Architecture + Women . NZ

"The next generation are looking for role models who look like them, and can relate to them." Lusitania Vete.

A lack of role models is a common theme for many women making their way in architectural practice - and this lack of role modelling also extends across cultural identity, religion, class and more, if you are not from the dominant (architectural) cultural group.

The three videos shown here are made by current and past students from The University of Auckland School of Architecture & Planning, who are proactively calling for more visible diversity in the New Zealand architectural profession - they note the lack of role models for people from the Pacific for students like themselves and future generations. They advocate for a stronger connection between architecture and pasifika communities, and show how they are active in ensuring their voice has a place in New Zealand architecture.

Video 1.) Cultural Diversity in NZ Practice, by Lusitania Vete, 2016.

Oct 2017 Update: You can hear more from Lucy Vete on Radio BFM - an interview on Ready, Steady, Learn, recorded on October 31 2017.

Dec 2017 Update: Congratulations to Lucy Vete, Winner of the NZIA Central Innovation Student Award 2017!

image: David St George for NZIA

Video 2.) Maunga: Pacific Architectural Collective, by Miriama Arnold and Matilda Philips, 2016

Maunga: Pacific Architectural Collective is a group of students who meet and discuss initiatives to meet their aims of 'Foster - Sustain - Extend' for students, practitioners and the community. You can follow them on Instagram, and the link to their website will be provided here when it is available.

Maunga members Matilda Philips, Miriama Arnold, Lusitania Vete and Icao Tiseli also provide research work and manage the website for the Field Guide to Architecture of the Pacific Architecture with Bill McKay, historian, critic and Senior Lecturer at The University of Auckland SoAP and photographer Jason Mann.

Video 3.) Wisdom Pearls, by Vula To'ofohe and Arielle Roache, 2019

An overview of Pasifika Women in architecture (2 mins). Click here for the video.

Pearls of Wisdom was selected as a Finalist in the ArchiteXX Short Film Competition 2019, and was part of the New York Premier Screening;