Meet Graham Tipene

1. What's your connection with The Symphony Centre development?

Representing Mana Whenua, I was engaged as the cultural designer for Te Waihorotiu station. The artwork that you see inside has a unique storytelling narrative that connects the station with its heritage of place.

This storytelling and cultural narrative bleeds into The Symphony Centre and the public spaces that connect the people to Aotea Arts Quarter.

2. Tell us about your background

Born and bred - and will eventually be buried - in Orakei. I was raised as a whangai and decided to pursue Māori design at a young age.

Throughout my career I've worked in both health and education, now I’m an advocate for Māori design thinking across a range of city projects. Tāmaki Makaurau is my home and I've taken on the challenge of ensuring the urban landscape of the city’s built environment reflects the Māori design aesthetic so that children of today and generations to come will feel relevant on their land.

3. Weaving culture, specifically Māori kaupapa, into the built environment is what sets Aotearoa apart, can you tell us more about this process?

In the past the process has been to offer a space inside, or outside, of a completed structure as a cultural design opportunity, for a Māori artist to make it pretty. Essentially, we have been retrofitting buildings with culture.

Today the process is more cohesive. Māori design thinking is incorporated at the inception stage of the project so we can ensure it is part of the engineering and construction, not just an afterthought. Now, more often, Māori design thinking has a seat at the table right from the start.

4. Your work is historical korero or storytelling, where the artwork you create is directly connected to its place. Can you tell us about the artwork you will create for The Symphony Centre?

We’ve used historical korero to bring to life the rich history of the whenua. We hope to create a space where people want to learn more about the genealogy of the design work and what it means - this is inclusive of people and place, both historically and in more recent times.

Waihorotiu is the stream that once flowed freely beneath the station and was an important life source for mana whenua, so the flow of water has been an important part of this kaupapa - the cycle of water and the pursuit of excellence.

5. How important is public cultural artwork for connecting people to place, history and story?

Simply put: without Maori design thinking we could be any city, anywhere.

6. How do you see the public interacting with your artwork?

People love art work in person and up close are able to see the depth of knowledge and almost feel the intense thinking that has gone into creating something.

But, sometimes people walk straight past and don’t acknowledge the artwork. Both are positive outcomes - to an extent - in my opinion. On the one hand we are normalising our design aesthetic, and then on the other, we’re urging the person to come down the rabbit hole with us.

7. What makes The Symphony Centre development project compelling to Tāmaki Makaurau?

From a Māori design perspective it's going to reaffirm that our work is not just about beautifying a reception wall, it will be a showcase for Māori design work as a science and part of engineering, and should be treated as such.

The Symphony Centre has the opportunity to become a fully realised unity of thought for a project that invited Māori design thinking relatively early in the journey. It’s setting the stage for future urban development in Aotearoa.

8. What is your vision for the future of Tāmaki Makaurau?

My vision for Tāmaki Makaurau is for this city to not feel foreign to young people whose tupuna once walked the forests, streams and beaches we acknowledge in our design narratives.

9. Describe The Symphony Centre development in 5 words.

• Mana
• Massive
• Respectful
• Relevant
• Excellence

Learn more about the cultural artwork built into the design of The Symphony Centre here and learn more about the cultural narrative and name gifting by Mana Whenua here.