Making Music

Lorna Rikihana and Kelly Dixon from Ngāti Pāoa, Bernie Papa and Tanya White from Ngāti Whātua, and Tessa Harris and Huhana Turei from Ngāi Tai Ki Tāmaki were the weavers involved in the project. Based at Ruapotaka Marae they created the tukutuku over a two- month period in 2015 working with local community. This Glenn Innes Community Centre truly engaged and embraces the local community and was the result of a highly collaborative, innovative and caring approach. The name ‘Te Oro’ has been gifted to the centre by Ngāti Pāoa with the endorsement of Ngāi Tai ki Tāmaki and Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei, the indigenous tribes of the area Te Oro is located. Working in collaboration with the project architects Archimedia, Martin Leung- Wai and Petelo Esekielu developed a concept for the Te Oro facility that envisioned the building being as a grove of trees under which communities gathered and sheltered to commune, share knowledge and be culturally and creatively productive. From this came Te Oro’s signature roof form, a floating geometrised ‘leaf canopy’ atop a series of ‘timber trunks’. Historically the grove of trees or ‘uru’ is a response to the remnant native Karaka tree ‘uru’ on nearby Taurere - Mt Taylor, and an important part of local story telling for local Māori tribes. ‘Oro’ is the tonal reverberation or sound within a chamber, making reference to the natural phenomena that occurs on Maungarei - Mt Wellington as wind passes over volcanic craters and tunnels.