The head of the University of Auckland School of Architecture and Planning, Dr Deidre Brown (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Kahu), has been made a fellow of the Royal Society Te Apārangi for her work on Māori architectural history and design, including her book, Māori Architecture: From Fale to Wharenui, which broke new ground with its focus on the evolution of design practices by tangata whenua.
Published in 2009, the text won Massey University’s Nga Kupu Ora Māori Book Award, one of many received by Dr Brown throughout her career. These include the President’s Award of the Te Kāhui Whaihanga New Zealand Institute of Architects, as well as multiple grants from the Marsden Fund, and now her entrance into the prestigious Royal Society Te Apārangi.
“My whānau and I are honoured and humbled by my election to the fellowship,” says Dr Brown. “It is recognition of the importance of Māori architectural research in our knowledge of the settlement and development of Aotearoa New Zealand through building and making.”
“One of the founders and a later president of the first Royal Society [est. 1660 in London] was the renowned architect Sir Christopher Wren. The purpose of the Society is to explore, discover and share knowledge founded on evidence-based information for the purpose of understanding issues and making good decisions.
“I hope to bring to the Society my knowledge and experience of building and creative practice research, and Indigenous art and architectural history research, to assist in the Society’s mission to connect to, involve and assist diverse communities, professions and industries.”
Since 2019, Dr Brown has served as the Head of the School of Architecture and Planning at the University of Auckland. Outside of academia, she is also a member of the Auckland branch of the Te Kāhui Whaihanga New Zealand Institute of Architects, as well as the Minimum Standards Working Group of the Registered Architects Board. Her most recent book, Toi Te Mana: A History of Indigenous Art from Aotearoa New Zealand, a collaboration with the late Professor Jonathan Mane-Wheoki and Dr Ngarino Ellis, is scheduled for publication in August.
