Description:

With the development of Whānau Ātea, the destination recreation space at Te Pane a Mataoho /Te Ara Pueru / Māngere Maunga, Ngā Mana Whenua expressed the desire to see the cooking and sharing of kai return to the whenua, as part of the living connection between past and present, between the Maunga and the people, an expression of whakapapa, and a restoration of customary practices and knowledge.

There was no blueprint for how to hāngī in a park, let alone up a mountain unsupervised in public space, with no kitchen facilities. The design team had to innovate at every step, collaborate with hāngī knowledge holders and problem-solve a wide range of constraints, and to define what hāngī would look like in a Maunga context.

Alongside the cooking of kai is the sharing of kai together as a communal experience, bringing together the hau kāinga and manuhiri, and shifting state from tapu to noa.
The hāngī pits and kai space at Whānau Ātea welcome hāpori whānui (the wider community) to sit and enjoy kai together in a setting appropriate for large whānau groups.

The hāngī pits represent a cultural paradigm shift in how we can cook and share kai in public space in Aotearoa. Finding innovative solutions for storage, health & safety, food service, infrastructure and shelter in a functional, beautiful space was a challenge.

Māori traditional play experts, hāngī knowledge holders, Māori and Pasifika artists and kaitiaki (guardians) have been involved throughout the project, sharing narratives, offering technical advice on traditional materials, and assessing the outcome through construction and at the end of the project.
For many involved, the project was a deeply personal kaupapa to return hāngī to the maunga after 160 years absence.

That the end result looks deceptively simple, and is an authentic expression, is testament to the skill and expertise of all those involved.