Research - Mangroves 'life on the edge'

Mangroves are the only trees that can grow in saline water. They occupy a tidal zone of desiccating heat, mud, and salt levels that would kill an ordinary plant within hours. Yet they're among the most productive and biologically complex ecosystems on Earth.
There are some 70 species from two dozen families - most in Southeast Asia, where they are thought to have originated. Most live within 30 degrees of the Equator.

Some Aborigines in northern Australia believe one mangrove species resembles their primal ancestor, Giyapara, who walked across the mudflats and brought the tree into existence. 

Ecology

The intertidal zone is characterised by broad ranges in salinity, temparature & moisture:

• high tide brings in salt water, and when the tide recedes, solar evaporation of the seawater in the soil leads to further increases in salinity
• the return of tide can flush out these soils, bringing them back to salinity levels comparable to that of seawater
• at low tide, organisms are also exposed to increases in temperature and desiccation, and are then cooled and flooded by the tide

 So mangroves are brilliant adapters with an ultrafiltration system to keep much of the salt out and a complex root system that allows it to survive in the intertidal zone.

Ecological benefits

Mangroves benefit the overall health of the sea and provide a nursery for young organisms; the plants' interlocking roots stop riverborne sediments from coursing out to sea:

• mangrove roots provide an oyster habitat and slow water flow, thereby enhancing sediment deposition in areas where it is already occurring.
• this sediment (fine & anoxic) in turn act as sinks for a variety of trace heavy metals.
• mangrove removal disturbs these underlying sediments, often creating problems of trace metal contamination of seawater and biota.
• the root system hosts algae, barnacles, oysters, sponges, and bryozoans, which all require a hard surface for anchoring while they filter feed, plus shrimps and mud lobsters; mangrove crabs mulch the mangrove leaves, adding nutritients to the mangal muds for other bottom feeders.
• in at least some cases, export of carbon fixed in mangroves is important in coastal food webs.

They can protect coastal areas from erosion, storm surge and tsunamis:

• their massive root systems are efficient at dissipating wave energy plus slow tidal water enough to allow sediment to be deposited as the tide comes in, leaving all except fine particles when the tide ebbs. However, mangrove swamps' protective value is sometimes overstated ie. wave energy is typically low in areas where mangroves grow. 

Example: by planting mangroves on delta sediments washed down from the Himalaya, Bangladesh has gained over 300,000 acres (120,000 hectares) of new land on the Bay of Bengal.

NZ Mangroves

Avicennia marina, or the grey or white mangrove; Māori name = mānawa

Mangroves have been in New Zealand for about 19 million years; they are an indigenous New Zealand plant, and are a protected plant in Northland (where the most mangrove forests are).

They are the southernmost mangrove in the world. New Zealand mangroves grow in an area from near Cape Reinga in the north southwards to Bay of Plenty’s Ohiwa Harbour (near Opotiki) on the east coast and in the Kawhia Harbour on the west coast.

The mangrove can tolerate very saline water conditions (they excrete salts through their leaves), but grow to full height only in waters where both salt and fresh water are present.

 

Adaptation - too much salt

1. Osmosis - the concentration of salt in New Zealand mangrove’s cell sap is higher than land-only plants. The mangrove’s higher salt sap concentration helps it stop osmotic water loss from its plant tissues into the sea around it, helping it to survive in such a salty environment.
2. The leaves of the mangrove secrete salt - hundreds of tiny salt-secreting glands on the mangrove leaf’s upper surface. They get rid of extra salt by exuding a salty brine that is more concentrated than full-strength seawater.
3. Tough leathery upper leaf surfaces  - easier to wash off salty sea splash and spray residues. 
4. Leaf shedding - mangroves lose about 60 percent of their leaves in a year. The drop is mainly of older leaves which contain the greatest salt concentrations (annual litter drop can be as high as about five to six tonnes per hectare) Leaf drop increases during summer which also helps the mangrove reduce the impact of losing water through evaporation.

Adaptation - not enough oxygen

Pneumatophores - the many snorkel-like breathing roots that stick up above the mud. These grow along the mangrove’s shallow radiating roots.

• Each pneumatophore has small port holes or lenticles in its outer surface which let air into the root when the tide is out.
• these aerial roots can grow to a height of about 20cm. They allow the plant to absorb oxygen, which is deficient in its habitat. They also help to anchor the plant during the frequent rush of tide water

Adaptation - 'prepackaged seedlings'

Mangrove propagules grow on their parent tree for up to five months. They grow into a furry, 'packaged seedling' ready to quickly take root after they are dropped from the tree into the surrounding water. Air inside the pericarp allows the propagule to float for up to three days.

• These propagules are not seeds. They are ‘mangroves to go’, ready-made future plants that have already done almost half a year’s growing on their parent tree.

 

Mangrove ecosystem

As many as 30 different species of fish can be found in mangroves at high tide (including yellow-eyed mullet, grey mullet, parore, pilchards and anchovies).

Birds found there can include the heron, pukeko, banded rail, harriers, kingfishers, grey warblers, fantails, shining cuckoos, bitterns, royal spoonbills pied and black shags.

Maori use

Māori traditionally gathered food from the mangrove forests. This included mullet (kanae), oyster (parore tio), sea snail (karahu) and eel (tuna).
The black earth formed by rotted mangrove leaves was also used to dye flaxes for making kits and skirts. A green dye was made from the lichen on mangrove trees. 

To Encourage Growth - 10-50% seawater

Seedling development is affected by salinity of the substrate in which they grow. A study by (Downton 1982) of development of A. marina seedlings at different salinities revealed that optimum growth occurred between 10 and 50% seawater. Plants growing in higher salinities were comparatively slow to develop and had lower biomass.

Pros & Cons

Mangroves can be beneficial:

• Home for many marine and land animals
• Nursery habitat for short-finned eels, grey mullet and parore
• Erosion control & shoreline protection
• Organic material for nearby habitats
• Reducing urban stormwater pollution
• Bird roosts
• Storm surge protection
• Major ecosystem food web component

But also have some ecological adverse effects:

• Colonising the habitat of other indigenous coastal flora and fauna e.g. bird roosting sites
• Accelerating estuary infilling
• Restricting usability of coastal structures e.g. wharves
• Loss of beach areas and open harbour spaces
• Restriction of public access to the harbour
• Loss of feeding areas for wading and shorebirds
• Restriction of tidal flushing
• Obstruction of natural and manmade land drainage channels

Distribution in Mangere Inlet - 2006 (almost none prior to 1970)

Manukau harbour mangrove removal (http://www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/local-news/western-leader/7667458/Community-split-over-mangroves)
Manukau harbour mangrove removal 2 (http://www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/local-news/manukau-courier/7231724/Managing-mangroves)

Auckland Regional Council - Mangrove info (http://www.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/EN/planspoliciesprojects/plansstrategies/DistrictRegionalPlans/regionalplans/regionalplancoastal/Documents/newzealandsmangrovesarc2007.pdf)
Auckland Regional Councial Plan - Control of Mangroves (http://www.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/EN/planspoliciesprojects/plansstrategies/DistrictRegionalPlans/regionalplans/regionalplancoastal/Pages/regionalplancoastalmangroves.aspx)
Research paper on temparate mangroves 1 (http://www.aucklandcity.govt.nz/council/documents/regionalplans/coastal/Morrisey%20et%20al%202010%20Temperate%20Mangroves%20OMBAR.pdf)
Research paper on temparate mangroves 2 (http://www.aucklandcity.govt.nz/council/documents/technicalpublications/ARCTP%20325%20Mangrove_review_(web).pdf)

Distrubution in the BOP region (http://www.boprc.govt.nz/environment/coast/tauranga-harbour/mangroves/)
Whangamata ratepayers association comment (http://www.whangamata-ratepayers.org.nz/mangroves.html)

Research - Favona/Mangere Inlet History

1959 - Norana Ave showing market gardens plus some horse stud areas

• The Favona area has a long history of habitation owing to its fertile soil, productive harbour and proximity to the Manukau-Tamaki isthmus.
• Māori of Ngāti Whātua were the inhabitants until European farmers arrived in the 19th century.
• Favona Farm - a stud farm for racing horses, owned by WG Mosman, first put up for sale in 1908 - 125 acres of 'first class volcanic land and buildings'. Then later the entire farm (over 300 acres) when Mr Mosman died.
• Market gardening brought more people into the area and the land remained used in this way until the 1960s when housing developments were created to service Auckland's growing population and industry in nearby.
• Some parts of Favona had large areas of greenhouses, such as for tomato production (some of which remain in Norana Ave).
• The area is one is of relative poverty and until 2005 had one of New Zealand's largest trailer parks. Next to Norana Park is the national distribution headquarters for Progressive Enterprises.

Time Line (Favona)

1800s

• Intensive European settlement of the Mangere area began in the mid-1800s:
• Early Europeans established a settlement at Onehunga in the 1840s, and by the 1850s the area around Mangere Inlet was Auckland’s agricultural centre.
• In the 1860s the Maori Land Wars lead to the establishment and growth of Otahuhu, where troops were stationed.
• In the 1870s numerous small industries were becoming established around the inlet including meat works, tanneries, and brickworks. The railway line was constructed along eastern foreshore by 1875.
• In the 1880s continuing industry growth was centred on Westfield shoreline where wastewater was directly discharged into the inlet.

1910 Land Sales

"...A pretty illustrated booklet has just been issued, giving some fifteen views and a full description of Favona Park, which is to be auctioned by Samuel Vaile and Sons, in conjunction with Alfred Buckland and Sons. Favona Park is situated midway between Otahuhu and Mangere, on the shores of the Manukau Harbour, and contains a little over 300 acres. It was recently sold by executors of the late Hon.Hugh Mosman to three Auckland gentlemen. The now owners at once set about roading the block, and they have been successful in arranging with the Mangere Road Board to bridge a tidal creek, and connect the estate with the Otahuhu railway station through the farm of Messrs. Buckland and Sons. Thus the main road of the block will run practically in a straight line right through to the station. This new road will shorten the distance from Mangere Mountain and surrounding country to Otahuhu by about two miles, and will bring the estate within a mile of Otahuhu railway station.
Favona has been subdivided into fifty lots, ranging from three acres upwards, and more than half of them have salt-water frontages. Owing to the close proximity of Favona to the city, its rich soil and its picturesqueness, there should be keen competition for the various lots, particularly those on the water front. "Auckland Star, Volume XLI, Issue 289, 6 December 1910, Page 6
"One of the finest suburban blocks ever put on the Auckland market will be submitted to public competition ... This is the Favona Park Estate, some 300 acres, once the property of the late Hon. Hugh Mossman...This property has been cut up into fifty lots ranging from four to fourteen acres.
Favona is as level as a table. The soil is rich volcanic, and more than half the sections have salt water frontages. "Observer, Volume XXXI, Issue 12, 3 December 1910, Page 8

16 Dec 1910 -'Favona the beautiful'

 "'Favona' the Beautiful. The most magnificent suburban subdivision ever placed upon the Auckland market comprising: 50 farmlets from 4 to 20 acres ... fertile land, sea frontages, superb views ... Enthroned on a commanding position on the southern shores of the Manukau harbour ... 'Favona' will appeal strongly to the business man who wants an ideal home in a pure atmosphere, peaceful surroundings, and general healthfulness ... an ideal site for a week-end camp ... As soon as the bridge which the Mangere Road Board is about to construct, is completed, there will be a straight level road right through 'Favona' to Otahuhu Station ...", Favona Park [brochure], Auckland, Samuel Vaile & Sons, [1910], (12p.); 'Auctions', Auckland Star, 19/11/1910, p. 7, col. 3;

***What was not advertised was the proximity of several industrial waste outlets further along the Mangere Inlet. And it was several years before the advertised road and bridge to Otahuhu were actually completed: Mangere Road Board, Accounts Book, 1904-1915, p. 81 (Manukau City Council archives, W2079); Mangere Road Board, Minute Book, 1912-1916, pp. 14, 88 (Manukau City Council archives, W2078); Mangere Road Board, Letter Book, April 1916 - March 1917, p. 119 (Manukau City Council archives, W2078).

  

1919 PROPERTY AUCTION

"There was a fair attendance at the auction sale of valuable freehold ..., this morning. Bidding was spirited, and in several cases the margin between buyer and seller was very small. Amongst the properties offered was the "Favona" homestead, 22 acres 22 perches, having extensive frontage to Favona Road and the Manukau Harbour, with dwelling of seven rooms and outbuildings, which was passed in at £4150" Auckland Star, Volume L, Issue 223, 19 September 1919, Page 6

1929 SEVERELY INJURED CHINAMAN IN COLLISION

Severe concussion and a broken right leg were received by Wah Sun, market gardener, Favona Street, Mangere, when riding a motor cycle in Manukau Road this afternoon. He was involved in a collision with a car driven by a lady.Auckland Star, Volume LX, Issue 147, 24 June 1929, Page 10

1933-1938 (?) CLAY-BIRD SHOOTING

The Auckland provincial clay bird championship was shot at the metropolitan grounds. Favona Road. Mangere, on Saturday...

1900s Industrial Discharges into the Inlet

Urban and industrial development expanded during the 1900s, with ongoing discharges leading to the environmental degradation of the inlet from:

• 3 large meat works; an abattoir; 3 phosphate fertiliser works; 2 wool scours; fellmongeries; soap and candle works; a wood-pulp works;  a battery works; a woollen mill; a tannery; and a glue works.
• plus inputs from: Middlemore Hospital; Otahuhu Borough Council's septic tank; leachate from various refuse tips; run-off from the Otahuhu railway workshops and later from the Pacific Steel plant at Otahuhu.

During the 1950s, the decomposition of organic wastes stranded on the mud flats got so bad that it led to sulphate reduction under anaerobic conditions, which resulted in complaints about the smell of hydrogen sulphide and blackening of lead paint on houses in adjacent suburbs.

1948 (July) 'MUCK IN THE MANUKAU'

"Favona residents held a meeting to protest against the continuing pollution of the Mangere Inlet by sewage and trade wastes. At the time there are 14 waste outfalls in the inlet discharging raw sewage and industrial waste.
"At the request of the convenor of the meeting, [the] Medical Officer of Health, who attended the meeting, walked with others over areas where parts of animals had been left by the tide on the foreshore. Thick with grease and fat, are the edges of the once sandy shores, and flies and rats breed in their thousands ...", 'Manukau Harbour: Pollution of Waters', South Auckland Courier, 23/7/48, p. 5; [Letter], ibid., col. 5.

1962 Mangere Sewage Purification Works opens

In 1962, the Mangere Sewage Purification Works opened and took the household and industrial wastes previously discharged into the inlet. This led to a significant improvement in
environmental quality.

1964 - RESIDENTS & RATEPAYERS ASS. FORMED (Sep)

The Favona Residents & Ratepayer's Association is formed. "A sound financial position and a membership of 95 had been achieved ... in the first nine months of existence ...", 'Favona Ratepayers', South Auckland Courier, 27/6/62, p. 18.

1966 - NORANA RESERVE (5 Oct)

Manukau City Council resolves to buy the five-acre D.G. Paul property in Norana Avenue, Favona, to develop as a reserve.

2008

 1967 HARANIA CREEK RECLAIMATION

The reclamation of a 71-acre area of tidal land in the Harania Inlet, Mangere, is authorised. The aim is to provide for the development of a 'buffer zone' of light industry between the existing heavy industrial area and residential areas of Favona. (The reclamation takes almost 30 years to complete.)
The Harania Creek reclamation: Auckland Harbour Board (Reclamation) Empowering Act 1967, first schedule, part IX, second schedule, part IX. Pacific Steel had previously applied for permission to reclaim more than 20 acres in the creek to expand its works. It eventually combined with Manukau City Council and the Auckland Harbour Board to develop a larger scheme that would also buffer the heavy industrial zone: 'Future of Harania Creek: Attempts to Limit Steel Mill Growth', South Auckland Courier, 23/11/66, p. 1; 'In Committee Meeting Angers Ratepayers Assoc.', South Auckland Courier Central Edition, 19/4/67, pp. 1, 6; 'Harania Creek: Residents Get Their "Buffer" Industry Strip', South Auckland Courier Central Edition, 3/5/67, p. 3;  'Last Stages', Manukau Courier, 30/4/93, p. 3.

 1956

1996

 

1970 SOFTBALL GROUNDS

The Auckland Softball Association begins work on the development of its newly acquired home grounds in Norana Avenue, Mangere, one of the few privately owned parks in Manukau City. 'Softball Park', as it becomes known, is fully ready for use by the summer of 1977.

'New Softball Field for Mangere', South Auckland Courier, 22/4/70, p. 46; 'Softball Scheme under Fire', NZ Herald South Auckland Section, 24/5/77, p. 6; "The new Mangere international softball arena at Norana [i.e. Softball] Park will [also] be used for first-class rugby league and soccer matches ... The park is near completion and the first softball matches will be played here this summer ...", 'Lack of Funds Holds up Softball Park Development', Manukau Courier, 2/3/82,  'Mangere Site for World Softball', Manukau Courier Central Edition, 18/6/85, p. 1; cf. "Norana is long past its glory days and needs major investment to reclaim first-class standard. There is a push within Auckland softball to sell the diamonds ...",

The park was sold in 2008.

1971 CLEAN BEACH AT FAVONA

The Favona Ratepayers Association reports that the Mangere Inlet has become much cleaner since the opening of the Manukau Sewage Purification Works and there is now good swimming to be had offshore from a newly developed park in Norana Avenue.

"About half a mile from the Favona bridge is a six acre reserve which the Ratepayers' Association is developing. The reserve has a sandy beach frontage, which ... is becoming sandier each year - since the Mangere sewerage plant has been operating ... A raft, anchored about 15 yards off shore, was put there by the association and provides a much used diving platform for school children who swim there after school ...", 'No Risk for Kids on this Beach', South Auckland Courier Central Edition, 24/2/1971, p. 60.

1997 TONGAN CHURCH OPENS IN FAVONA RD

The Free Wesleyan Church of Tonga opens a large new church in Favona Road, Mangere. The building is able to house a congregation of 1000 parishioners and is reportedly the largest Tongan church in the southern hemisphere.'Tongan Church Spans Western and Traditional Styles', Manukau Courier, 4/7/97, p. 1.

2001 Mangere Wastewater Treatment Plant upgraded

In 2001, the Mangere Wastewater Treatment Plant was upgraded , and the areas previously occupied by oxidation ponds were returned to the harbour.

Norana Reserve

There is 5ha of sportfields on the West end of the reserve; the main current use is sports. The furthermost eastern area (now separated from the sportfields by 49/51 Norana Ave) was home to the Auckland Softball Association until around 2010.

 

• 2009 - Manukau City Council expanded the reserve to just over 300m long.
• 2009 - (confirm date?) a block of land at 49 and 51 Norana Ave was purchased by the Government of Samoa to develop staff housing for a new consulate they wished to establish in Mangere Town Centre.
• 2009 - the reserve was considered for airfield use (see link below) but this would have meant buying land from the Samoan Consulate (they tried but were refused) so the idea was ditched.
  

  http://www.airparkstrust.org.nz/index.php?page=norana-reserve; As part of this consideration, investigations into noise and airspace requirements were made

  http://www.airparkstrust.org.nz/index.php?page=norana-airspace
• 2010 - Auckland Softball Association moved to the North Shore after they sold their site along Norana Reserve (to the council?)

 

Consent (?) for a new change room/club room facility in the park approved in 2010

http://www.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/SiteCollectionDocuments/aboutcouncil/localboards/mangereotahuhulocalboard/meetings/mangereotahuhulbag20120926.pdf

DOC land inventory including land around Norana Park:

http://www.doc.govt.nz/documents/about-doc/role/policies-and-plans/auckland-cms/cms-volume-3-pages-201-250.pdf

Problems with tire dumping in the area

http://www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/local-news/manukau-courier/5665851/Residents-just-plain-tyred







Research - Site Geology

The Favona area is characterised by traditional residential housing, with industrial areas around the edges which still include areas of glasshouses. The area was traditionally a market garden area (Norana park had market gardens there) because of the rich soil. There is approximately 22Ha of land still being used for horticultural uses.
It is a relatively flat area, extending around a convulated coastal edge.

Greater Auckland area

The greater site area (Auckland) is characterised by many volcanic cones and craters - the nearest one is Mt Mangere and the corresponding negative space of this - Mangere Lagoon (other examples include Rangitoto & Lake Pupuke, Mt Wellington & the Panmure Basin)

Geology - Catchment areas:

Tarata Creek - Norana Ave = subcatchment #572, 43.9Ha

• mostly Tauranga Group alluvial of the Favona formation, overlying soils mostly yellow-brown loams; SCS soil classification = Type C
Harania Creek - James Fletcher Drive (comes out next to Norana Park) = subcatchment #567 & 565, 15.4Ha

• Otara formation alluvial, some Favona suface alluvium near the park
• Intertidal mud (Tauranga Group) with some sand, silt and shell in the creek bed
Landfill at the end of Norana Road (near the park) is mainly inorganic, street sweeping/catchpit cleaning fill comprising of around 0.2Ha. Does not require resource consent.

The general area of Favona is characterised by the following:

• Late Pliocene to Middle Pleistocene pumiceous river deposits (Neogene sedimentary rocks)
• Main rock = sandstone; Rock class = clastic sediment
• Stratigraphic age = IPI Q5+
• Description: pumiceous mud, sand and gravel with muddy peat and lignite; phyolite pumice, including non-welded ignimbrite, tephra and alluvia
• 0.071-3.6 million years
• Puketoka formation
Undifferentiated Tauranga Group Alluvium (TGA) and Upper (fine grained) Puketoka
Formation (UPF)
This alluvium is typically derived directly from the weathering and erosion of ECBF and typically consists of silts or clays with variable sand content.
The Puketoka Formation sediments are generally alluvial to shallow marine in origin. They occur extensively throughout the low-lying areas adjacent to the Waitemata and Manukau Harbours. They include a wide variety of material types ranging from clays to gravels, though the upper Puketoka Formation is generally silts and clays with variable sand content.

References
http://www.nzta.govt.nz/projects/mhc/resources/pdf/MHX-RP-P-005-s92-Sec4-Part1.pdf
This is a great mapping site: http://data.gns.cri.nz/geology/

Research - Site winds/tides/water quality

The Manukau Harbour is a large, tidally controlled inlet that opens to the sea via a relatively narrow
and deep channel. Mangere Inlet in the north-eastern corner of the Manukau harbour has an area of 6.6 km2 and a catchment of 34.5 km2

• the tide in Mangere Inlet ranges from around 2.0 m (neaps) to 3.4 m (springs) - one of the largest tidal range in NZ
• the volume which flows out of the manukau harbour between low and high tide is 450 million m3 (neaps) and 690 million m3 (springs).
• tidal flows dominate over freshwater inflows
• the mean residence time of water in the harbour is around 20 days

Prevailing wind = westerly

 The coastline of Mangere Inlet has a long history of contamination. Environmental quality improved after the Mangere Wastewater Treatment Plant (MWWTP) was built, but stormwater contaminants, unauthorized discharges from industrial sites and the discharge from the MWWTP still affect water and sediment quality.

• dominated by muddy sediments, which are moderately contaminated with copper and zinc on the northern shore of the inner inlet. In contrast, sites on the southern shore and outer inlet appear to have relatively good sediment quality.
• Historical data indicates that sediments within the inlet have always been muddy.
• extensive reclamation along the eastern shore was carried out in the 1960s during development of the Westfield rail yards. The southern shore is less modified; the Harania and Tararata Creeks are still largely intact, although the upper reaches of both creeks are dissected by high volume roads. Both creeks are heavily forested with mangroves.

• mussels, oysters and flounder collected from Mangere Inlet tend to have relatively high concentrations of organic contaminants in their tissues, and relatively high concentrations of lead have been found in the blood of South Island pied oystercatchers.

The area directly off Norana Reserve is classed as Coastal Protection Area (CPA) 23a, CPA Type 2 and is a significant feeding ground for the many thousands of international and NZ endemic wading birds which roost around the Ambury area.

KELLY, S., 2008. Environmental Condition and Values of Mangere Inlet, Whau Estuary and Tamaki Estuary. Prepared by Coast and Catchment Ltd for Auckland Regional Council. Auckland Regional Council Technical Report 2008/031.

Initial ideas - traces, past evidence, history

MAU performance using theatre dust, traces of performance
Different meanings for the dust - literal, dusty, sand, old things, renewal, dusting off, clouds

Traces of the past within the site itself - past evidence of use (eg. softball pitches)

Traces - fingerprint dust, dust in buildings is largely made up of dead human skin etc.

Theatre dust.

Sand

Light

Light from above
Bouncing/reflecting light
Difuse light (not direct)
Textures
Below is a house which reused elements of the house - which itself invoke memorys - in order to create new plays of light
http://www.adelto.co.uk/beautiful-baluster-lattice-house-spain/

Projects by Shoei Yoh - particularly the 'glass house between sky & sea", the community centres,

http://www.world-architects.com/en/yohshoei/projects_en.html

http://www.jade.dti.ne.jp/shoeiyoh/

http://www.jade.dti.ne.jp/shoeiyoh/Essay/LIGHT%20ARCHITECTURES.pdf

See also

 

Thorncrown Chapel - E.Fay Jones

Koshino House - Tadao Ando

Museum of the City - Steven Holl
Guerrero House - Alberto Campo Baeza
Sweeney Chapel - Edward Larrabee Barnes with James Carpenter

La Alberca Pantheon - Manual Clavel Rojo
Galeries Lafayette - Jean Nouvel
Christus Pavilion - Meinhard von Gerkan
Kunsthaus Bregenz - Peter Zumthor
Auditorium and Conference Centre Spain - Carlos Ferrater
Barcelona Museum of Contemporary Art - Richard Meier
Galician Centre of Contemporary Art - Alvaro Siza

Artificial Light
Tuskegee Chapel - Paul Rudolph
Sundial House - Shoei Yoh
Chapel of St Ignatius - Steven Holl
Therme Vals - Peter Zumthor
Dutch Embassy Germany - Rem Koolhaas/OMA
Almeria Archaelogoy Museum - Paredes Pedrosa
Donau City Church - Heinz Tesar
Tirschenreuth Chapenl - Bruckner
Chapel of the Holy Cross (Turku Cemetery)
Monastery of Sainte Marie de La Tourette

 

 

Initial ideas - link with nature/conservation?

Incorporate features which make people more aware of our link/reliance/dependence/symbiotic relationship with the surrounding site

Personally have only really become interested in saving water/the environment since this has become part of :

• highlight features which only become apparent under certain climatic/sun conditions eg. sundial, occulus (like the Pantheon), light features at certain times of the year
• transforming a space with light but only at a certain time/date - an ancient trick
• areas of the building which encourage people to play with nature eg. when it's raining - waterfall like features incorporated into drainpipes, different drainage details which make interesting sounds when it rains (music):
• conversion of rain into sound/music eg. see Two Row Architects
• growth of external algae into certain shapes..?
• eat nature - fruit trees
• mangroves - investigate these

Research - Kingfisher

Kingfishers are often found in mangrove areas.

The New Zealand kingfisher (Halcyon sancta vagans), also known as the 'sacred kingfisher'.
The New Zealand sub-species, vagans, has distinctive green and blue colours.
Halcyon is the Greek word for kingfisher and refers to a bird fabled to breed about the time of the winter solstice in a nest floating on the sea and to charm the wind and waves so that the sea was then specially calm, hence halcyon days. The specific name of sanctus, the Sacred Kingfisher, was, according to the ornithologist W.H. Oliver, given as far back as 1782 because of the veneration associated with this bird in some Pacific Islands.

The Maori never used the feathers of Kotare but they were eaten, perhaps because they eat lizards which are regarded as guardians of the mauri of the forest.

This is the only native kingfisher species found in New Zealand. Another kingfisher, the Australian kookaburra, was introduced and lives around Auckland.
Maori name = kōtare

In order to make their nests in banks or trees/bark, a pair will take turns to fly at the bank like torpedoes; their skulls are brilliantly structured to absorb the shock.

 Anne Salmond’s “The Trial of the Cannibal Dog” - in this, a Kingfisher approved (as a god in the bird’s form), human sacrifice in the 18th Century South Pacific. After human sacrifice, a kingfisher cried out in the trees around the marae, Tu seemed pleased, remarking to Cook, ‘That’s the Atua [god] speaking.’”

Research - notes from readings

From: Joy Hendry, 'Arts, Architecture, and Creativity' in Reclaiming Culture: Indigenous People and Self-Representation, Palgrave Macmillan, 2005, p131-155.

"Our art is like a bridge between non-Aboriginal and Aboriginal people, making them aware of our culture and stories" - Inawinytji Williams, Desart Committee, Australia

- nice quote but there are problems:

1. classification of some artist's work as 'primitive' art then demeans their contemporary work ie. it freezes their work in a certain points in their past
2. problems of interpretation; if people are to learn from these works of art then they may need a lot of help with this as the real meanings and stories may be deeply hidden/sophisticated

Resistance & Renewal

Example of the Jean-Marie Tjibaou Cultural Centre as an expression for the Kanak culture - built to immortalise the Kanak man of the same name who tried in vain to lead his people to independence from their colonial masters (nice link with MAU).

• "The Pacific people need to be proud of what they are doing and not worried that they are not like their grandfathers were. The Centre...recognizes that culture changes and offers nothing less than a laboratory of creativity." - Emmanuel Kasarherou, the Kanak cultural director fo the project
• Renzo Piano's proposal was to make the centre modern but "as Kanak as possible", consulting with Kanak druing the process
• also sought to create a symbiotic relationsip with the surrounding vegetation - the path to the buildings plays an important cultural role
• some old-style Kanak buildings were built nearby at the same time so he could reflect their features  -"construction was as important as the finished product"
• he also wanted an unfinished look, saying that architecture is a living being that evolves with time and use

Architecture as a form of self-expression and creativity?

Pacific Space: The Pacific Conception of Building
Bill McKay and Antonia Walmsley, Interior Design, Unitec New Zealand

In the West, architecture, landscape and interior are seen as separate disciplines, with the latter two subordinate to architecture’s concern with object, form and structure. Buildings of the Pacific subvert this Western model eg. the Maori Meeting House (or whare nui) and the Pacific Island falé.

Pacific indigenous buildings can be reviewed, not in terms of architecture, but through looking at the garment and the body.
It's doubtful if the people of the Pacific share the Western notion of architecture as something separate from craft, art, ornament, interior, landscape.

The Samoan falé or Maori whare were seen as primitive shelters by European arrivals

• justifiable because of the climate; a paradise, where little was required in the way of protection for the human body or agriculture.
• however, today we see these buildings as functionally well adapted to climate, but no longer appropriate to today’s social, cultural and physical conditions.

However, these 'shelters' are not primitive structures - on closer examination, the ‘grass hut’ is a highly crafted work.

Research - Lemi Ponifasio & MAU

MAU = Somoan word for both 'vision' and 'revolution'; it was the name of the Samoan independence movement of the early 20th century that practised non-violent resistance to German and NZ colonial rule.

Lemi Ponifasio is a Samoan choreographer and the founder and director of MAU, New Zealand's most prolific international contemporary dance and theatre company, based in Auckland but performing at major international theatres & festivals. Mau was founded in 1995.

"An ancestral imagined world made of earth and air, fire and water, inhabited by gods and men, underlies the visionary creations"
 "Lemi Ponifasio...draws from the native cultures of the Pacific to create, like a shaman, new symbols that also speak of our present."
" In his shows, ceremonies, performance culture, dance and contemporary theatre blend and demonstrate a strong connotation of civil commitment. Ponifasio’s unique work is hard to define in conformity with the parameters of theatre and dance of the West. Seeing a show by the MAU group means wondering at a crepuscular dimension in which the human being is vulnerable and in which the body becomes a receptacle of spirits, animals, creatures of dust, of a primitive instinctive energy."

"...with a powerful relationship between darkness, light and movement".
"The originality of his language, which refers back to the ancestral value of dance, shunning folklore cliches, fashion and pop culture, ensure he is one of the world’s leading contemporary artists in the genre."


The Mau troupe is comprised of people from Samoa, Tonga, Aotearoa, Kiribati, Rapa Iti, Kanaky and the Cook Islands. In addition to its cultural make up, what makes MAU unique is the fact its performers were picked for their lack of formal training not because of it.
"For me I needed to start from a new place so I asked people who don't really study dance, who are not experts of dance because their condition of body and mind is not complete. They are still saying 'what is dance Lemi?' and that is great. I know we are on the right path. The person is still searching for an idea. I did not want to become a class of humans called Dancers. I just wanted to be a human who dances. It was that kind of a beginning."
http://www.thebigidea.co.nz/news/blogs/biting-the-big-apple/31032-biting-big-apple-mau-mostly-mozart-festival

Ponifasio prefers the term community to 'dance company' when talking about MAU. Ask about the dancers with whom he works, none of whom has had what we would understand as a conventional dance training at a dance or drama school, and he'll explain that where he is from, everyone is expected to dance. "For us to sing, to dance, to conduct ceremonies, it's part of your life. You're expected as a citizen to do that, it's normal, it's a part of growing up. A farmer can dance, a student can dance. None of these people have ever been to dance school, but they are dancers. The dance is created not in a vacuum but in the community."
Quiz him on the practicalities of how his dancers achieve such synchronicity, the hours they must have spent in rehearsal rooms to achieve such perfect timing, and he just smiles. "That's the easy part. If you hang out with our community of people, I never talk about dance, I talk about something else. That's the preparation – engagement in life. It looks like I beat their heads all day, but I promise you I don't do that."...Contemporary is not about a fashion or about something that looks European, it's about what people are speaking about in that moment in their lives. That's how we do it, that's how I think I do it. Nothing mysterious."' He has referred to his work as the pursuit of the "Va-body", a conscious and responsible state of being. The Va, he explains, is the gap in the rock reef around an island. It's where the islanders' boats come in and go out for fishing or travel and it's the most dangerous part of the ocean. "This is the point where we should be all the time," he says. "In Samoa we say in the va, that's what politeness is – it means to be in the space, to be paddling on both sides of the canoe, to be in balance. Maintain the space, it's like a motto in Samoa. That's the kind of theatre I'm trying to make, it's about being in the space. "Our architecture is the same. In a typical Samoan house you have one room and everything is open. Births, deaths, love-making, eating, drinking, sleeping, fighting, discussion takes place in one space so you must learn negotiation. I like this. As opposed to the theatre which is a space of mystery."http://www.scotsman.com/news/interview-lemi-ponifasio-choreographer-1-820363

Themes of power and servitude infiltrate the work of Lemi Ponifasio - he uses philosophical texts and the language of the body to critique our changing world.
http://www.thebigidea.co.nz/node/31932

Performances

Paradise

 (2003 tour of the Pacific Region)

• Parts of the work were banned by the French Government in Tahiti.
• The world premiere of "Paradise" at the Auckland Festival was noted for the riotous participation of the audience  - led prominently by the present Minister of Maori Affairs and the founder of the Maori Political Party, Dr Pita Sharples.

Requiem

(2006 - commissioned by the city of Vienna as part of the 250th Anniversary of Mozart)

• Lemi explains how Mozart's Requiem informed MAU's Requiem:
• "In his last days Mozart created Requiem. I think Mozart was trying to talk to his God or ancestors because his time was coming near. When I was asked to create Requiem I immediately thought of Pacific rituals of farewell. In Pacific ceremonies you are trying to talk to your ancestors so for me Requiem is a contemplation, a preparation, a creation of a ceremony that might point us to some place or someone."
• Lemi drew on values of the various cultures represented in MAU. The stage is the fale and the powhiri unites the audience with the troupe. The music and songs in Requiem reflect the cultures of the various members of MAU as a cultural & symbolic act of 'hearing from everyone'
• Ponifasio refers to Requiem as a pilgrimage of hope.
• It echoes the march of Dame Whina Cooper and the history of social negotiations in New Zealand and the Pacific.
• It is created from Pacific rites of farewelling the dead, of remembrance, and of greeting the ancestors, and is composed of ancient ancestral chants, oratory, incantation, songs of love, songs of lamentation, songs of wandering, songs of joy, songs of the navigators and songs of the frigate bird.

 http://www.thebigidea.co.nz/news/blogs/biting-the-big-apple/31032-biting-big-apple-mau-mostly-mozart-festival
http://www.thebigidea.co.nz/node/28601

Tempest: Without a Body

(2007 - premiered in Vienna)

• Tempest = a series of works responding to the escalation of state powers and unlawful detention in the post 9/11- world.
• Lemi Ponifasio's reflection on global issues bridges international observations with local concerns: both the arrest of Ahmed Zaoui, and Tame Iti (as himself in a lead role) are featured.
• Before the London season, Iti was arrested by New Zealand police in Ruatoki (15 October 2007) during the so-called anti-terror raids, which caused uncertainty for the MAU tour to London and Brussels in 2008. However, Ponifasio convinced the New Zealand High Court to allow the detained Maori activist to travel.

http://metro.co.uk/2008/06/26/lemi-ponifasio-mau-tribal-dance-off-221455/
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0805/S00036.htm

Prometheus

(July 2012)

In Greek mythology, Prometheus is a Titan, culture hero, and trickster figure who is credited with the creation of man from clay and the theft of fire for human use, an act that enabled progress and civilization. He is known for his intelligence, and as a champion of humanity.The punishment of Prometheus as a consequence of the theft by Zeus involved eternal torment for his transgression: the immortal Prometheus was bound to a rock, where each day an eagle, the emblem of Zeus, was sent to feed on his liver, which would then grow back to be eaten again the next day. In some stories, Prometheus is freed at last by Hercules.
In the Western classical tradition, Prometheus became a figure who represented human striving, particularly the quest for scientific knowledge, and the risk of overreaching or unintended consequences. In particular, he was regarded in the Romantic era as embodying the lone genius whose efforts to improve human existence could also result in tragedy

Birds with Sky Mirrors

For more interviews:
http://www.visitingarts.org.uk/content/silent-zone-world-lemi-ponifasio

Previous studio - Shed 1, Corbans Estate
http://panjiva.com/Mau-Dance-Ltd-Cash-Account/1558278

Dance Physiology

Dance may be compared to sports such as lacrosse, football or squash in that it requires both aerobic and anaerobic endurance. Dancers also require strength and flexibility.

Muscle Strength & 'power'

Muscle 'power' - in order, for example, to jump high it is not enough simply to have strong legs. The leg muscles must also be able to contract unusually fast.

• strength + speed = ‘power’
• this requires a third component - the viscoelastic component within both muscle and tendons and ligaments
• main tendon = Achilles tendon, main ligaments involved = the fibrous bands connecting the bones of the foot to form both the long and sideways arches
• has been calculated that about 70% of a muscle’s power comes from its strength and speed, and that the remaining 30% is provided as elastic recoil energy by these elastic components of muscle, tendon and ligament.

Flexibility

 Dancers as a group demonstrate a high level of flexibility.

• good flexibility requires considerable muscle strength throughout its range of movement - dancers need the strength in order to utilise their full flexibility in the air/while moving.

Aerobic Endurance

= the ability of the lungs, heart, blood, and blood vessels to deliver oxygen to the working muscles; an attribute which is usually scored highly in dancers. The effects of aerobic endurance training:

• size of the heart is increased as are the number of tiny blood vessels within muscle and the volume of blood in the body
• more oxygen can be delivered to the working muscles in a given time, so higher work rates may be maintained

Anaerobic Endurance

Dance requires long periods of aerobic activity interspersed with frequent highpowered surges of effort which can only be fuelled  by anaerobic metabolism. In Nature, this may occur when a gazelle is trying to escape from a cheetah, and equally in the hungry cheetah trying to catch the gazelle. In dance, anaerobic energy may be vital when the rate of exertion exceeds a particular threshold.

• refers to the ability of muscles to work for short intense periods without any oxygen, as may be necessary when the energy required exceeds the limit of the oxygen supply
• human muscle is designed to produce intense bursts of energy, lasting between 5 and 30s, but this is associated with production of lactic acid, a potent cause of muscle fatigue (eg. running up stairs, there comes a point, quite abruptly, when you have to slow down when lactic acid is building up significantly in your muscles).
• anaerobic training increases the muscle enzymes used to produce the anaerobic energy, but also increases other enzymes in the  kidney and liver which help to remove lactic acid from the blood and convert it back into glucose. Also, the levels of blood “buffer substances” which temporarily neutralise lactic acid incrase. 

A well–choreographed dance will allow for appropriate recovery times following intense anaerobic work.  It should be noted that an “active rest” is much the better way to help dissipate lactic acid (ie. moving rest).
The oxygen debt capacities of dancers have been found to be high. All factors comprising the oxygen debt are not fully known, but we have found that it does correlate highly with anaerobic performance. One of the debt's contributors is a high level of  myoglobin in muscle. This is a protein which, like haemoglobin  in the blood, carries oxygen. The more myoglobin it has, the greater is the muscle’s own oxygen store. Appropriate training will increase the myoglobin content of muscle.

Myoglobulin (Mb)

Myoglobulin is an iron- and oxygen-binding protein found in muscle tissue. The primary oxygen-carrying pigment of muscle tissue. It is related to hemoglobin, which is the iron- and oxygen-binding protein in blood, specifically in the red blood cells. The only time myoglobin is found in the bloodstream is when it is released following muscle injury.
=  a single-chain globular protein of 153-154 amino acids, containing a heme (iron-containing porphyrin) prosthetic group in the center around which the remaining apoprotein folds

• has 8 alpha helices and a hydrophobic core, a molecular weight of 17,699 daltons (with heme), and is the primary oxygen-carrying pigment of muscle tissues
• high concentrations of myoglobin in muscle cells allow organisms to hold their breaths longer (eg. diving mammals such as whales and seals have muscles with very high myoglobin)

Myoglobin consists of a backbone and heme-binding domain.
(A)  The backbone of myoglobin consists of eight α-helices (blue) that wrap around a central pocket containing a heme group (red), which is capable of binding various ligands including oxygen, carbon monoxide and nitric oxide.
(B) The protoheme group is bracketed or stabilized by histidine residues above and below

 

 

For more images of myoglobulin, see http://olystad.reamedia.no/wp-content/themes/twentyeleven/myoglobin-structure-quaternary