Te Toka O Apihai Te Kawau is a memorial stone located near the Waitematā Harbour, positioned at the foot of what was once a coastal bluff known as Rerenga Ora Iti. It serves to acknowledge the eighteenth of September, eighteen forty, the…
Pacific Heart of the City
This waterfront walk traces Auckland's indigenous Māori and Pacific heritage through striking public sculptures, open plazas, and carved monuments. It offers a deeper look at the cultural stories shaped by the world's largest Polynesian city.
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1. Te Toka O Apihai Te Kawau
2. Takutai Square
Takutai Square is defined by a rectangular patch of grass, commonly called the Takutai Lawn, which sits nestled among the brick warehouses and contemporary office buildings of the Britomart precinct. In the summer, this green space is…
3. Pou Tu te Rangi
Pou Tu te Rangi consists of seven distinct, blackened timber carvings that rise from an outdoor courtyard near the Britomart precinct. These vertical forms, created in twenty eleven by artist Chris Bailey, function as markers of place and…
4. Te Komititanga
Te Komititanga is a pedestrian square at the harbor end of Queen Street, immediately recognizable by its vast paving pattern of over one hundred thirty-seven thousand basalt stones. These stones are arranged in intricate designs that form…
5. Maori Chieftain Statue
A bronze statue of a Māori figure in a kaitaka cloak stands near the intersection of Queen and Quay Streets. Commissioned by the Auckland City Council in nineteen sixty-four, the three-meter-tall sculpture was created by artist Molly…
6. Te Wananga
Te Wānanga is a public space extending over the Waitematā Harbour, recognizable by its organic, irregular deck shape designed to mimic the sandstone headlands that once defined this coastline. Completed in twenty twenty-one, this elevated…
7. Te Wharekura
Te Wharekura is a restored nineteen fifteen heritage kiosk located on the Auckland waterfront, recognizable by the four illuminated pou, or carved posts, standing at its entrance. This structure, situated near the downtown ferry terminal…
8. Kura Gallery Art + Design Aotearoa
Kura Gallery Art + Design Aotearoa occupies a space at ninety-five A Customs Street West in the Viaduct Harbour area. The gallery is identifiable by its focus on contemporary Māori and New Zealand art, including pounamu carving, weaving,…