This project calls for spatial design responses to the context of the Anthropocene and the rethinking of the relationship between materials their stories and te taiao. Students will perform a close investigation of a selected material harvested from the built environment, investigating its ecologies, histories, qualities and possibilities. Through a material-led process, students will design the interior of an experimental ‘whare waiata’ - a house of song - in which the materials support processes of learning waiata. The whare will explore how the chosen material might ‘sing‘ of its own stories and the stories in the land. Through manipulating and installing the material to reveal three different qualities and attributes, the design will facilitate a series of three activities/ experiences through which those stories might be learned. The design will consider both sensory/aesthetic/atmospheric qualities and the functional detailing of a material system designed for cycles of deconstruction and reuse.
