Blessing for MIT was on Monday

 

From MIT via Scoop

MIT Manukau Blessed ‘Te Waonui O Te Mātauranga’

MIT Manukau Blessed ‘Te Waonui O Te Mātauranga’
17th June, 2014

At sunrise on Monday morning the 16th of June, Mana Whenua blessed MIT’s new ‘smart’ Campus in Manukau.

About 120 people attended the Blessing from MIT, Hawkins Construction, Architects Warren & Mahoney, local Iwi and Kāhui Ariki, Ngaire Lasika (Muru) represented the Māori King, Tuheitia Paki.

Manukau Institute of Technology Kaiākau, Kūkupa Tirikatene invited Mana Whenua to bless the Campus by quoting The Tapestry of Understanding.

THE TAPESTRY OF UNDERSTANDING TE WHĀRIKI KIA MOHIO TĀTOU KI A TĀTOU

The Tapestry of Understanding	E kore e taea e te whenu kotahi
Cannot be woven by one strand alone	ki te raranga i te whāriki kia mōhio tātou ki a tātou.
It takes the working together of strands	Mā te mahi tahi o ngā whenu
The working together of weavers	mā te mahi tahi o ngā kairaranga
To complete such a tapestry.	ka oti tēnei whāriki
When it has been completed	I te otinga
Let us look at the good that comes from it	me titiro ki ngā pai ka puta mai
In time take a look at those dropped stitches	Ā tana wā me titiro i ngā raranga i makere
For there is a message there also.	nā te mea he kōrero anō kei reira

 

MAORI NAME
From the beginning of Semester Two, in mid-July, MIT Manukau will be home to the Faculty of Business & IT and School of Logistics which represent MIT’s fastest growing study areas and NZ’s most needed skills & in-demand vocations.

The revolutionary cloud-based, ‘flipped-learning’ campus can accommodate up to 5,000 students and connect 20,000 wireless devices at any one time.

The wide range of courses to be taught at MIT Manukau – free community computer lessons right through to post-graduate degrees – plus its position in the heart of Manukau were two important considerations when giving it a Maori name.

‘Te Waonui O Te Mātauranga’ was chosen, translated it means ‘The Forest of Learning’.

The Maori poutama or ‘staircase of knowledge’ has been integrated into the building design by Architects, Warren & Mahoney.

MIT Senior Lecturer Peter Boyd and Artist Matt van Sturmer led the art project and say the concept for the designs originate from the Campus’ kaupapa or themes.

“We put together the three important strands; people, environment and knowledge. The carved steel and glass lintel above the main entry is based on the creation of knowledge and the graphic application in the wind lobby below, Haumihiata, “Fragrance of the Dawn or Dawn Chorus – welcomes you into a learning environment”, says Peter Boyd.

“The ground floor represents Tangata Whenua. The dark colours symbolise earth and as you go up the levels there’s a change to the greens and blues of water and air until it turns to magenta at the top which signifies the spiritual realm. Moving up through the levels also moves one through all the communities who will use ‘Te Waonui o Te Mātauranga’ and the knowledge systems they bring with them”.

The huge, screen-printed art panels mounted as wall elements in the teaching areas were designed by MIT Creative Arts Lecturers, Deborah Crowe and Emma McLellan and the third was designed by graduate, Sheree Stone.

“These panels also talk about the natural world, people and knowledge”.

OFFICIAL OPENING & PUBLIC OPEN DAY

Minister of Tertiary Education, Steven Joyce and Auckland Mayor, Len Brown will officially open MIT Manukau this Friday.

On Saturday the 28th of June it will be open to the public. With the new Manukau Train Station directly under MIT, Auckland Transport have announced they will provide free tickets for anyone wanting to attend the Open Day Festivities by train.

—ends—

Source: http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/ED1406/S00086/mit-manukau-blessed-te-waonui-o-te-matauranga.htm

 

I might go along to the open day and have a look. Nice for Transdev and Auckland Transport to have free trains going to and from the Manukau Station on the open day. A real bugger that the Manukau South Rail Link is not built yet (being worked through the final hoops in Council with a public announcement due later this year) to serve around the 67% of the expected patronage levels for Manukau Station…