MAORI ARCHITECTURE

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 354, 15 May 1928, Page 1

MAORI ARCHITECTURE

BUILDING RENAISSANCE MANY NEW CARVED HOUSES There are at least half a dozen large meeting houses now in course of erection in different parts of the North Island. Plans for probably as many again are being discussed in Maori village communities. When volunteering this Information last evening to the Maori race section of the Auckland Institute, MrGeorge Graham declared that meeting houses were making their appearances in districts where Maori architecture had long since disappeared. Instancing a new house which is to be erected near Dargaville, Mr. Graham declared that in the past one could go for miles in the North of Auckland and see not a vestige of Maori architecture. Mr Graham declared that a spirit of emulation was now strong among the Maoris. They were anxious, as in the old times, to have a proper carved house in which to receive visitors. PRINCESS TE PUA'S HOUSE A committee appointed on one occasion to consider the renovation of a communal hall in a bad state of disrepair, resolved to do away altogether with the old weatherboard building. The fine meeting house on the beach at Ohinemutu took its place. Plans are also being discussed for the meeting house which Princess Te Puea Herangi will erect at Ngaruawahia, the capital of the old Maori kingdom. The scheme also includes the provision of a hospital, a much-felt want among the Maoris of this part of the Waikato. The Governor-General, Sir Charles Fergusson, has promised to open the Ngaruawahia meeting house in March of next year.