REDLab Alumni

Selected Publications:

• Hecht, K., Ortega Reboso, A., van der Vegt, M., Appelman, J., & Pedersen Zari, M. (2024). Ecologically Regenerative Building Systems through Exergy Efficiency: Designing for Structural Order and Ecosystem Services. Land, 13(9), 1375. https://doi.org/10.3390/land13091375
• Hecht, K., Appelman, J., & Pedersen Zari, M. (2023, July). Buildings as Living Systems—Towards a Tangible Framework for Ecosystem Services Design. In World Congress of Architects (pp. 297-306). Cham: Springer International Publishing. https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-031-36320-7_19
• Pedersen Zari, M.; Hecht, K. Biomimicry for Regenerative Built Environments: Mapping Design Strategies for Producing Ecosystem Services. Biomimetics 2020, 5, 18.
• Wisman, L. Waarom brengen we de natuur niet naar de plekken waar we wonen? NRC – Jong geleerd 2023, 6. https://www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2023/06/21/waarom-brengen-we-de-natuur-niet-naar-de-plekken-waar-we-wonen-a4167743

Selected Publications:

• Varshney, K., MacKinnon, M., Pedersen Zari, M., Shanahan, D., Woolley, C., Freeman, C., & van Heezik, Y. (2024). Biodiverse residential development: A review of New Zealand policies and strategies for urban biodiversity. Urban Forestry & Urban Greening, 128276. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ufug.2024.128276
• MacKinnon, M., Pedersen Zari, M., Brown, D.K. (2021). Architecture as Habitat: Enhancing Urban Ecosystem Services Using Building Envelopes. Advances in Environmental and Engineering Research, 2(4), 029. 10.21926/aeer.2104029 
• Pedersen Zari, M., MacKinnon, M., Varshney, K., & Bakshi, N. (2022). Regenerative living cities and the urban climate-biodiversity-wellbeing nexus. Nature Climate Change, 12(7), 601–604. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-022-01390-w
• MacKinnon, M., Pedersen Zari, M., Brown, D. K., Benavidez, R., & Jackson, B. (2022). Urban Biomimicry for Flood Mitigation Using an Ecosystem Service Assessment Tool in Central Wellington, New Zealand. Biomimetics (Basel, Switzerland), 8(1), 9–. https://doi.org/10.3390/biomimetics8010009
• MacKinnon, M., MacKinnon, R., Pedersen Zari, M., Glensor, K., & Park, T. (2022). Urgent Biophilia: Green Space Visits in Wellington, New Zealand, during the COVID-19 Lockdowns. Land (Basel), 11(6), 793–. https://doi.org/10.3390/land11060793
• MacKinnon M, Pedersen Zari M, Brown DK. (2023). Improving Urban Habitat Connectivity for Native Birds: Using Least-Cost Path Analyses to Design Urban Green Infrastructure Networks. Land. 12(7):1456. https://doi.org/10.3390/land12071456

Publications

• Varshney, K., MacKinnon, M., Pedersen Zari, M., Shanahan, D., Woolley, C., Freeman, C., & van Heezik, Y. (2024). Biodiverse residential development: A review of New Zealand policies and strategies for urban biodiversity. Urban forestry & urban greening, 128276. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ufug.2024.128276
• Varshney, K., Pedersen Zari, M., and Bakshi, N. (2022). Carbon Sequestration and Habitat Provisioning through Building-Integrated Vegetation: A Global Survey of Experts. Buildings 12, no. 9: 1458. https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings12091458.
• Pedersen Zari, M., MacKinnon, M., Varshney, K., Bakshi, N. (2022). Regenerative living cities and the urban climate-biodiversity-wellbeing nexus. Nature Climate Change, 12, 601–604. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-022-01390-w.
• Varshney, K., Pedersen Zari, M., and Bakshi, N. (2022). Carbon sequestration through building-integrated vegetation. In: Brears R. (eds) The Palgrave Encyclopedia of Urban and Regional Futures. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-51812-7_319-1.
• Varshney, K., Pedersen Zari, M., and Bakshi, N. (2022). Habitat provisioning: A regenerative building design approach. In: Brears R. (eds) The Palgrave Encyclopedia of Urban and Regional Futures. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-51812-7_320-1.
• Varshney, K., Pedersen Zari, M., and Bakshi, N. (2022). Decarbonisation of the urban built environment through vegetation-based carbon sequestration. In CIB World Building Congress 2022; Melbourne, Australia, Institute of Physics Conference Series, IOP Publishing: Bristol, England, 2022. doi:10.1088/1755-1315/1101/6/062025.
• Varshney, K., Pedersen Zari, M., and Bakshi, N. (2020). The intersection of carbon sequestration and habitat provision in built environments: building rating tools comparison, in A. Ghaffarianhoseini, A. Ghaffarianhoseini and N. Nasmith (eds), Imaginable Futures: Design Thinking, and the Scientific Method, 54th International Conference of the Architectural Science Association 2020, 26-27 November 2020, Auckland University of Technology, Auckland, New Zealand, pp. 1145-1154.
• Varshney, K., Pedersen Zari, M., and Bakshi, N. (2020). Integrating ecosystem services with building rating tools: the need for Nature-based Solutions in architectural design. New Zealand Geographical Society (NZGS) 2020 Conference, Wellington, New Zealand. 25^th to 27^th November 2020.
• Varshney, K., Shaw, F., and Pedersen Zari, M. (2022). Our cities need to capture carbon, not just offset it. Newsroom (ideasroom), Available: https://www.newsroom.co.nz/ideasroom/our-cities-need-to-get-greener-quicker.
• Varshney, K., Shaw, F., and Pedersen Zari, M. (2022). We need to capture carbon, not just offset it. NZ Greypower magazine March 2022, page 12.
• Varshney, K., Shaw, F., and Pedersen Zari, M. (2021). Buildings that capture carbon and support biodiversity. Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington Faculty of Architecture and Design Innovation (News), Available: https://www.wgtn.ac.nz/wfadi/about/news/buildings-that-capture-carbon-and-support-biodiversity.

Awards

• Centre for Biodiversity and Restoration Ecology (CBRE) grant for attending the CIB World Building Congress 2022 conference held in Melbourne, Australia.
• Wellington Doctoral Scholarship from Victoria University of Wellington (2021-2023).

Selected Publications:

• Measuring the impacts of climate change on the spatial structure of grasslands in urban landscapes of North America, A. Rastandeh and M. Jarchow. Urban Forestry & Urban Greening, 128000, 2023.
• Creating Resilient Landscapes in an Era of Climate Change: Global Case Studies and Real-World Solutions, A. Rastandeh, M. Jarchow. Taylor & Francis 2022.
• Non-monetary landscape features most desirable across the Upper Missouri River Basin. A. Rastandeh, M. Carnes, M. Jarchow. Land Use Policy 115, 105980, 2022.

Publications:

• Restorative Design Factors for Postnatal Hospital Environment: A Survey of Two Hospitals in Nigeria. Lawal, L. International Journal of Science Academic Research, 4(5), 5585-5591, 2023

Selected Publications:

• An Analysis of the Benefits of Adopting Modular Construction: A Nigerian Construction Industry Context. Arowoiya, V. A., & Oyefusi, O. N. Journal of Construction in Developing Countries, 28(1), 243-265, 2023.
• Regenerative based green supply chain management model for the construction industry. Oyefusi, O. N., Enegbuma, W. I., Brown, A., & Pedersen Zari, M. In IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science (Vol. 1101, No. 8, p. 082028, 2022). IOP Publishing.
• Critical Review of Factors Inhibiting the Adoption of Green Building Design in Nigeria. PM World. Babarinde, S.Al, Olanrewaju, O.I., Oyefusi, O.N., Adeyemo, M.O. PM World Journal, Vol. VIII, Issue VII, August. 2019.

The way we continue to live in and build cities is causing further ecological degradation through overconsumption and pollution, which contributes to the current climate crisis, and leads to storm surge events and sea-level rise, among other direct negative impacts.

Porirua, New Zealand is no exemption to this condition. Its existing urban infrastructure and continued urban development to accommodate an expanding population are causing several environmental and social issues relating to ecosystem degradation. Regular flood events demonstrate the city’s inability to cope with storm water surges, which will only continue as the effects of climate change intensify (Daysh, 2019).

How might urban environments adapt to and mitigate climate change impacts affecting ecosystems and human wellbeing in a way which preserves social and cultural identities?

This thesis argues that a potential solution to address these issues is through increasing human-nature connections in the built environment at a range of scales and across disciplines. This research will test how biophilic design interventions (those related to increasing human/nature connections) could transform a city into a more livable, resilient place of wellbeing for a growing population. Challenging the typical juncture of ocean and land in an urban setting, The research reimagines Porirua as a ‘city on a wetland’ through a speculative biophilic design experiment ,exploring how architecture might respond to dynamic landscape conditions. Theories of biophilia are studied for their related effects on improved human cognitive, psychological and physiological wellbeing, creating anew typology for civic space which marries culture, environment and architecture.

The importance of creating a space that provides contextual features, appropriate wayfinding and therapeutic characteristics has been overtaken by the need to design for efficiency of staffing requirements. Current settings and the relocation to a more urban living environment increases the confusion for those rural people with dementia, as there is little to prompt their memory or make them feel at home. This thesis proposes the design of a dementia care facility that reflects the lifestyle rural people have come from. It examines how these three aspects: context, wayfinding and therapeutic design can be included to enhance the design of a dementia facility, as well as create a space that is enlivening for the residents.

Design can be more inclusive of non-human species so that design interventions do not remove habitat, but instead integrate with it, or enable regeneration of it where it has already been lost. The research detailed in this paper is drawn from two separate areas: animal cohabitation strategies and nature incorporation into architecture/urban infrastructure. There is a lack of research into these two areas combined. An in-depth analysis must be done on both areas of study and how they are, or could be, related in order to move architectural and urban design practice into regenerative paradigms with a focus on urban biodiversity. Fully comprehending the scope of ecosystem/urban context relationships and the effect that they have on human society as well as wider ecology is important to this endeavor. The focus of this research is on coastal settings because of Aotearoa’s island context, because most Aotearoa cities are coastal, because limited work has been done in this field, and because important physical impacts of climate change tangibly relate to sea level rise, changes to the ocean (acidification), and storm surge events in coastal urban contexts in general.

NUWAO Scholarship student 2022/23

By attending to the diverse ecosystem and demands of the land, housing becomes the second priority and encourages a coexistence of species. In order to provide a refined habitat, an under standing of six species will be studied to form the keystone species, ensuring targeted planting and design solutions can be beneficially integrated into the landscapes design and function. Reshaping this design approach to the built environment places the ideas of Landscape Architects at the forefront of design decisions, creating a co-existence of humans and fauna within the urban framework. The site will be used to form a design-led research response to strengthen our relationship to the landscape and the significance of daily ecological connections that are ignored due to human pressure demands in Wellington. The ambition behind this research is to test how housing can be formed as an addition to the landscape, adding to the green corridor between the Mt Victoria and Central Park sections of the town belt. This research attempts to think past the barriers that landscaping is an accessory but should be used to make homes more resilient while ensuring our native ecosystems can grow and adapt within the urban environment.

By attending to the diverse ecosystem and demands of the land, housing becomes the second priority and encourages a coexistence of species. In order to provide a refined habitat, an under standing of six species will be studied to form the keystone species, ensuring targeted planting and design solutions can be beneficially integrated into the landscapes design and function. Reshaping this design approach to the built environment places the ideas of Landscape Architects at the forefront of design decisions, creating a co-existence of humans and fauna within the urban framework. The site will be used to form a design-led research response to strengthen our relationship to the landscape and the significance of daily ecological connections that are ignored due to human pressure demands in Wellington. The ambition behind this research is to test how housing can be formed as an addition to the landscape, adding to the green corridor between the Mt Victoria and Central Park sections of the town belt. This research attempts to think past the barriers that landscaping is an accessory but should be used to make homes more resilient while ensuring our native ecosystems can grow and adapt within the urban environment.

To successfully design medium-density houses that regenerate and conserve biodiversity, the relationship between humans and nature needs to be examined and repaired. This places humans back into their ecosystems and removes the nature-human binary so they can see how their actions have repercussions on their ecosystems and thereby rejuvenating human’s roles in conservation may be key. This thesis explores how houses can be designed to shift human’s connection to their ecosystems while tangibly supporting the capacity of biodiversity, specifically birds, to thrive in urban settings.

This knowledge pushes built environment designers to acknowledge their role in biodiversity loss and provides a framework for designing a biodiverse future more effectively, through the medium of architectural design.

As an Associate, his role leading teams for numerous Multi-Unit Housing projects has equipped him with the knowledge required to conceptualise, document, and deliver developments of diverse scope and size. From many years of such experience, Nathan has developed, and continues to craft, a strong understanding and skill set of the fundamentals of effective design to benefit the lives of the community and positively influence the built environment. He utilises this knowledge to contribute to the growing need for well designed, yet affordable, housing in New Zealand. A testament to this has been Nathan’s key involvement in award-winning projects such as the Te Hononga Tāngata Royal Oak Housing, and the Champion Street Housing projects in Auckland and Wellington respectively. Nathan is currently undertaking a lead role in the Kainga Ora Arlington project also located in Wellington.

Because of this, the people of Christchurch are currently at odds with the proposal of a new 35,000-seat stadium to replace the quake-amaged AMI Stadium. This thesis uses the current politically focused stadium debate as an opportunity to reimagine the typology of stadia towards a hybrid adaptive public space that is invaluable to the city during its many non-event days. The design-led research establishes that Christchurch does indeed need to focus its resources on the revitalisation of its city centre. Where a traditional stadium may go against this objective, this thesis questions architecture’s role in how a reinterpreted mixed-use stadium for Christchurch can be designed to actively catalyse revitalisation without compromising its ability to facilitate a top-tier sports event.

By reconstructing the traditional stadium typology through an urban-design lens, this thesis proposes how such a typology can be researched by challenging existing models of mixed-use methods and incorporating strategies of permeability to blur the line between public and private. More importantly, tactics to incorporate kinetic and adaptive design gestures to allow a space to transform from a fully functioning stadium to a highly accessible public hub are investigated

I am passionate about regenerative architecture and urban design. Through my thesis research I explored how architecture and urban design can utilise ecosystem services and biophilic design to regenerate ecosystems and biodiversity in Wellington City whilst addressing designing for well-being too. I enjoy all things creative, often exploring various creative mediums in my spare time. I particularly enjoy photography, especially capturing Aotearoa New Zealand’s beautiful scenes and patterns.=

Architecture and the built environment must play a crucial role in the reduction of biodiversity loss and must support or generate ecosystem services in the urban environment. New Zealand’s biodiversity is unique, evolving free from land-based mammals, excluding three bat species, for thousands of years and has left almost all indigenous species hugely vulnerable to introduced mammal predators.

With predicted urban population increase, and the subsequent need for more infrastructure, the way architects and engineers design the required buildings and systems will have a direct impact on surrounding ecosystems and biodiversity. Therefore, designers should consider ecosystem services and biodiversity throughout the process of design. Through the emulating ecosystems and their functions and through incorporating biophilic design principles, our urban environment may work towards the creation of regenerative buildings that positively influence society from a health and wellbeing perspective, while adding to resilience as the climate continues to change.

This research explores this topic through a design-led research methodology, combining ecology and ecological psychology knowledge, into an ecological and psychological regenerative design. The approach concludes that an understanding of the complex ecosystem services and the biophilic design principles is required to make intentional design designs and navigate trade-offs.

Through her studies, she was drawn to human-centred design and projects that benefit wider ecological and human wellbeing. Irina incorporates her strengths in graphic design and visualisation to work with clients to realise their design vision. She is enthusiastic, inquisitive, and excited to pursue her passions in sustainability and wellbeing-oriented design. Irina believes in design outcomes that empower people and are sensitive to their ecological, cultural, and historical context. Placemaking and understanding the nuance of place-based relationships is at the core of her design ethos.

This research engages Biophilia, Topophilia, Aotearoa Based Placemaking and Intercultural theory as well as policy in order to understand how architectural space can cultivate belonging and ground ‘displaced’ immigrants in their new environment.

It aims to demonstrate how biophilic placemaking, integrated with intercultural design values can encourage empathy, cohesion, reciprocity and a shared love and attachment to place between immigrants and their host neighbourhood. In the hopes of creating positive acculturation experiences for migrants and their host communities.

A design-led research methodology informed the research outcomes. Testing and iterating design concepts was done through, sketching, modelling, photography, mixed media and CAD software. Wellington based immigrants were interviewed during the research process and the insights applied to the design-led research outcome.

This research found that a community-oriented space programmed with shared activities; and grounded in locality through biophilic design practices and a deep understanding of site ecology and history, provides immigrants with a platform to nurture and foster place belonging. Identity formation is a place specific endeavour, and this research hopes to shed light on Aotearoa oriented approaches to integrating and welcoming immigrants, through architectural design

Well-versed in a range of Architectural design mediums, from large-scale master planning to intricate construction detailing and refurbishment work. Dylan provides strong experience in the 3D modelling space (BIM) and computational design – with vast experience in all aspects of the design and construction process.

Having recently been involved in many projects with large cultural and environmental significance, Dylan adds the opportunity for any design to provide Architectural solutions that successfully place low-impact and cultural narratives at the forefront of the design process.

The current problems the Capital Island of Funafuti face are crippling with the loss of coastal areas and increased tidal flooding. This results with not only a loss in land area but also permanent salinisation in areas traditionally used for crop harvesting. This salinisation will only increase in severity with the projected future sea level rise. It will force the population of Funafuti to become climate refugees before it is fully submerged.

The main question this thesis aims to address is; How can architecture maintain a sense of sovereignty within a disappearing context. And what are the implications of habitation, culture and contested territories for the Tuvaluan’s?

This critical reflection aims to investigate the architectural advantages of atoll environments. How the preservation of social, cultural identity and order can be maintained through a contemporary evolutionary process. Throughout this changing context it is imperative to maintain a sense of human scale within this small populace of Tuvaluan’s.

The process begins with analysing a series of architectural design experiments. They are design led research experiments with themes of impending reality. They are similar to Tuvalu’s vernacular and built environment by their inherent characteristics and layout design.

Sourcing concrete current ideas and findings on Tuvalu itself are scarce as to the nature of fluxes of the global climate change predictions. Therefore research will be provided on the current environmental conditions of the island and the current problems the Tuvaluan’s face, The predictions for sea level rise will be compared on a Funafuti cross section. This will show impact on the islands informal dwellings over time periods and how improvements can be made to mitigate the exacerbated conditions of climate change and the potential future problems that Funafuti Island will face.

Through her studies, she was drawn to human-centred design and projects that benefit wider ecological and human wellbeing. Irina incorporates her strengths in graphic design and visualisation to work with clients to realise their design vision. She is enthusiastic, inquisitive, and excited to pursue her passions in sustainability and wellbeing-oriented design. Irina believes in design outcomes that empower people and are sensitive to their ecological, cultural, and historical context. Placemaking and understanding the nuance of place-based relationships is at the core of her design ethos.

This research engages Biophilia, Topophilia, Aotearoa Based Placemaking and Intercultural theory as well as policy in order to understand how architectural space can cultivate belonging and ground ‘displaced’ immigrants in their new environment.

It aims to demonstrate how biophilic placemaking, integrated with intercultural design values can encourage empathy, cohesion, reciprocity and a shared love and attachment to place between immigrants and their host neighbourhood. In the hopes of creating positive acculturation experiences for migrants and their host communities.

A design-led research methodology informed the research outcomes. Testing and iterating design concepts was done through, sketching, modelling, photography, mixed media and CAD software. Wellington based immigrants were interviewed during the research process and the insights applied to the design-led research outcome.

This research found that a community-oriented space programmed with shared activities; and grounded in locality through biophilic design practices and a deep understanding of site ecology and history, provides immigrants with a platform to nurture and foster place belonging. Identity formation is a place specific endeavour, and this research hopes to shed light on Aotearoa oriented approaches to integrating and welcoming immigrants, through architectural design

Architecture offers a unique lens through which we can identify opportunities to mitigate and adapt to climate change. By embracing regenerative strategies and systems, architecture can foster a symbiotic relationship between humans and the non-human elements of the environment, including natural ecosystems. This approach seeks to create a harmonious and sustainable living environment that nourishes both people and the ecological systems that they depend on.

The research presented in this thesis is established on the practical application of regenerative systems and strategies tailored to the specific context of Kiribati, which is currently engaging with the adverse effects of climate change. This involves not only identifying and implementing strategies that address immediate challenges but also creating long-term opportunities for resilience and sustainability. The strategies proposed are designed to be adaptable to both the current environmental conditions and the ongoing changes that climate change is expected to bring. The aim is to enhance the capacity of Kiribati’s built environment to withstand and respond to climate impacts. Additionally, this research considers the broader implications of these strategies for mitigating climate change effects throughout Oceania, emphasizing the interconnectedness of environmental issues across the region.

This thesis highlights the critical role that architecture can play in shaping a sustainable future for Kiribati. By integrating regenerative practices into architectural design and urban planning, we can create resilient environments that not only protect but also empower communities to thrive in the face of climate change. The findings of this research aim to contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of how architectural interventions can be a vital part of the solution to the climate crisis in Kiribati.

Through her studies, she was drawn to human-centred design and projects that benefit wider ecological and human wellbeing. Irina incorporates her strengths in graphic design and visualisation to work with clients to realise their design vision. She is enthusiastic, inquisitive, and excited to pursue her passions in sustainability and wellbeing-oriented design. Irina believes in design outcomes that empower people and are sensitive to their ecological, cultural, and historical context. Placemaking and understanding the nuance of place-based relationships is at the core of her design ethos.

It aims to demonstrate how biophilic placemaking, integrated with intercultural design values can encourage empathy, cohesion, reciprocity and a shared love and attachment to place between immigrants and their host neighbourhood. In the hopes of creating positive acculturation experiences for migrants and their host communities.

A design-led research methodology informed the research outcomes. Testing and iterating design concepts was done through, sketching, modelling, photography, mixed media and CAD software. Wellington based immigrants were interviewed during the research process and the insights applied to the design-led research outcome.

This research found that a community-oriented space programmed with shared activities; and grounded in locality through biophilic design practices and a deep understanding of site ecology and history, provides immigrants with a platform to nurture and foster place belonging. Identity formation is a place specific endeavour, and this research hopes to shed light on Aotearoa oriented approaches to integrating and welcoming immigrants, through architectural design

Through her studies, she was drawn to human-centred design and projects that benefit wider ecological and human wellbeing. Irina incorporates her strengths in graphic design and visualisation to work with clients to realise their design vision. She is enthusiastic, inquisitive, and excited to pursue her passions in sustainability and wellbeing-oriented design. Irina believes in design outcomes that empower people and are sensitive to their ecological, cultural, and historical context. Placemaking and understanding the nuance of place-based relationships is at the core of her design ethos.

This research engages Biophilia, Topophilia, Aotearoa Based Placemaking and Intercultural theory as well as policy in order to understand how architectural space can cultivate belonging and ground ‘displaced’ immigrants in their new environment.

It aims to demonstrate how biophilic placemaking, integrated with intercultural design values can encourage empathy, cohesion, reciprocity and a shared love and attachment to place between immigrants and their host neighbourhood. In the hopes of creating positive acculturation experiences for migrants and their host communities.

A design-led research methodology informed the research outcomes. Testing and iterating design concepts was done through, sketching, modelling, photography, mixed media and CAD software. Wellington based immigrants were interviewed during the research process and the insights applied to the design-led research outcome.

This research found that a community-oriented space programmed with shared activities; and grounded in locality through biophilic design practices and a deep understanding of site ecology and history, provides immigrants with a platform to nurture and foster place belonging. Identity formation is a place specific endeavour, and this research hopes to shed light on Aotearoa oriented approaches to integrating and welcoming immigrants, through architectural design

My passion lies within sustainability and the communities that occupy these spaces. My studies in 2022 explore how indigenous knowledge can enable socially and ecologically resilient architecture in the Cook Islands. I am excited to learn more about our cultural heritage throughout the process and work alongside NUWAO on this journey.

Within Architecture there has been a shift toward the integration of local, context specific knowledges in design. However, the processes of achieving this remain heavily Eurocentric in practice. This thesis addresses the need to develop culturally appropriate methods for designing architecture with Te Aorangi (The Environment) of Rarotonga. This thesis approaches research from a Kuki Airani perspective, utilising and adapting the Tivaevae Methodology. Collaboration in the form of Korero (Conversations) and Iriiri (Workshops) has enabled an understanding of how Kuki Airani envision the wellbeing of Tangata (People) and Te Aorangi. From this, an outcome-based design framework was developed from cultural values to enhance the Oraanga Meitaki of Kuki Airani Tangata and existing ecologies. This framework identifies and responds to the environmental challenges of a site through the integration of Kuki Airani Atua (Gods) and traditional understandings of Te Aorangi.

Through a de-colonisation lens, this thesis has explored how Kuki Airani values can empower Tangata to reclaim their approach to ‘climate adaption’ by re-shaping the architectural processes of designing environmentally responsive architecture in Rarotonga. This thesis concludes that a shift towards holistic, context specific architectural processes in Rarotonga would enhance the Oraanga Meitaki of Te Aorangi, ecologies, and ensure that Peu Kuki Airani (Culture of the Cook Islands) is celebrated and preserved for future generations.

My Masters Thesis explored how community resilience could be improved through engaging with decolonisation efforts in both design practice and architecture outcome. It explored how Pākehā and Tauiwi (non-Māori) architects can better approach designing for the resilience of communities in Aotearoa. My major research driver is to ensure a well-designed built environment and the benefits considered architectural design will provide can be accessed by all communities.

As the conversations surrounding disaster relief infrastructure change from post-disaster response to pre-disaster resiliency, the social needs of communities must shift to the forefront of the discussions which surround disaster resiliency. For the architectural profession, which often places physical structural resiliency as the primary concern of disaster-resilient architecture, there is a struggle to also design architecture through ‘bottom-up’ approaches which will support the social resiliency of the community and benefit those in vulnerable positions.

This thesis explores decolonisation literature to build a framework which establishes ways to improve disaster resiliency strategies throughout Aotearoa by considering how to increase the social resiliency of community’s pre-disaster in order to support them in post-disaster contexts. A more resilient community pre-disaster will have greater capacity to deal with the impacts of disasters and will assist in post-disaster recovery. This thesis investigates how the design of architectural interventions could strengthen the social fabric of all communities in Aotearoa to ensure those who are most vulnerable have equal access to the resources needed in post-disaster contexts.

This thesis suggests that decolonising architectural resiliency strategies in Aotearoa must focus on consciously integrating tikanga Māori practices to place community needs at the forefront. This thesis also recommends that without co-design between iwi, hapū, architects and other design and construction professional, designs will likely continue to represent the dominating western worldview and may not effectively support vulnerable communities which Māori are overly represented in. Therefore, this thesis explores the ways in which non-Māori architects can better reflect the values agreed upon in Te Tiriti o Waitangi and create disaster resilient solutions suitable for all peoples in Aotearoa.

Wellington is known to be a natural and biophilic city, however this level of green-space is minimal within the city centre. Typically, an increase of nature would be explored through new or repurposed urban green space designed under the direction of landscape architects, ecologists or conservationists. This thesis proposes that nature within the urban context is increased through architecture, rather than the typical approach of landscape, seeking to investigate the question of how can we design architecture to facilitate biodiversity?

This question has been investigated with a design-led research methodology. Three different phases of the design were explored to understand how architecture can facilitate biodiversity.

Firstly, it explores a concept design which only accommodates biodiversity.

Secondly, the design is explored through the human experience, how one would use the space and how humans interact with the surrounding nature.

Thirdly, a development of the design concerning critical feedback was undertaken to push the boundaries of how we currently design and connecting to surrounding sites through interventions of green space. Resulting in a residential, architectural design which becomes a part of the needed increase of green space.

Current methods of flood adaptive architecture often consider solutions at just the individual house or building scale, despite the clear need to be able to analyse and design with wider changing urban landscape conditions driving decision making. In response, this research investigates possible design strategies for adapting housing to climate change induced flooding, while enhancing the liveability of changing local community environments. This is investigated through a case study design-led research process, and is complimented by a survey of residents. The case study site is a flood prone suburb in the city of Dunedin on the east coast of the South Island in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Key findings of the research point to the importance of employing not just a purely technical approach to flooding adaptive housing, but also to using a community-led approach to re-design to understand how people will react to, use, and adapt to repurposed built environments that respond to climate change. This reinforces the need to conceive flood adaptive housing at least at a street and neighbourhood scale, and preferably at a whole suburb landscape scale, rather that just as a single housing typology solution. The research concludes that combining flood adaptive housing with ecosystem-based adaptation solutions to climate change induced flooding could lead to a different, more ecology-integrated way of living for inhabitants of low lying coastal areas. This in turn is likely to have positive social and psychological benefits for inhabitants while increasing community resilience.

Blenheim is a small town located within the Marlborough Region of the South Island of New Zealand. Marlborough has an approximate population of 42,300 while Blenheim has an approximate 28,200. Originally a provincial service town to the farming community, it is currently shifting focus towards urban living, visitor engagement and supporting the viticulture industry. To the north of Blenheim is Picton, a seaport gateway between the north and south islands of New Zealand. Blenheim’s town centre is divided in two by the Taylor River and the area itself is part of a larger flood plain.

This has meant that over the past century the Taylor River has been heavily straightened and built up to protect the township from flooding. While some areas along the Taylor River have been landscaped for public use and enjoyment most are monotonous grass walkways blocked by stop banks which make access to the river difficult for the public. The proximity to old factories, commercial and industrial zones has also left some areas along the river in a state of degradation due to a build-up of weeds and litter. The Doctor’s Creek Catchment which feeds into the Taylor River has increased pollution levels due to outer lying farmlands, which affects biodiversity and water quality. As the township of Blenheim expands it imposes further environmental threats on the Taylor River’s ecology such as, sediment build-up which slows the river’s natural flow, habitat loss and erosion of the riparian edge.

There is recent interest from the Blenheim community to rediscover their urban-river as a place of recuperation, remediation and recreation. Therefore the opportunity exists to test how architectural interventions can engage with the Taylor River’s ecosystems and contribute to a more enjoyable and thriving public space, while addressing a potential ecological regeneration agenda.

This thesis proposes that this can be achieved by creating a framework for regenerative urban river design. This framework will incorporate and contribute to a river’s natural ecology while enhancing the architectural experience for the user further promoting connectivity between the urban landscape and the river realm.

This thesis seeks to investigate how architecture can thoughtfully and compassionately engage with refugee communities through a design-led investigation which will explore how a dwelling can meet specific cultural and spatial needs while providing opportunities for self-employment, and how a space which is specifically designed for refugee needs can embrace diversity and create opportunities for intercultural dialogue in the wider community.

To investigate this, a sociological framework is used as a lens to examine methods of integration which provide potential ways for architecture to be manifested. Refugees often arrive with few economic resources and can be more reliant on the state and their surrounding communities. The biggest issue felt over long-term resettlement for refugees is a lack of employment which has a direct impact as they don’t have enough money to meet their everyday needs. This can also contribute to a negative public opinion about refugees.

To address this issue, this thesis seeks to investigate how a hybrid building type, the shop-house, could be explored to provide refugees a dwelling that could meet their specific cultural and spatial needs and create potential opportunities for self-employment, self-determination and intercultural contact. The shop-house is a fundamental feature of a city, and can provide an economic foothold for people of all economic means. However, this thesis discovers its limitations and explores an alternative option to allow a refugee community to put down roots and make a new life in a new country which also enriches the host community.

To resolve this issue of cultural separation within the Taranaki region, this thesis develops Te Ara Mōhio. Te Ara Mōhio is a navigational framework for (re)connecting Taranaki Māori with their Indigenous identity through the spiritual essence of the Taranaki landscape. This study applies Te Ara Mōhio through design processes to develop various architectural interventions, where the driving force behind the architectural interventions is to provide a place where culturally detached Taranaki Māori can return and connect with the physical and spiritual essence of the Taranaki landscape.

The site where these architectural interventions are situated is Taranaki te maunga, a culturally significant location with spiritual ties to Māori within the Taranaki rohe. By implementing said architecture(s) on Taranaki te maunga, the architecture(s) employ Te Ara Mōhio as a framework to connect occupants with the physical and spiritual essence of the maunga. Thus, facilitating the connection between culturally detached Taranaki Māori and the Taranaki landscape, resulting in the (re)connection of culturally detached Taranaki Māori with their Taranaki Māori identity.

This thesis demonstrates how architecture works to bridge and facilitate (re)connection with Indigenous identity by (re)connecting urban Taranaki Māori with the Taranaki landscape.

Aside from the lack of possible movement between habitats, there is also an absence of human connections to these spaces. There is a missed opportunity to introduce humans to ecological spaces, in that it allows a physical link and understanding to be achieved, as well as additional wellbeing benefits.

With these two existing elements; the lack of wildlife movement between established habitats and the connectivity of humans to these spaces, there is also a third element of how interaction between people and wildlife within urban locations is absent. People are stuck with contributing towards the rapid decline of habitat, there are very limited positive interactions that are being utilised. Infrastructure and specific designed elements that provide the correct facilities to allow for interactions between wildlife and humans is largely non-existent and crucial in the face of biodiversity loss and fragmentation.

This thesis aims to establish a set of design guidelines towards understanding how interaction can be utilised within the design profession, as a way to reduce biodiversity loss, fragmentation and to increase exposure to unique species. Exploration at different scales, macro, meso and micro will be addressing different issues to answer the question of what types of interactions will be occurring within these spaces.

The border threshold is a critical point in a refugee’s journey. Between the exodus and resettlement phase there is an infrastructure gap which leaves refugees highly vulnerable to refoulement (being returned to where they have come from), mistreatment and suffering during the movement across extreme environments. In order to explore these issues fully the thesis concentrates on one current example of border migration and conflict in Asia. Like many ethnic groups across Asia, the Tibetan people in particular have been under significant political and cultural persecution for decades. Since 1949 after the People’s Liberation Army of China annexed Tibet and the political influence of China became more apparent to weaker nations like Nepal, their situation has become more desperate and isolated, with most Tibetan refugees now travelling via the Himalayas and Nepal to get to Dharamsala, India, home to the Tibetan Government-In-Exile and their leader the Dalai Lama.

The aim of this thesis is centred on the following research question: How can architecture assist in the safe movement of refugees across dangerous landscapes and provide a culturally sensitive threshold that works to relieve trauma and uncertainty while in transit?

The objectives of this thesis are to investigate a new typology of refugee centres so that they 1) assist large groups of asylum seekers in transit; 2) provide both a physical and cultural threshold that prepares them for migration and entering a foreign environment; 3) protect the authenticity of culture and facilitate a spiritual dimension; 4) appropriately engage with the local site conditions and environment; 5) develop an atmosphere that can assist with trauma and uncertainty; 6) mitigate the prison-like conditions that currently exist in refugee architecture.

Overall, this thesis argues that by placing a refugee reception on the border of Tibet (China) and Nepal (on the Nepalese side) under the protection of a United Nations research and emergency response centre, potential improvements in the probability of a safe journey and less traumatic migration into a new region could occur. In addition, the research aims to reconsider temporariness in the refugee crisis, discussing the need to develop an architecture that is more appropriate for the long-term condition of refugee settlement.

The ideas that this design-based research explores is the incorporation of living-systems to aid in regeneration of native species and habitat, and prevent water pollution within urban contexts. The addition of permaculture practices will also be explored for its role in supporting civic life alongside public interaction through socially active design. Through these ideas, the goal is to create a network of architectural interventions that define a model of living which is regenerative to the environment. This would work towards people and nature coexisting in symbiotic relationships within urban centres.

A set of biophilic criteria are developed and used in the design, with the outcome of this design exploration being a collaborative Ecologies Design Lab where professionals and students from different disciplines can come together for the collective goal of forwarding urban biophilic practice research. In addition to this, the intervention is designed to encourage the public to interact with the building, widening the scope of the building and targeted demographic. The investigation of aspects in biophilic design and how this can draw people through and beyond the immediate site to existing biophilically alive spots in other parts of the city is examined in correlation with other complementary theories such as narrative design, interior architecture principles, landscape architecture and founding architectural principles. The research aims to propose a journey throughout the city intent on initiating the healing process that occurs as people experience a connection with nature, either literally or metaphorically.

Publications:

• Reconnecting children with nature: Biophilic primary school learning environments.
  Woodward, E., & Pedersen Zari, M.
  ZEMCH 2018 International Conference, Melbourne, Australia (pp. 582-593). 2018.

Starting with site analysis, the thesis finds that subjectivity can provide deeper insights and more powerful concepts when related to experience. It finds that narrative methodologies enable the study of actuality and this is accompanied with the ability to interpret spatial elements which affect this experience. This is opposed to contemporary approaches which are focused on objectivity and fact.

Through evolving narrative techniques, a way for the architecture to curate one’s experience of each site is discovered. The design methodology does away with contemporary abstract views. Instead, the process focuses on understanding how the architectonic elements influence the spatial experience to better connect us to place.

• Ecosystem Services Assessment Tools for Regenerative Urban Design in Oceania.
  Delpy, F.; Pedersen Zari, M.; Jackson, B.; Benavidez, R.; Westend, T.
  Sustainability 2021, 13, 2825.
• Working with ecosystem services assessment tools in cities of the Pacific islands for more effective urban design
  Delpy, F., & Pedersen Zari, M.
  NZGS Conference. 25^th to 27^th November 2020, Wellington, New Zealand.
• Ecosystem services assessment tools for regenerative urban design in Oceania.
  Delpy, F. & Pedersen Zari, M.
  54^th International Conference of the Architectural Science Association, 26^th to 27^th November 2020, Auckland, New Zealand.

Publications:

• Urgent Biophilia: Green Space Visits in Wellington, New Zealand, during the COVID-19 Lockdowns
  MacKinnon, M.; MacKinnon, R.; Pedersen Zari, M.; Glensor, K.; Park, T.  Land Vol.11, No. 793.2022 https://doi.org/10.3390/land11060793  
• Promises and presuppositions of biomimicry
  MacKinnon, R., Oomen, J., and Pedersen Zari, M.
  Biomimetics Vol.5, No. 3, pg 33. 2020
• The importance of urban green spaces during a global pandemic
  MacKinnon, R., and Pedersen Zari, M.
  NZGS Conference. 25^th to 27^th November 2020, Wellington, New Zealand.
• Investigating our need for Nature during the Covid-19 Pandemic in Aotearoa
  MacKinnon, R. and Pedersen Zari, M. Business Scoop, 2020.

Since then, Lund’s passion for driving positive change has led to two change management certifications and two decades of work with environmental and social sustainability. Lund is a seasoned program and project manager with extensive experience in leadership, qualitative data collection, co-creative research, and citizen engagement. Lund has steered over 200 analysis projects across diverse industries and sustainability fields, aiming for gap-bridging between cultures, sectors, and generations. In addition, Lund is the founder of the solo company, Futurista.dk.

Lund’s PhD research explores how urban development targeting citizens, other living organisms and ecosystems is unfolding in today’s urban practices with a particular focus on biodiversity. The core of Lund’s research is a deep case study of a progressive and award-winning yet highly criticized urban mega-project in Copenhagen, Denmark. Lund shows how ideas of biodiversity are integrated in the planning and design of the mega-project, as well as in citizen protest actions evolving outside the formal frameworks of urban development. Lund identifies and explain some of the main paradoxes, consequences, challenges, and drivers related to integrations of biodiversity in the urban context.

Furthermore, Lund investigates the logics and history of current ideas of biodiversity – tracking selected ideas back to the 18th century. The ambition of Lund’s research is to develop theory and initiatives helping urban actors better understand and integrate regenerative ideas and design strategies in urban development. Her study underscores the imperative of holistic thinking and integrated collaboration, transcending silos to craft urban spaces that transfer ecosystem thinking from vision to practice. The research connects to scientific fields such as regenerative design and ecosystem biomimicry in urban infrastructure and architecture, urban design for biodiversity, urban biophilic design, multispecies activism and eco-centric democracy and justice. Research methods are based on action research and design theory. The research is framed as an industrial PhD meaning that it is a doctoral program designed with an industry application. Thus, the research includes developing a reflection tool about urban biodiversity targeting urban practitioners. The research is relevant for urban planners, researchers, policymakers, and citizens seeking insights into redefining urban landscapes towards a regenerative future where biodiversity loss and ecosystem collapse has become a driver for a radical transformation of the way cites are planned and designed.

Publications

• Designing the regenerative city? A case study of urban actors working to integrate ideas of biodiversity in Copenhagen  https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1755-1315/1122/1/012008
• Ideas and logics of protesting citizens, their actions and use of artefacts. A case study of protest actions and activist performance advocating biodiversity beyond the formal frameworks of urban development http://papers.uia2023cph.org/P1/3352.pdf
• Chapter 7 – urban nature and biodiversity: Now is the time for radically new ways of approaching cities, landscape design and nature, page 48-49 https://cms.creativedenmark.com/media/Creative-Denmark_white-paper_Designing-the-irresistible-circular-society.pdf