Form - the circle & marae atea

The circle & the Marae atea

 (from the Journal of Polynesian Society Volume 108 1999 > Volume 108, No. 4 'Marae and implications for a modern Maori psychology', by Mason Durie, p 351-366)

http://www.jps.auckland.ac.nz/document/Volume_108_1999/Volume_108%2C_No._4/Marae_and_implications_for_a_modern_Maori_psychology%2C_by_Mason_Durie%2C_p_351-366/p1 

The shape of a marae is often like a rectangle or square, but the movements and symbolism which bring life to the physical form have a stronger resemblance to a circle.

• communication between hosts (tangata whenua) and guests (manuhiri) reflect a circular pattern:
• whether the custom is for speakers from one group to speak immediately after each other before listening to speakers on the other side, or for speakers to alternate, a circular relationship is established. In a systematic way it includes all speakers, usually finishing near where it started.
• often the order in which orators stand to speak also suggests a circle, starting from the very first speaker and moving around to the last. By then the marae itself has been encircled.

The existence of a circle can also be demonstrated by the custom of koha.

• After speeches, visitors to a marae have the opportunity to recognise the significance of the occasion by publicly placing a gift, koha (usually money these days), on the marae. If the hosts agree that it is indeed a significant occasion, then the gift will be retrieved in a similarly formal manner. The nature of koha is less about the generosity of the donor than about the obligations placed on the receiver.

Reciprocity is an integral part of Māori custom and philosophy and continues to guide thinking and interaction in contemporary times. The philosophical framework does not conceptualise encounters as acts of linear purpose; the pattern is circular and understandings evolve from the creation of orbits rather than the projection of solitary missions.



 

 

 

Ideas - Porciúncula de la Milagrosa Chapel

Daniel Bonilla Arquitectos

 

Moveable walls, flexible spaces, a still and a mobile volume...my performance space should represent this somehow.Steel, glass and wood versus stone.

 

See other work by this architect: http://daniel-bonilla.com/menuproyectos.html



Ideas - Ofis Arhitekti, Farewell Chapel

• cut into the landscape, opening onto the open space in front (marea atea)
• textures
• following the form of the landscape

Choreographing experience

See, for example, Peter Zumthor's thermal spa in Vals

Or Aldo Van Eyck, and his famous Orphanage and Mothers House in Amsterdam - his buildings contain many possbilities for children and adults to appropriate small places for their own use eg. edges thickened to provide the possibility of seats, shelves, places to settle and put things down on. Steps or sills can become seats, shelves can become hiding places and play areas. Small windows to give glimpses of a view.

Relationship to my project

1. The journey to the main theatre/performance building:
• a walkway over the mangroves, to give a separation between the real and perhaps the imagined world, between the ground-based world and the spiritual, watery world
• take people away from the malae/marae area
2. The journey to the meeting house/whare nui:
• a path down into the sunken space, clearly demarcated but no actual fences or gates, just a threshold
• crossing this large open space requires invitation, or purpose: you will feel uncomfortable unless you have a reason to be there
• an open space
3. Public through to Private/Intimate/Spiritual; noa to tapu
• workshop & carving studio accessed directly from the carpark; these are more public spaces
• the creche/playcentre/homework spaces will also be accessed from the carpark but also with links to the malae area
• the whare kai/dining hall/plus associated ablution block can be accessed off to one side from the malae space, quite separate though

Space or place

Notes from 'A Choreographer's Handbook' by Jonathan Burrows, one of the UK's leading choreographers.

• the philosopher Susanne Langer has said 'The primary illusion of dance is a virtual realm of Power - not actual, physically exerted power, but appearances of influence and agency created by virtual gesture'
• the space of dance also has this virtual quality - the placement of a person on a stage can approximate to a narrative or emotional force, a dancer can render a small space infinite

Performance space

• how you handle the space in which you perform is part of the contract you make with the audience - a more relaxed space invites a more relaxed gaze while clean surroundings demand sharper attention (though the reverse can be true).
• surroundings are in dialogue with, and affected by, the performances that take place within them.
• the space itself is not the performance

Audience

• the relationship with the audience is a circular thing - I give them clues as to how they might sit and they, in turn, give me permission to relax and do best what I've come to do
• it is possible to use the situation of the unreality of a theatrical stage to become something extraordinary. This is one of the great pleasures of performing or watching performance - that suspension of disbelief/to suspend doubt.
• our thinking about direction is in constant negotiation with compass points and square rooms. The audience is usually in front of you and facing them is one possibility but not the only one, and it isn't a guarantee of communication
• another way to meet the audience is to confront them. The strongest confrontation is gently conscious of its purpose. Confrontation does not guarantee communicaton any more than facing the front...
• the gentle aim of the following principles, written by the composer Christian Wolff, is to liberate both audience and performers:
• a composition must make possible the freedom and dignity of the performer
• it should allow both concentration and release
• no sound or noise is perferable to any other sound or noise
• listeners should be as free as the players

Research - the language of religious architecture

Sacred buildings, more so than any other building type, are about ideas.
The building itself is the bearer of meaning.

• Introverted spaces of refuge & contemplation
• 'silent' contemplation - a naked sense of space that speaks out
• restful eloquence that rejects any sense of theatre

Client meetings - Lemi Ponifasio & MAU

Notes from Lemi's talk at Auckland University (15th March) & Mau Workshop on site (5th April)

The MAU Performances

• 'not a dance company, not a theatre' - though it is all about 'theatre' - not in the fake/acting sense but in the creation of a particular feeling and atmosphere
• 'a kind of opera...'
• a 'provacation'. The projects in general are to make people think - how to think about your own existence, not a commentary/criticism/expression. Not a story telling exercise.
•  Theatre is about finding a different reality.

"dance is an instrument to another place" - activating an awareness of the truth of your existence

• dance is rather a means to make the audience aware of truth
• the performances are not designed for you to enjoy but rather to make you stop and think, 'be', exist, interrupt your thoughts to be 'still'
• MAU is about asking the question: how do you respond to the world around you?
• not about functionalism or serving the arts
• it is up to the audience to decide what it is they are seeing/watching
• often no language or a language that is not common (eg. ancient Greek) - 'language is a barrier'
• the dancers are there to mark the space, shift the space
• "MAU is a community, not a dance company"
• Role of the MAU community
  
  • making relationships with other people from different places, having a sense of empathy rather than tolerance
  • individual identity includes where you are from (spatially, relating to the land) rather than what you do etc

The Body

• the body, for MAU, is a body of ceremony, a body that serves the space
• theatre should NOT be about the person performing per see. No divas.
• therefore, it is not prepared like that of a dancer or an actor
• 'being' not doing

the body should be 'silent' that is, allowing the performer and audience to become aware of the immense world around them rather than observing the body's movements per see

Specific Performances

• 'Le Savali' - wrestling with power (whether you have it or not), religion sometimes = power
• made for Berlin' interviewed gypsies and migrants rather than 'everyday' Berliners
• rehersals were done in a cemetary
• stage included a large sloping wall to perform on
• 'Stones in Her Mouth' - new project not yet completed
• what they (Maori women) want from the environment; nature is amplified
• slow movement, making the workshop women more aware of the environment around them and the sounds they make
• 'Prometheus' - Greek story of Prometheus (see first post), based on the 1968 opera score by Carl Orff, using Aeschylus' original Greek Prometheia.
• Venue for this was huge - an old Power Station: 170m long (used the whole space), with a glass floor measuring around 60-70m long = the long stage
• approx 1000 people in the audience
• walls were around 6m high in the performance area

The Space

The poetics...

The building  or space will:

• facilitate an awareness of nature/our existence/silence
• allow silence, contemplation of our existence 

[silence - not the absence of sound but rather a 'silence' which does not call you to look or analyse your surroundings in a loud manner but allows you to reflect]

• facilitate relationships between many people
• be a place which allows you ask 'why am I here?' - like a church
• have the same qualities of a church that makes you slow down
• be in reverence of the universe, a spiritual feeling
• at one with your ancestors
• have a sense of beauty, and the poetic
• a powerful space
• able to be very dark - when dark, your other senses are sensitised and more aware (hearing, smell, touch).
• a space in which people are encouraged for find a new reality - a 'no memory' kind of space.
• Va - in the state of being aware...transported into another reality.
• surprise people that it's in South Auckland - be a statement of confidence -"I Am"

"the poetic & aesthetic is a very gentle way of waking people up"

Perhaps the first thing you feel is 'space' (in the dark)
From this black space, something is created (in the beginning there was darkness)
In the theatre, always trying to create a space where Tagaloa would be.

The practicalities...

The space (centre) will:

• be a place of meetings & ceremonies
• allow different activities which people feel comfortable doing within that space:
• weddings, ceremonies, carving, learning/education, theatre, temple-like activities
• follow the concepts of a marae - not the phyisical concepts as such, but the way the marae exists as a series of relationships, time, rather than an object in space to look at: it is a 'place' (see Pallasmaa's definition of place)
• give you clues about how to behave within it
• as on the marae, the relationships between buildings is important
• the emphasis is on greeting and welcoming onto the marae, cues on 'how to be' with each other
• be a 'big' space that could allow eg. the funeral of a Tongan or Samoan king to take place there
• be authentic
• have a performance area that can give a sense of a large space, cosmos, sparse, with lots of black space/voids possible
• When the stage is very dark, it is important to have silence.
• Voice is used to cut through this space, to signify this space, give the space dimensions (you hear the echos and subconsciously recognise this). ((Is is possible to manipulate this feeling?))
• The stage should be large enough (or seem so) that your concentration is on the total landscape of the stage rather than just focusing on the performer. Many of their performances are outdoors so the sky and landscape is part of this.
• When outdoors, it is good to have something to focus on, a focal point.

 Ceremony rather than ritual.

"I used to dance in secret, alone, but now I want to work in amongst the community - not in secret anymore."

So, from this...

Investigate ways to create 'atmosphere', to create or reflect certain values, architecture that allows you to reflect, be quiet/loud/happy/reflective/aware/ and 'be'
Mutability
Authentic
Sustainable, close to nature - ecological in a quiet way
A place that has a presence, calm & serene but also confronting

• Light, sound, acoustics
• Thick walls, tall spaces
• Light from above
• 'Journey' from the entrance to the final destination to allow casting off of normal everyday concerns before you arrive at the final place
• Trees, landscaping  

Research - Models; openings

Models of different openings, horizontal, vertical
Thick walls...

Auditorium design

Primary objective = bring in as many people as possible within the optimum range of distances from the performance area, by:

• increasing the degree of encirclement in plan
• vertical layering eg. add in one or more tiers - this has the advantage of increasing number of seats without unduly increasing the distance from the stage. However, is more difficult to get good sightlines - shallow tiers help resolve this

Auditorium

Do not have the audience too obviously split - downplay the division of the balconies by placing the seats close to the edge...with railings designed to lean on.
Balconies to be no more than 2 seats deep

No reflective materials around the stage that would distract the audience (unless intentional)
Advantages of balconies:

• bring more people visually closer to the stage
• not so obvious when there are lots of empty seats (eg. can close off the top tiers) - better atmosphere

Seats

• audience in balconies will be looking down, not reclining
• balcony edges should be comforable for leaning on
• ideal scenario would involve adjustable seating (heights) in the top rows, moveable seats like the Q theatre

Visual & acoustic limits

Acoustics
Ideal scenario = no technology between actor and audience (eg. to enhance sound), and no background noise (NR of 25 or less?) - in particular mechanical/plant/plumbing noise

• NB.

Acoustics depend on:

• the behaviour of sound reflections and on the period of reverberation
• which in turn depends on:
• sound absorbed and reflected by the surfaces of the stage
• the volume of the auditorium and stage
• design of reflecting and absorbing surfaces can assist acoustics - old theatres with elaborate moulded plaster decorations which break up sound reflections mean a higher chance of being acoustically satisfactory than modern theatres with large areas of plain smooth walls and ceilings.
• no ceiling will mean there is no reflection back down into audience...
• artificial amplication is not usually desirable

Aids:

• sound absorbing material in the seats/balconies in circular theaters to avoid focusing of the sound
• minimise smooth surfaces on walls
• avoid deeply overhung balconies (best to restrict the depth from the front of the balcony to the rearmost seat under it to not more than twice the distance from the audience head level (eg. 1150mm from the floor) to the balcony sofit, at the front line of the balcony)
• reverberation will improve acoustics (providing not to much or too little)
• speech in auditoria of 300-12,000m3, the average reverberation time at mid frequencies should not be > 1.2s, or < 0.7s.
• is directly proportional to the volume of the theatre
• NB. a volume of around 3-5 m3 per seat gives about the right amount of absorption (audience plus materials) to provide reverberation times for ideal speech conditions - up to about 300 seats.

Vision

NB. 'P' is the lowest and nearest point which the whole audience should be able to see clearly

HD = horizontal distance (linear) between the eyes of the audience in consecutive rows

Average eye height is normally assumed to be 1120mm (but depends on seat design)

Balcony front height can be assumed to be 790mm.

Plays

• Visual limits - usually it is essential for the audience to be close enough to discern facial expressions so the usual accepted max = 20m (from centre of perfomance area)
• Acoustics - period of reverberation must be shorter for clarity of speech

Musicals, operas

• Visual limits - facial expressions are less important so the usual accepted max = 30m
• Acoustics - period of reverberation is longer for music and longer still for choral singing

Theatres: Planning Guidance for Design & Adaptation. Roderick Ham.Architectural Press: London. 1987

Seats

Allow at least 0.5m2 per person (seated):

• width-row spacing of 0.45m2 (or more)
• max of 16 seats per aisle OR 25 seats if one side exit door of 1m width is provided for every 3-4 rows
• exits/escape routes - 1m wide per 150 people (min width 0.8m)

Research - Dimensions

Malae/Marae space

This refers only to the sunken space directly outside the whare nui.
Assume a person width is around 0.5m, then if we want to accomodate a maximum of about ???people at a time, the marae space should be about (1875x500mm) x ???

Best to think in terms of the usual marae space (around 30m across, or approx 900m2)
NB. half a ruby field is around 50x70 (3,500m2).
Current site marae space is 35m in diameter so (area of a circle: 3.14 x (17.5 x 17.5)) = 960m2 (approx)

 

Performance space - traditonal auditorium-like space + fly tower

NB. treat this as a space to house opera (eg. rather than theatre)

• at least 0.5m2 per person for seated spectators (0.45m2 per seat) - minimum
• max 16 seats per aisle (or 25 if there is a side exit door 1m wide for every 3-4 rows)
• exits - 1m wide per 150 people
• volume of auditorium based on acoustic reverberation requirements - for opera: 6-8m3/spectator 
• volumes should be no less than this to avoid air changes (draughts) that are too pronounced
• max distance at which it is still possible to see facial expressions = 24m (32m major movements are still recognizable)

• comfortable proportions and often good acoustics of the classical theatres of the 18th and 19th centuries are based on specific rules of proportion (see diagrams 9 & 10 below):

 

Outdoor performance area with a traditional ampitheatre-type arrangement (sunken)
Other associated requirements:

• 1 WC/100 spectators min (1/3 men, 2/3 women)
• coat etc storage - 1 locker per 4 people or 4m per 100 people
• foyer space - 0.8 to 2.0m2/spectator depending on the function of the foyer eg. bar area etc
• cafe/reception/bar area associated with this performance space.
• The rehersal space should be similar dimensions to the stage/performance area itself.
• Make allowances for the performance space to also be used as a church, so ideally a creche facility will be included...

Whare nui or Fale tele

Dimensions - must be large enought to sleep 80 people on the floor. Maybe 30mx10m? 300-400m2?
Traditional shape with porch and only one window at front only. However, include windows in the porch sides (?)

Whare kai/dining hall

Research - the origins of theatre

" The origin of theatre is ritual..."

Theatre is thought to have originated as a performance of ritual activities that did not require initiation on the part of the spectator. Though this similarity of early theatre to ritual is not supported by Aristotle, who defined theatre in contrast to the performances of sacred mysteries: theatre did not require the spectator to fast, drink the kykeon, or march in a procession. However theatre did resemble the sacred mysteries in the sense that it brought purification and healing to the spectator by means of a vision, the theama; the physical location of performances was accordingly named theatron.

Theatron = place where spectators watch a performance - the most important place like this in ancient Greece was the theatre of Dionysus, an open air theatre supposedly created by Dionysus, the god.

 

 

Though the first 'theatre' may have occured in Egypt, on the banks of the Nile in a ceremony celebrating the dead. Regardless, it seems that the origins involve an outdoor setting, close to nature.

 

However, for the past 500 years the word 'theatre' usually means an enclosed (walls, roof) building which allows artists to exercise heightened aesthetic control by cutting out the natural environment. "Theatres since the Renaissance have become temples to artiface."
Theatre that does occur outdoors is usually staged at night, under lights, with amplified and modified sound. We are used to places that focus our attention on the performance at the expense of the natural world. Not the case with the original theatre...
The fact that the Athenians' theatre shut out neither natural nor civic environments speaks volumes about their theatrical aesthetic - aggressively public, part of the ongoing life of the city and subject to weather, acted out on a beaten earth orchestra with the land, sea, and sky beyond. Drawing on popular myths, tragedy enacted old stories against a backdrop of nature and the city - their progress measured by the narrative but also by the sun as it crossed the sky. There are many references to the sun in Greek theatre.
- Rush Rehm, 'Radical Theatre: Greek Theatre and the Modern World': Gerald Duckworth & Co. 2003.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_theatre
http://www.cwu.edu/~robinsos/ppages/resources/Theatre_History/Theahis_1.html
http://www.theatrehistory.com/origins/

Ideas - "village" layout

Intitial ideas for layout - arranged in a northeast facing direction?
In keeping with the concept of being in unity with nature, the centre cannot be a single monumental structure. Better to be a series of interconnect 'fale', like a village. The main indoor performance area can be/will be the largest structure.
Semi-circular layouts which define open outdoor rooms.

Performance space opening out into the inlet, with 2 spaces: inernal, large: external, open with visual sight line to the island, facing N/E, same orientation as the whare nui.

Mutability

Mutability - repurposing, flexibility, reusing a building for some other purpose late in its life etc
Mutability - a transience of form and materials:

• For Maori, there was a constant process of seasonal building and rebuilding, a process which also provided the ongoing opportunity to practice and pass on construction skills to the next generation.
• This constant renovation and rebuilding had the effect of galvanising support from local communities and cementing relationships as they worked together on building projects.
• The Samoan fale is designed to allow a cyclone to strip its thatch, then it is repaired
• Flexibility and responsiveness to weather

Research - Samoan architecture

NB. main difference between the Maori whare rununga and the Samoan fale tele is where ceremonies take place: Maori - outside the building; Samoan - inside the building

Fale - main elements to note:

• openess - open to sides, can see outside (cf. whare runanga is traditionally very enclosed with only one window)
• high ceiling
• sometimes sitting on a raised base
• smells - from outside but also a strong smell of the woven material the fale is made from

 

Albert Refiti article on Samoan Architecture

Pacific Space article (Bill McKay, Antonia Walmsely)

 

See this article on the ceremony of the raising of the posts - the working builders (Sa Tangaloa) have high prestige http://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-BucSamo-t1-body1-d2-d8-d14.html#BucSamo-fig-BucSamo091a

 

 



Research - Marae & Place, Tapu & Noa

Marae, Malae

Open areas - have to have a reason for being there...Energy flow (see diagrams), internal space of surround buildings/fale.

Space dimensions - Maori maraes:

Research into Marae & Place: http://researchcommons.waikato.ac.nz/bitstream/handle/10289/1233/Nikora%20-%20Place%20attachment.pdf?sequence=1

With respect to the idea of place attachment applied to Māori:

• that place is a social concept as much as a physical one - while the environment and surroundings were mentioned, the main focus seems to be the people, the socialisation and the social relationships as being part of what is their attachment.
• a marker of memory, with reference to the past and childhood, recollections of play, visiting, remembering the families who lived in the area, grandparents who had passed away, parents who had passed
• in whakapapa, in dialogue and in thought, your connections are a reflection of who you are, where you come from, who you are related to, the mountain and river you associate with, the lands you can stake claim to and a pretty good indication of where you will be buried.
• the findings emphasize the importance of the marae beyond the physical space it occupies.

Tapu & Noa

A system of tapu and noa prevails when visiting a marae:

• The tapu-noa system distinguishes between places and events that are off limits or need to be given cautious treatment, and those that are safe and accessible to the majority.
• Tapu - many interpretations of tapu, but most emphasise a sacred quality and linked in some way to gods or divinities However, a more utilitarian view of the purpose of tapu was discussed by Te Rangi Hiroa who drew a connection between the use of tapu and the prevention of accidents or calamities, implying that a dangerous activity or location would be declared tapu in order to prevent misfortune. More than a divine message from the gods, or the recognition of status, the conferment of tapu was linked to healthy practices.
• Whaiora, Māori Health Development takes a similar view. Tapu is described as a type of public health regulation, basically concerned with the avoidance of danger and the promotion of good health 
• Noa - a term used to denote safety; harm was less likely to befall anyone who entered a noa location, ate food rendered noa by cooking, or touched a noa object.
• Noa can be thought of as a kind of blessing in that it removes tapu, eating removes tapu in this way....(eg. sharing a meal on the marae)

There is the expectation that on a marae, a cautious attitude should be adopted, since the laws of tapu and noa still prevail.

• On some marae, the left side of a meeting house is tapu, the right side is noa.
• Usually the marae ātea is tapu, at least for visitors until formalities have been exchanged.
• Visitors themselves may be regarded as tapu and tangata whenua might be reluctant to make any formal contact until the tapu state becomes noa.
• Cooked food is noa, so that the way of reducing tapu is to enjoy a meal together.

The laws of tapu (and the corresponding state of noa) serve a different function in modern times than they did in earlier but some elements remain eg. behaviour on the marae atea - individuals are not at liberty to roam as they might wish, nor to behave in a manner not sanctioned by the rest of the community on the marae
(From Journal of Polynesian Society, Volume 108 1999 Volume 108, No. 4  Marae and implications for a modern Maori psychology, by Mason Durie, p 351-366 )

 

Myths & Traditions - Samoan, Maori

Samoa

http://www.samoa.co.uk/creation.html
http://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-TuvAcco-t1-body1-d48.html

Fa'asamoa (the Samoan Way)
http://www.samoa.co.uk/faasamoaintro.html

Rangi & Papa - Creation

In Māori mythology the separation of sky and earth allowed light to enter the world which in turn led to the growth of all plants and animals. However, the separation was bitter, painful and precipitated by the children’s need to dominate their parents.

In the beginning there was no sky, no sea, no earth and no Gods. There was only darkness, only Te Kore, the Nothingness. From this nothingness, the primal parents of the Māori came, Papatuanuku, the Earth mother, and Ranginui, the Sky father.

Papa and Rangi came together, embracing in the darkness, and had 70 male children. These offspring became the gods of the Māori. However, the children were locked in their parents embrace, in eternal darkness, and yearned to see some light.

They eventually decided that their parents should be separated - Tumatauenga, the god of War, said "Let us kill our parents". However, Tane-Mahuta, the god of man and forests, and all which inhabits the forests, thought they should be separated. He thought that Rangi should go up above, to the sky, and that Papa should should go below, to dwell on earth. All the children, except Tawhiri Matea (god of winds and storms who feared that his kingdom would be overthrown) agreed with Tane.

One by one the children tried to separate their parents but with no luck. Lastly Tane-Mahuta rose. Strong as the kauri tree, he placed his shoulders against his mother and his feet against his father Ranginui, and he pushed hard. Rangi and Papa cried in pain, asking their sons" why do you wish to destroy our love?"
After a long time Tane finally managed to separate Rangi and Papa, and for the first time the children saw the light of day come streaming in. Once this happened, Tawhiri Matea, the god of winds and storms, and who had been against the separation of his parents, left for the sky to join his father.
The turbulent winds and storms on earth are caused by Tawhiri Matea, in revenge for this brother's acts.