News: Vā Moana book coming April 7th
We are proud to report that our book, ‘Vā Moana: Space and Relationality in Pacific Thought and Identity’ will be published on April 7th.
After three years in the making, we welcome you to the book launch for Oceanic Architectural Routes: The Work of Mike Austin.
Wednesday 6 May
Doors and drinks 5.30pm, speaking 6pm
Objectspace, 13 Rose Road, Ponsonby
Join us to raise a glass to Mike and his significant contribution to research and understandings around Oceanic and Pacific architecture, and to architecture education in Aotearoa. We'll hear from Albert L. Refiti and Rau Hoskins – previous students of Mike's and contributors to the book – set against music from SANGUINE, which UTR describes as 'stone cold funk elevated by Pacific soul dreaminess...'
Jumping off from Objectspace's 2022 exhibition Oceanic Architectural Routes and the digitisation of Mike Austin’s photographic archive, this book brings together contributions from Austin’s former students and colleagues Rau Hoskins, Albert L. Refiti, Sarah Treadwell, Lynda Simmons, and Icao Tiseli. The authors and photographs trace the roots and routes that tethered and extended Austin’s work, opening new pathways that would influence contemporary Māori and Moana architectural discourse.
The book is edited by Albert L. Refiti, Victoria McAdam, and Emily Parr; designed by Shaun Naufahu; and published in partnership between Objectspace and the AUT Vā Moana Research Centre. It is produced with the generous support of Noel Lane Architects, The Warren Trust, and a 2024 Contestable Fund Grant from Copyright Licensing New Zealand. It comes out of the Vā Moana research project, Artefacts of Relations: Building in Te Moananui, supported by the Royal Society Te Apārangi’s Marsden Fund.
Image: Mike Austin in front of the Fale Tele at Unitec during construction, 2002. Photograph by Jeremy Treadwell.
