He pā mataora. He pā kaiao. He pā anamata / A thriving community. A living lab. A bright future.
Rhonda Thomson | Ngāi Tahu
Planning for the revitalisation of the reawakening of the mauri of Te Tumu Herenga Waka and the opening of the new Living Building is well underway. There is a lot to do to properly facilitate customary rituals and manage people’s expectations. Significantly, the opening is this wonderful opportunity to reaffirm our relationships with mana whenua, alumni, and our wider community and to celebrate all we have achieved.
At a dawn ceremony on the 6th of December this year, we will open the Living Pā, a building that champions people and the whenua. The occasion is open to all, and we are anticipating well over 1000 whānau and guests.
Still, after the opening we will have just opened a building—more work is yet to come. We cannot stand back and say, ‘Green building, make it happen’. We will all have to make it work. The Living Pā’s mission is Mō te āpōpō—For a better tomorrow. We must all share in this dream for a better world with better people to make the vision of the Living Pā bloom.
The idea of authenticity within the space is one of the things we do think about. The concern is being overwhelmed by people who want to behave transactionally. People who want to book or hire the space because they see it as another building to go to. As a Māori marae and teaching community, our priority is to operate in a tikanga way internally and to be known for our authenticity.
The marae’s purpose and the Living Building’s architecture will need to be re-translated for people to accentuate the message that this is not just a standard building. We will have to learn a bunch about ourselves and educate our people too. We need to think through how we are behaviourally based around tikanga and doing the right thing, in this new space. But we must also not stress too much. The reopening of our marae will be a time of celebration, and it is everybody’s responsibility to uphold the standards of the Living Building and the banner of our marae.
Nā
Rhonda Thomson | Ngāi Tahu
Pou Hāpai and Co-project Manager the Living Pā