The 2026 Druker Traveling Fellowship 40th Anniversary Presentation featured the 2021–2022 Druker Fellow, Elyjana Roach MAUD ’22. The presentation was titled, “Malae, Mala’e, Marae in Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa: The Heart of the Pacific Village.”
Te-Moana-nui-a-Kiwa, the vast blue continent of the Pacific, has given special identity to the 15.5 million people who call this sea of islands home. Though diverse, Pacific cultures are deeply connected through shared ancestry, migration, and adaptation to their oceanic environment, often shaped further by colonization and outside influences. From Aotearoa New Zealand to Samoa, Tonga, Hawai’i, Tahiti, and Fiji, these communities are bridged across thousands of miles through the Pacific concept of vā: the relational space. Vā binds people, places, and the environment, forming the essence of Pacific ways of being, knowing, and creating.
This project centers the malae, mala’e, and marae, the communal “village green,” as living expressions of vā. Through stories gathered from elders, community leaders, urban indigenous practitioners, and artists, the research reveals how these spaces anchor cultural hierarchy, ceremony, governance, reconciliation, and identity, while continually adapting to modern urban contexts. The stories uncover how the malae is both equally sacred and practical as it retains and revitalises indigenous practices. Importantly, the ancient wisdom embodied in the malae offers pathways to address contemporary challenges in housing, health, education, and the environment.
At the heart of this talk is Our Whare Our Fale, a pioneering Pacific-led housing initiative in eastern Porirua, developed by Central Pacific Collective in partnership with local iwi (tribe) Ngāti Toa Rangatira. Built on perpetual leasehold land and supported by $115 million in government funding—the largest ever investment in a Pasefika project—the development has completed the first eighteen of 300 planned affordable, multi-generational homes. Rooted in the values of vā, this project reimagines the Pacific village for 21st-century Aotearoa New Zealand. It transforms life outcomes by moving beyond profit-driven models to restore collective hope, cultural identity, and shared ownership. By placing indigenous values and community voices at its core, the project shows how traditional Pacific models of shared space can inspire new, resilient approaches to urban living and local governance.
Established in 1986 by Ronald M. Druker LF ’76 and by the Trustees of the Bertram A. Druker Charitable Foundation, the Druker Traveling Fellowship is open to all GSD master’s degree candidates who demonstrate excellence in the design of urban environments. The fellowship offers students the opportunity to travel domestically or abroad to pursue study that advances their understanding of urban design.
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