Professor Robyn Phipps, Dean of FADI, reminded attendees of the core reasoning behind the University’s decision to establish the School of Architecture in 1975.
“It was founded, not to replicate tradition, but to respond to a rapidly-changing world. Our founding conviction was clear: design cannot stand apart from science and technology.”
“From that beginning, difference was our hallmark,” Professor Phipps said.
“The early studios looked more like laboratories than ateliers, alive with wind-tunnel models, daylighting rigs, acoustic gear, and mock-ups to be probed and tested. The city of Wellington became our laboratory.”
Representatives of the government agencies and research institutions which connected with the faculty early on — were also part of the anniversary celebrations. The events highlighted the progressive experimentation characterised by the faculty, which in 1999 saw the University broaden its ground-breaking experiment by founding a School of Design, and in 2017 becoming the Faculty of Architecture and Design Innovation.
The sheer breadth of the faculty’s role as a creative hub was on show with the opening of Paparahi — the 50th anniversary exhibition, which showcases everything from architectural works by Claire Sharpe, who oversaw construction of the circular-designed new Apple campus in California, to Ged Finch’s X-Frame, a framing system that can be disassembled and re-used at the end of a building’s useful life. It also showcased innovations in media, design technology, and social innovation, including Quinn Dacre’s boundary-pushing animation and Jordan Bostock’s playful yet impactful brand work for Fix and Fogg peanut butter.
Works that connect culture, history, and community by Jun Tsujimoto, which celebrates identity and celebration in our cities, and Vailahi Vailahi, who has created a powerful digital preservation of Tuvaluan heritage in the face of climate change, also feature.
“All of these projects speak to a core value that has sustained our faculty for five decades: a spirit of experimentation, collaboration, and responsibility to place, people, and planet,” Professor Phipps said. The exhibition continues until 14 November.
The Māori name chosen for the anniversary and exhibition, Paparahi, speaks to the foundational footprints the faculty was built on, “the layered tracks of those who came before and those yet to come,” Professor Phipps said.
“As we look ahead, let us resolve to keep experimenting, collaborating, and dreaming together for the next 50 years —so that the footprints we leave will continue to light the way for all who follow.”
Paparahi — 50th anniversary exhibition of the Faculty of Architecture and Design Innovation and the students End of Year exhibition are being held in the Te Aro campus, 139 Vivian St, until 14 November 2025