The proposal of Hononga o te Whenua aims to revive and reimagine the existing Journey over the Old Coach Road track. Through speculating an alternative identity towards a characteristically working rural site, this project aims to reveal and extend the native landscape while injecting an intimate connection between man. Each of the three inhabited sites embody and frame various thresholds of human modification over the Johnsonville and Ohariu region, as a way of igniting more of a recognition of these past and present influences of the land that tend to be neglected.
The Fiber Cement cladded Macrocarpa frames offer a series of shelters for the unpredictable nature of the site. While the chosen forms and materials emulate the characteristics of the exposed rock faces embedded over the sloping hills, This act of providing shelter also suggests the uncovering of a place of refuge which was once sought in the forests that previously dominated the area by local Māori Iwi. Māori previously called the area around Kaukau Maunga ‘ Tarikaka’, meaning ‘ Nest of the Kaka’, referring to its rich inhabitance of native parrots. It hasn't been established whether Māori occupied the slopes, however the grounds were used as sources of gathering and hunting as well as multiple linking tracks.
Kanoi, located 10 minutes away from the McLintock street entrance, pivots through an abstracted twisting form and directs us between the two dominant landscapes of the area, the suburban and the agricultural. Through composing a range of native regeneration areas along the walkway and shelter sites, it allows the public the ability to occupy and connect with these spaces of growth and revival. While illuminating the question of how the the land was once vegetated and traversed by the native ecological and human inhabitants of Aotearoa, moving past the space of our being and physical present.
When traversing towards Whakapeke (30mins) we become surrounded by the undulating hills, nestled in between a bordering of grass defined slopes, staging a transition into the growth of native and exotic bushland. Whakapeke +also frames this moment of distance from the distinct urban realm, highlighting a slither of a Wellington between expansive folds of the Land. The next stage of the journey moves towards Ahu (1.45 hours if beginning from McLintock street), where the steep incline of the track is boarded by a variety of vegetational growth and shards of greywacke.
The next stage of the journey moves towards Ahu (1.45 hours if beginning from McLintock street), where the steep incline of the track is boarded by a variety of vegetational growth and shards of greywacke. Ahu celebrates the moment of reaching the peak of Kaukau Maunga. The seductive curve extends the sloping face while narrating a story of existence and discovery along this journey. Ahu not only provides a point of shelter on the ridges of the Maunga, but also subtly Invites one to further extend into the land, and the continuous journey and exploration of the Land.
The bespoke timber and steel hub components will be engineered using digital technologies. In order to achieve the extensive range, allowing to be duplicated in response to the different sites. Each strut will be marked with its identifying components to then be prefabricated into modular sections, to then be assembled on site.
Equitone Materia Fiber Cement Panels pre-cut to the digitally sized triangle facets. Reinforced to the struts with galvanized steel bolts, as well as fixing each panel with water sealant to improve weather resistance and durability. Each engineered Macrocarpa strut will be digitally sized and cut with perforations and naming to show what struts match with each other, to then be configured into modular triangles held together with reinforcing steel spline joints. The triangular modules are then fixed together with a digitally created hub and bolt system in order to create the fluid range of hexagonal frames.
To gain a bit of insight on the conceptual and developmental process that I undertook for this project check out my workbook blog, https://revealingtheland.wordpress.com/
