Amelia Lee Chee from Te Wānanga Aronui o Tāmaki Makau Rau—Auckland University Of Technology, School of Future Environments—Huri te Ao has received Highly Commended at the 2025 Resene Student Design Awards for her project 'Fale Tupu: An Indigenous Toolkit for Designing Culturally Grounded Living Environments with Pasifika Communities in Aotearoa '.
Judges citation
Not just townhouses, but a toolkit for how to design flexible spaces for Pasifika, Māori and other families in Aotearoa. A strong real-world feel to this project that is happening now, and deeply reflective of lives in Aotearoa. This project could be anywhere – potentially even in the Pacific itself. Very impressive with great presentation and strong designs and supporting artwork. A strong framework for things to happen to resolve our most pressing housing issues in Aotearoa. This project shows architects as collaborators, and features indigenous values embedded throughout. This is the type of social housing we should be providing.
Project description
Fale Tupu reimagines how housing for Pasifika families in Aotearoa can be designed, adapted, and lived in. The project addresses the longstanding disparity between traditional housing models in Aotearoa and Pasifika collective living – a way of living that emphasises intergenerational care, shared space, and respect for land and sea.
Developed through Indigenous research methods, the project translates cultural values into a practical design toolkit that bridges the gap between policy and practice. The toolkit comprises four interconnected tools that move from principle to lived reality: the Maumoana Framework, Fale Typologies, Material Palette, and Communal Wellbeing Spaces. Rather than prescribing a single design, Fale Tupu offers an incremental housing model that reinforces community agency. It enables Pasifika Housing Providers to lead conversations with architects, funders, planners, and families, ensuring that cultural identity and ecological responsibility shape housing from the outset.
