Emma Wilson from Te Wānanga Aronui o Tāmaki Makau Rau, Huri Te Ao Hoahoanga, Auckland University of Technology, School of Future Environments is a finalist for project 'Make your Way: Navigating the hospital campus through Moana-Nui-a-Kiwa methods of wayfinding'.
Project description
This project seeks to reveal a method for navigating landscape that bridges intuitive wayfinding practices and landscape architecture to enhance the user experience of the Greenlane Clinical Centre. By looking at Moana-Nui-a-Kiwa traditional methods of oceanic navigation, this research framed wayfinding holistically and intuitively rather than relying on text-based signage to navigate a landscape. By investigating traditional intuitive navigation techniques, parallel to landscape architecture precedents, this project proposes an enhanced sense of arrival for the Greenlane Clinical Centre that invites users to self-direct their healthcare journey and position themselves with certainty in the landscape. This thesis offers a transformative approach, intending to enrich the healthcare experience by fostering a deeper connection between users and their environment.
Jury citation
The depth of research and clarity is to be commended and the resolutions are very beautiful. The value and relevance of the thesis strikes a chord – a brilliant topic that applies across more than just healthcare. Health institutions can be places of disorientation and anxiety, this approach brings positivity.
The right questions about human occupation have been asked - how to humanise the institutional has also been made relevant for people who work in these spaces.
The intuitive and traditional approach taken to navigation applies to and supports passive wellness. There are references to middle landscapes, layers of history, working with historical terraces and examining the removal of structure and what that means for the land.
The influence of the site on the journey of healthcare has been considered. The drawings promise an extrasensory experience and opportunity to transform traditionally sterile environments. The design approach transforms the transactional to relational.
The presentation reveals layers of understanding and creates a conversation starter of how we should be humanising institutional environments. The determination of the garden is fantastic – there are places you can imagine drifting into and occupying.
