The current and former campus areas of Unitec Institute of Technology are undergoing massive change because of the Carrington Residential Development, an urban intensification project that will eventually account for thousands of new residents and visitors here. Puna (pools, streams) nurture life in and around their flow paths, but are also vulnerable to negative consequences of the prevailing urban development paradigm. Many puna traverse the campus, connecting it with other parts of Auckland city. Puna Kōrero was an interdisciplinary design research project which provided opportunities for ontological reorientations in the Wairaka precinct, such shifts in worldviews holding the potential to improve the quality of relationships between people and this place over time, particularly its wāhi tapu (sacred sites), Te Wai Unuroa o Wairaka (an aquifer fed freshwater stream) and Te Rangimārie Pā Harakeke (a plantation of flax). Developed over several months, the project brought together staff, students and the local community across three collaborative strands culminating in a public event celebrating Matariki (the Māori new year) through a projection-mapped motion design show, the launching of a new puoro ataata (music video) Manaakitia and the prototyping of a mobile app to share stories of six significant sites inclusive of the marae (Māori meeting house) and its wāhi tapu. 

Part of the Public Art and Culture and Design and Contemporary Arts Research Groups in the School of Creative Industries this project was partnered with and led by Te Noho Kotahitanga marae and funded by Albert Eden local board and Unitec’s Research and Enterprise office.

The project team – Peeti Lamwilai, Emma Smith, Cris de Groot, Michael Craven, Leon Tan, Hinewaimarama Tanya Reihana White, Hohepa Renata and Allana Goldsmith – recently presented on this project at Thinking, Learning and Doing: Plural Ways of Design – Nineteenth International Conference on Design Principles & Practices, February 2025, LASALLE College of the Arts, Singapore. https://cgscholar.com/cg_event/events/G25en/proposal/75445