Ngā Aho is a national network of

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...

design professionals for people working in architecture, commercial design, engineering and

project management Project management is the process of leading the work of a team to achieve all project goals within the given constraints. This information is usually described in project documentation, created at the beginning of the development process. Th ...

based in

Aotearoa ''Aotearoa'' () is the current Māori-language name for New Zealand. The name was originally used by Māori in reference to only the North Island, with the name of the whole country being ''Aotearoa me Te Waipounamu'' ("North Island and South ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. Ngā Aho started around 2005 and 2006 after the Ministry for Environment created an Urban Design Protocol that 'failed to meaningfully engage with Māori aspirations and interests in the built environment'. In 2017 Te Kāhui Whaihanga New Zealand Institute of Architects (NZIA) and Ngā Aho signed an agreement of an 'ongoing relationship of co-operation between the two groups'. It was called Te Kawenata o Rata and signed by

Desna Whaanga-Schollum Desna Whaanga-Schollum is a New Zealand artist. Early life Whaanga-Schollum was raised in Māhia and Wairoa, on the East Coast of New Zealand. Her mother is writer, illustrator and historian Mere Whaanga. Whaanga-Schollum is affiliated with ...

, Rau Hoskins and kaumatua

Haare Williams Sir Haare Mahanga Te Wehinga Williams is a New Zealand educator, broadcaster and writer. He is described as a pioneer in Māori broadcasting, credited for his role in establishing a joint venture between Aotearoa Radio and the South Seas Film a ...

on behalf of Ngā Aho and Christina van Bohemen and

Pip Cheshire Pip, PIP, Pips, PIPS, and ''similar'', may refer to: Common meanings * Pip, colloquial name for the star(s) worn on military uniform as part of rank badge, as in the British Army officer rank insignia or with many Commonwealth police agencies * T ...

on behalf of NZIA. There was a dawn ceremony to recognise the occasion. In 2024 Ngā Aho received the International Prize award from the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (RAIC) as 'recognition is a testament to the exceptional talent and hard work that Nga Aho has brought to the International and Canadian architectural communities'. Sim’oogit Saa-Bax Patrick Stewart of

McEwen School of Architecture The McEwen School of Architecture (french: link=no, l'École d'architecture McEwen), formerly the Laurentian School of Architecture, is an architecture school belonging to Laurentian University in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada.

, Laurentian University said, "Around the Pacific Rim, Nga Aho have remained as leaders in the built environment of Indigenous Peoples. When we embarked on our journey to bring our nations together, we looked to Nga Aho." People who have chaired Ngā Aho include Rau Hoskins and Desna Whaanga-Schollum. One of the actions of Ngā Aho has been to support Te Aranga Māori Design Principles that were developed by Māori design professionals developed and adopted by the Auckland Council for council built projects. The New Zealand Institute of Architects has had Elisapeta Heta as a representative of Ngā Aho on the board and the current representative is Matt Ritani.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ngā Aho Māori organisations Art and design-related professional associations Architecture in New Zealand 2000s establishments in New Zealand