The Russell Rejuvenation Initiative

2021, D5

We settled on a proposal to create an avenue that accommodates and acknowledges the regions pre-colonial past. A collection of interventions, an architectural series that harmonise with the environment, in an attempt to fill the void that was pried open by colonial settlers. To resuscitate the cultural legacy of Russell, our project aims to highlight the inadequacy within the existing architecture and ultimately narrow the knowledge gap within the current community.

Through a sensitive approach to the environment and with respect to the Tikanga Māori and the local wairua, we set out to create an architecture that treads lightly on the land, preserving as much of the natural landscape as possible. Influenced and inspired through indigenous typologies, such as the pātaka, and events, such as Matariki, the Russell Rejuvenation Initiative seeks to educate its visitors through feasible architectural interventions and unearth the cultural history of Russell that ought to be preserved and celebrated.