Provoking Architecture Devonport – Panel Discussion at Devonport RSA

Join us for a thought-provoking evening exploring the evolving character and future of Te Hau Kapua – Devonport as village, suburb, and living ecosystem. This dynamic panel brings together diverse voices from architecture, art, urban design, te ao Māori, property development, landscape and ecological practices to reflect on the aesthetics, values, and development of our built environment.

Panellists will engage with two core questions informed by DEPOT exhibitions Urban Adaptations - I Te Hau Kapua Apōpō /Devonport Tomorrow at DEPOT Toi Toa 3 Vic Road, and Building (Under the Volcano) at DEPOT Whare Toi Kerr St:

1. How can the future development of Devonport Village embody sustainable intensification while upholding the mana of our bi-cultural and built heritage?

2. Why so beige? Are the aesthetics of our built environment flattening our sense of community? Has ‘home’ become an economic transaction, governed by resale and neutral tones? If the future is diverse, how can architectural aesthetics make space for everyone?

Chaired by author, satirist, public speaker and broadcaster David Slack, panellists include Jade Kake (Ngāpuhi, Te Whakatōhea, Te Arawa – architect, writer and housing advocate), Duncan Ecob (urbanist), Mike Thomas (landscape architect and Devonport resident), Joanna Theodore (heritage architect and Devonport resident), Kate Linzey (independent scholar), and more to be confirmed.

Expect provocations, creative insights, and a plurality of perspectives as we reimagine how Devonport might be understood and shaped—today and for generations to come.

Held at the Devonport RSA

Doors Open 4:30pm

Panel Discussion 5 -6:30pm

FREE Entry

Cash koha welcomed at the event

First 100 seated, then standing

This FREE event is organised by DEPOT, supported by Massey University Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa, University of Auckland Waipapa Taumata Rau, and The Architectural Centre.