whakapae ki te kāhui Best Awards i te wāhanga Toitanga me te wāhanga Pūwāhi.
Me te titiro ake a Matangireia ki te āuētanga o te taiao, ko te ngako o tana tuhinga whakapae, he whakatakoto whakaaro e noho ngātahi ai tātou te tangata me tō tātou taiao e ora ake ai tātou katoa kia kāua e mate ā moa te taiao.
"Kai kōnei te whakaaro nui, me pēwhea e taurite ai te noho a tātou te tangata me tēnei ao rearea, me pēwhea e kawe atu ai te mātauranga, te whakaaro, ngā kōrero tuku iho a tātou te Māori, hei whakaihiihi i a tātou ki te manaaki me te poipoi i tō tātou ao taketake". Kai TOA a Matangireia e mahi ana me te nuinga o āna kaupapa he mahi tahi me ngā hapū me ngā iwi o te motu.
"He nanao atu ki te ao tawhito me te tō mai i aua kura huna, koia tētehi wairua kai te kaha tautokongia e TOA, kōrero tuku iho, whakapapa he aha noa atu. He ahakoa ka whati te tāhūhū o te waka i TOA i ētehi wā, he mōhio nōku mā te ū ngākau pono ai ki te ao e ai ki a tātou te Māori titiro, ka ea ngā whatinga, kātahi anō ka mānu te waka ka ū ki tōna tumu whakahirahira".
Ko te pae tawhiti māna kia hoki mai ia ki Rotorua hai mātanga rēhita hoahoa whare ki te mahi tahi me tāna hapū otīā te iwi whānui tonu, me te whakauru i tōna kaha ki te whakaaraara rautaki e hauora ai te taiao. Anei a Matangireia, he uri heke iho nō Ngai Te Arawa whānui tonu, ko ētehi anō o ōna hononga he Rongowhakaata, ko Te Aitanga-a-Mahaki whaihoki he Ngāti Maniapoto.
He ahakoa kai Tamaki-Makau-rau a Matangireia me tana mākau rangatira a Peta Were e noho ana, ka kaha hoki rāua ki te hoki mai ki ngā waiariki o Te Arawa, ki Te Hikuwai kapa haka ai otīā ki te noho tahi me tōna whānau. Kua pakeke a Matangireia ki te ātāmira o Tāne rore nōnā, nō te wā ia e itiiti ai kua mārō tana tū ki te tuku i tana taiaha ki te mura o te ahi ngātahi me tōna whānau.
Kua tū hoki ia ki te kaupapa Whakaue Whakanuia me te ahurei o Ngāti Pikiao. "Tērā ngārara hoki te māuiui nui o korona, nā i hinga hoki ai ahau e ako ana i ngā tau e rua kua pahemo, whoi anō i ora māua ko Peta i te manaakitanga o taku whānau me ngā hoa tata, anei māua e hākoakoa kau ana".
Nō tana tau tuarua ki te whare wānanga i paiaka toitu a Matangireia, he kahika tūwao inaianei ki te nehenehe nui." Kai te kaha karangangia ai tātou te Māori e te ao. Kāore au e kite i tēnā āhuatanga nōku e tauhou ana engari e mārama ana ngā kanohi inaianei. I te ao o te hoahoa whare kai te waiwai ngā koko waha o te ao hurihuri – ko te ao Māori te take!".
—Na Raimona Inia tenei purongo i whakamaoritia.
Matangireia Yates-Francis was born to create as art and design are in his whakapapa.
He started his journey of Design and Art at birth with the luxury of having creative parents. His father, Richard Francis, is a moko artist and Maori artist. His Mama is Mercia Dawn Maraea Yates.
But the 24-year-old's architecture journey started at Auckland University of Technology in 2017 with his bachelor of Spatial Design, then onto his Master of Architecture degree in 2020.
"During that time, I was fortunate enough to be recognised by Nicholas Dalton, director and creator of TOA Architects (Tamaki Makaurau Office of Architecture) and now a mentor, to join the TOA team as a intern while on my masters journey.
He has now finished his thesis, "Tuhononga: Architecture Co-Occupying between Ranginui and Papatuanuku". That was completed while he was Part-time working as an Architectural Graduate at TOA with the aspiration of becoming registered. Matangireia Mita Ngarua Yates-Francis, born and raised in Rotorua with his sister Dixie Yates Francis and brother Te Manaia Yates, his passion is Te Ao Maori and the taiao.
Matangireia was inspired along his journey by being surrounded by a whanau of creatives.
"Being creative for me was, in a way, second nature. "I always had a passion for Toi Maori, whakairo, moko, kowhaiwhai and design while at school. So, I knew at a young age that I wanted to take a creative path through life but was still unsure as to what that path might look like, whether that was in the form of Moko, Whakairo, Visual Arts, design, or architecture.
Matangireia with his fiancée, Peta Were.
"This was one of the reasons why I chose Spatial design because it was presented as a paper that wasn't bound by a profession, more so a degree that grew and developed the notions of design and creativity, Spatially, contextually, and physically.
"But it wasn't until my second year of university where I really decided on voyaging the pathway towards architecture seriously.
"And It is not necessarily the architecture the draws me to this profession, it is more so the opportunity to create and shape spaces for people, communities and our wider environments, and also being able to have an impact on our future generations, always hoping that It is positive."
Matangireia says he doesn't know what made him stand out, but he received a $5000 scholarship from Rotoma No 1 Trust for his third year study and a Ponsonby Rugby Club Tertiary Scholarship which paid for his 3-year undergraduate degree.
He is hoping to enter his thesis into this year's Best Awards in both the Toitanga Category and the Spatial.
Matangireia sees our climate as at a state of emergency and his thesis attempts to propose a kaupapa of co-occupying with our environment for the betterment of our people and a sustainable future.
"I look at this kaupapa heavily with how our Maori Worldview, traditions, korero tuku iho, whakapapa and practices inspire and be translated into our present climate and help us understand how we as humans can be better co-occupiers with our more than human kin such as our wider environmental ecologies."
At TOA, most of the projects Matangireia is a part of works a lot with iwi and hapu. "Working with the past is encouraged within our projects whether they are through narratives, whakapapa, korero tuku iho or even by lived experience and practices to inspire the design and thought process.
"My experience at TOA isn't always perfect but we try our best to capture the essence of a project through its Maori lens to use the past and korero tuku iho to enforce the progression of the project into the future."
Matangireia, who has hononga to Te Arawa Whanui, Rongowhakaata, Te Aitanga A Mahaki and Ngati Maniapoto hopes to return to Rotorua as a Registered Architect to work closely with his iwi and hapu and play a part in shaping our future environments.
Since taking up study in Auckland he and fiancee Peta Were have returned frequently to Rotorua for kapa haka practice at Te Hikuwai and to keep up with whanau. Matangireia has performed at all the Te Arawa regionals since he was old enough to stand on a competitive stage surrounded by whanau. He has also performed at the Whakaue Whakanuia and Pikiao Ahurei.
"Covid had a huge impact on my final two years of study, interrupting workflow. But I'm grateful me and Peta had solid support from whanau and friends to enable us to get through those two years confidently and happy."
It wasn't until his second semester at university that Matangireia found his feet.
"There is definitely a demand now for Maori. I didn't see it then, but I see it now, in the architecture scene, people are hungry for the Maori world."
