Carinnya Feaunati

Carinnya Feaunati
Born
Porirua
Academic background
Alma materVictoria University of Wellington, Sacred Heart Girls' College, New Plymouth, Victoria University of Wellington
Thesis
Academic advisorsDaniele Abreu e Lima
Academic work
InstitutionsNew Zealand Institute of Architects, Victoria University of Wellington

Carinnya Malelega Feaunati is a Samoan New Zealand architect, cultural design advisor and lecturer, and as of 2022 is New Zealand's only registered Samoan woman architect.

Early life and education

Feaunati was born in Porirua.[1] Her parents are both Samoan, and came to New Zealand in the 1970s and 80s.[1] Feaunati holds the chiefly title of T’iafelelea’i, from her father's village Fasito’outa.[1] In 1996 the family moved from Porirua to New Plymouth, for her father's work, where there were very few Pacific families.[2][1] Feaunati attended Sacred Heart Girls’ College, where she was head prefect.[3] She describes how the school Polynesian dance club practices were held in her living room as it was only her and her sisters participating.[1][3] Feaunati grew up in state housing. She became interested in becoming an architect when she noticed the difference in quality of built environment amongst her friends' houses.[1]

Feaunati received a Keystone Trust study award in 2010, to enable her to study a Bachelor of Architecture at Victoria University of Wellington.[3] She followed this with a Master of Architecture degree; her thesis was titled E Toe Sasa'a Le Fafao; Return to Paradise and concerned a proposal for a tattoo and carpentry school at a tsunami-damaged site in Samoa.[4] She was a finalist in the 2014 Student Design Awards, and her master's project led on to other work with Atelier Workshop: Bonnifait + Giesen and NIWA on building for resilience in the village of Sa'anapu, Samoa.[5][6]

Career

Feaunati lectures at the School of Architecture at Victoria University, and is both a registered architect and cultural design advisor at Designgroup Stapleton Elliott.[3][7][8] She is interested in how to build low-cost housing at scale, how design can be more culturally responsive, and how architecture can respond to global change and disaster recovery.[3][7][9][10][11] In 2020 Feaunati co-founded MAU Studio with friends.[2]

Feaunati was on the jury of the Architecture + Women NZ Dulux Awards in 2023.[12] She was appointed to the board of the New Zealand Institute of Architects in 2022.[3]

Faeunati has twice been New Zealand's delegate to the Young Pacific Leaders Forum, in Hawaii in 2017 and in Suva, Fiji in 2018.[13]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f "T'iafelelea'i Carinnya Feaunati: New Zealand's only registered Samoan woman architect shares her journey". Architecture Now. Retrieved 21 September 2024.
  2. ^ a b Elizabeth Cox, ed. (2022). Making Space: A History of New Zealand Women in Architecture. Auckland: Massey University Press. p. 286. ISBN 978-1-99-101634-8. OCLC 1347021085. OL 39960346M. Wikidata Q117788223.
  3. ^ a b c d e f admin (30 August 2022). "Change-maker and Keystone alumni the newest board member of the New Zealand Institute of Architects". Keystone Trust. Retrieved 21 September 2024.
  4. ^ Feaunati, Carinnya Malelega (2014). E Toe Sasa'a Le Fafao; Return to Paradise (Master's thesis). Open Access Repository Victoria University of Wellington. doi:10.26686/WGTN.17013170.
  5. ^ Architects (www.nzia.co.nz), NZ Institute of. "Finalist – Carinya Feaunati". NZ Institute of Architects (www.nzia.co.nz). Retrieved 21 September 2024.
  6. ^ "Making a difference". Build (141): 16. April 2014.
  7. ^ a b Hopgood, Sela Jane (22 February 2022). "A call for more Pasifika architects in Aotearoa". The Spinoff. Retrieved 21 September 2024.
  8. ^ "Carinnya Feaunati | People // Tangata". www.designgroupstapletonelliott.co.nz. Retrieved 21 September 2024.
  9. ^ "NZIA City Talks: Mana Ki Te Whenua, Mana Ki Ngā Tāngata". City Gallery. Retrieved 21 September 2024.
  10. ^ "Student bringing technology to traditional Samoan houses | Pasifika hub | Te Herenga Waka". Victoria University of Wellington. 9 March 2018. Retrieved 21 September 2024.
  11. ^ "Big Interview: T'iafelelea'i Carinnya Feaunati. - The Diversity Agenda". diversityagenda.org. 3 November 2021. Retrieved 21 September 2024.
  12. ^ "Winners: A+W•NZ Dulux Awards 2023". Architecture Now. Retrieved 21 September 2024.
  13. ^ "T'iafelelea'i Carinnya Feaunati". INDE.Awards. Retrieved 21 September 2024.