Visualising Identity

Small town New Zealand is plagued with repetitive, minimalist architecture, no longer reflecting the towns or their people. Most small towns are looking more and more similar, with many towns having no defining features to stand out amongst the rest. This investigation explores architecture that increases the diversity and visual identity of small-town architecture in New Zealand, through drawing on their history, culture, and landscape. To undertake this investigation into architectural identity a research-through design methodology is utilised. The research begins with qualitative research methods, such as literature reviews, precedent reviews, site analysis, and interpretive/historical research. This initial qualitative research provides the basis of knowledge for experimental research to begin. It provides the cultural, social, historical and climatic characteristics that make up the identity of Ross, the town of focus for this investigation. Experimental design research builds from this and is used as the primary research method, with speculative design experiments moving from concept explorations, at an intimate scale, to a mid-scale architectural proposition, to a complex urban final design.

These design experiments are supported by contemporary international case studies that are examples of culturally identifying architecture. Three scales of design experiments progressively increase in levels of detail and complexity, and inform one another: a 1:1 installation, spatialising the identity of Ross, a small west coast town, is followed by a mid-scale building, a speculative sawmill in Ross, and culminates in an urban project in London, effectively taking Ross’s identity to its colonial Mother country. The research in this thesis speculates on how small town identity can be amplified through architecture; it aims to put small towns back on the map, restoring the power of their identity as uniquely Aotearoa New Zealand.