She was the first woman to receive the Pritzker Architecture Prize, in 2004.^[1] She received the UK's most prestigious architectural award, the Stirling Prize, in 2010 and 2011. In 2012, she was made a Dame by Elizabeth II for services to architecture, and in February, 2016, the month preceding her death,^[2] she became the first and only woman to be awarded the Royal Gold Medal from the Royal Institute of British Architects.^[3][4]

She was described by The Guardian of London as the "Queen of the curve",^[5] who "liberated architectural geometry, giving it a whole new expressive identity".^[6]Her major works include the London Aquatics Centre for the 2012 Olympics, Michigan State University's Broad Art Museum in the US, the MAXXI Museum in Rome, the Guangzhou Opera House in China,^[7] and the Beijing Daxing International Airport in China.^[8] Some of her awards have been presented posthumously, including the statuette for the 2017 Brit Awards. Several of her buildings were still under construction at the time of her death, including the Daxing airport and the Al Wakrah Stadium in Qatar, a venue for the 2022 FIFA World Cup.^[9][10]

Inside, the building opens itself up as a ‘fluid space’ where it is hard to detect the transition between galleries and corridors, not to mention floors and ceilings. The rooms constantly relate to the curves of the terrain, with the ceiling rising and falling as you progress through them.

Finally, the building is characterised by large areas of glass which invite in the daylight and surrounding nature and which reinforce the experience of the building’s integration with the landscape.

According to Dr Matamua, it is a common misconception that ‘Matariki’ means ‘little eyes’; there are no stories to support this translation. Matariki is actually an abbreviation of ‘Ngā Mata o te Ariki’ – The Eyes of the God. The god referred to is Tāwhirimātea, god of the winds and weather. When Ranginui, the sky father, and Papatūānuku, the earth mother, were separated from their dark embrace by Tāne, Tāwhirimātea was distraught. He tore out his eyes, crushed them into pieces and stuck them onto the chest of the sky. This is why Tāwhirimātea is the blind god, feeling his way around the sky and bringing winds from different directions.

Matariki – signifies reflection, hope and our connection to the environment

Pōhutukawa – connects with those who have passed on

Waitī – ties to bodies of fresh water and the food within it

Waitā – ties to the ocean and the food within it

Waipuna-ā-rangi – associated with the rain

Tupuānuku – is for food that grows within the soil

Tupuārangi – is for food that grows up in the trees

Ururangi – is the star associated with the winds

Hiwa-i-te-rangi – the youngest, is the wishing star that also ties into our aspirations for the coming year

The whetū indicate the success of the season ahead; clear bright stars are a good omen and hazy stars predict a cold, harsh winter. If one star is brighter than another, there will be lots of yummy kai from the source it represents. If one is more dim, or completely missing, you can say haere rā to that kai source for the year, there won’t be much of it.

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Each tukutuku design is named. A very common stepped design is named poutama, referring to education, progress and ascension. A whole panel covered with white crosses is called purapurawhetū (star seeds). Vertical bands of white crosses are known as roimata (tears). A diamond motif is called pātiki (flounder).

Modern tukutuku

As with tāniko, new tukutuku designs and materials have been introduced since European contact. The meeting house Porourangi, at Waiōmatatini on the East Coast, was built in the 1870s. Its tukutuku panels were among the first to depict human figures. Other innovations include motifs such as stars, fern leaves and alphabet letters. New materials such as half-round wooden slats, pegboard, kangaroo hide and raffia have made tukutuku work more accessible to beginners, albeit with a loss of traditional practices 

Matariki is a time for gathering together, to celebrate the Maori New Year, usually around the rise of the new moon, to give thanks for the year past, celebrate the future, and a special time to connect and remember those who have passed.

The Maori festival of Matariki has many meanings, and is named for the constellation of 9 stars seen in the night sky from the end of May until near the end of June. The stars represent different aspects of the coming years harvest and traditionally were used to tell what crops would thrive and what would fail. Matariki was also a time for gathering to celebrate the traditional harvest of kumara, pikopiko and karaka berries.

Kites were flown traditionally by Maori to connect those living, to the ancestors who have passed. This tradition continues, but now can take on any form of air borne symbol, balloons, lanterns, and fireworks are all used to represent kites. There are also kite flying days held as part of many Matariki festivals.

Zaha Hadid was a visionary architect of our time.  She challenged traditionalism her entire life, and was an innovator - developing new uses for products to fulfil her vision for buildings. She used digital techniques to structurally engineer a building and compute it's form, and therefore was able to create the sweeping, curving forms she became famous for. She believed that architecture should have the same intricacy as nature’ and famously never used 90 degree angles in her buildings.

The concepts I have centre around the idea of Gathering and Connection. This provides a link to geometry, which uses connections to form shapes, illumination which we see in Hadid’s buildings, and the organic nature of both Matariki and Hadid’s work. 

My inspiration/mood board is tied closely to the geometry and visual language of stars and the shapes within Hadid’s buildings - especially the skylights and interior structures. I see the stars and warm/reflective colours as drawing people in to the light/illumination - to gather together and make connections - to give thanks, enjoy each others company, look forward to the coming year, and remember those passed. The organic nature of the curves is to bring calm and peace to those who gather together.

The colour palette ties into this with the inky blue of the night sky and chalky warm grey for the winter light, offset by the cobalt to bring energy, and the reflective but warm copper, with the white for the light of the stars.