Description:

This research-through-design project is a labour of love for the Ōrongorongo Valley, its clusters of hidden huts, the people who built and used them, and future generations of visitors. Over the coming years, the huts will be faced with ownership transfer to the Department of Conservation (DoC) and possible demolition. The Hidden Huts of Ōrongorongo Valley asks what might become of the unique material, narrative and heritage of the huts, and the relationships of care for the land that they represent? The research documents all 56 huts and proposes a system of re-membering that remains open to multiple possibilities and timescales of de/re-construction.

The project critiques a perspective of conservation land that positions people as only ever being visitors, never 'locals’. This view ignores the deep ties held by both mana whenua and others with longstanding connections to that land. The research looks to develop an understanding of 'becoming-local’ as being related to relationships of mutual care over time. Mana whenua are the primary local community connected to, responsible for and drawing mana from the whenua. The relationships that other people, families and communities form with land over time are also acknowledged, particularly the builders of the hidden huts. These self-built huts can be seen as symbols of 'becoming-local' with important cultural heritage and personal narratives.

Rather than proposing a solution or privileging a particular perspective; the research offers a spatial design framework that facilitates preservation of cultural and natural heritage in a way that upholds the mana of all parties and the mauri of the valley. It proposes a new typology to DoC that allows people to be part of the landscape in return for their efforts to become custodians for its ongoing care. The proposal is speculative, as any framework for this whenua would need to be developed and implemented in partnership with mana whenua and other 'locals’. As an opening for conversation, the framework aspires to enact conservation through facilitating relationships of care between existing and future 'locals' and the land, rather than through removing people and huts from the bush.

The framework was developed by analysing the existing huts, narratives and vernacular identity through form, colour, materials and objects. This information was then used to propose a re-construction of the existing huts into smaller structures - Iti Huts - that preserve aspects of identity, narrative and materiality. Supplementing the smaller huts are slightly larger communal structures - Tiaki Huts - that act as catalysts for reconnection, responding to issues of identity loss and generating new interfaces of social engagement between existing and new 'locals'. The network of Iti and Tiaki Huts is accompanied by a strategy of care for restoration, guiding people on the journey from visitor to becoming-local through acts of care and guardianship.