Tere Insley, Elisapeta Heta and Raukura Turei, wahine toa incorporating an indigenous aesthetic which considers tikanga and mātauranga Māori shaping spaces through a Māori lens. Video / Faultline Films. Made with funding from NZ on Air and Te Mangai Paho.
Auckland-based architectural graduate Elisapeta Heta of Jasmax features in a new book on the world’s top female architects and was subsequently named in a group of visionaries said to be shaking up the sector internationally.
The book, 100 Women: Architects in Practice by Tom Ravenscroft, Monika Parrinder, Naomi House andHarriet Harriss features architects from around the world.
But Heta [Ngātiwai, Waikato Tainui] is the only architectural graduate from Aotearoa to feature in the book.
Elisapeta Heta of Jasmax is profiled in the new book on 100 female architects working around the world. Photo / Jasmax
The Guardian this week also featured her in an article ‘I get looks of disbelief’: the visionary women shaking up architecture worldwide, along with many other architects profiled in the book.
The Jasmax principal and Māori design leader helped found the Waka Māia team at her work to embed Māori principles in how practice designs buildings and structures.
She has also worked on the City Rail Link, bringing Māori artists in to collaborate on new stations including a footbridge that evokes the form of indigenous stone-cutting tools near the site.
Jasmax’s design of the new Te Waihorotiu Station was featured in The Guardian article, showing plans for the station previously called Aotea.
Artist's impression of the City Rail Link's Te Waihorotiu Station. Jasmax and Elisapeta Heta worked on this design.
Heta also featured in The Drawing Board, an eight-part series on Whakaata Māori examining how indigenous architectural design was reshaping this country through a Māori lens. That series was made by Faultline Films.
In 2022, she won a president’s award from Te Kāhui Whaihanga the New Zealand Institute of Architects, praised for her outstanding and extraordinary commitment.
“As the inaugural Ngā Aho co-opted director on the institute board, Elisapeta was instrumental in supporting the understanding and gifting of our Māori name, Te Kāhui Whaihanga,” the institute said then.
She provided significant peer support to colleagues, it said, praising her as an advocate for change, speaking internationally to provide Māori and Pasifika perspectives on the importance of place in design and cultural identity.
At Jasmax, she is the leader of Waka Māia which provides skills and expertise in the context of tikanga Māori design and engagement processes.
The Guardian cited a growing number of Māori-led design firms in Tāmaki Makaurau. The publication also cited dedicated teams within larger practices in this country.
How the new Te Waihorotiu station in the City Rail Link could look.
City Rail Link [CRL] has a section on kaitiakitanga which cites a mana whenua forum established in 2012 which it said continues to flourish.
“Relationships have been established with the eight iwi who self-identified their interest in the project: Te Ākitai Waiohua, Te Kawerau a Maki, Ngāti Maru, Ngāti Paoa, Ngāti Te Ata Waiohua, Ngāi Tai ki Tāmaki, Ngāti Tamaoho and Ngāti Whātua o Ōrākei,” CRL says.
Mana whenua had worked with the CRL team to recognise the cultural context of Tāmaki Makaurau, CRL said.
That included recognising te Tiriti o Waitangi, identifying cultural opportunities, ensuring sustainability was compatible with te ao Māori and addressing infrastructure’s impact on mana whenua values, CRL said.
Heta was unavailable to talk to the Herald but a Jasmax spokeswoman said the practice was delighted with all her achievements.
Anne Gibson has been the Herald’s property editor for 24 years, has won many awards, written books and covered property extensively here and overseas.
