Drawing a line : thoughts and observations

Our environment is changing. The climate has cracked the whenua. Globally and here in Aotearoa, people are retreating to safer grounds. Climate-induced crises compound the growing population, straining equality, manifesting urban sprawl, crushing infrastructure, and taking lives. I do not seek to solve these issues but explore opportunities for reciprocal inhabitation. The site, Te Matau-a-Māui (Hawke’s Bay), exposes regional, urban, and architectural opportunities.

As I explore the opportunities for Te Matau- a-Māui, what is the role of the sketch? What does it do?

Drawing a Line is design-led research that uses hand and digital drawing as the primary investigation tools. I explore what the sketch produces and what it invites me to pursue and question. Throughout this research, the sketch is a design generator, creating threads through the experiments that I reflect on for opportunities in urbanism and architecture.

Through drawing both with a pencil and digitally, and at a wide range of scales, I have begun to imagine the potential of a new Te Matau-a-Māui as a series of towns around the edge of the lowland plain, much of which was once wetland, connected by a piece of transport infrastructure. The proposal is a sketch of what Te Matau-a- Māui could become. By questioning the sketch, I found it can explore contentious grounds indeterminately, providing clarity and ambiguity. The sketch allows me to hold back and observe, giving time to question outputs.