Dr Charmaine 'Ilaiū Talei
Member of the Future Cities Research Hub | Senior Lecturer![Charmaine 'Ilaiu Talei](https://www.futurecities.ac.nz/files/2023/07/Charmaine-Ilaiu-Talei.jpg)
charmaine.’ilaiu.talei@auckland.ac.nz
Dr Charmaine ‘Ilaiū Talei is a Tongan architect (NZRAB, BOAQ), and Senior Lecturer at Te Pare School of Architecture and Planning. Charmaine has a wide appreciation of early and contemporary Indigenous architectural research and practice. Relevant FCRH interests include: culturally responsive design methodologies and built outcomes; therapeutic institutional environments; Pacific Wellbeing, Pacific Livelihoods and Pacific housing. Charmaine works as a consultant and senior architect on government, community, educational, institutional, and commercial projects with/and for Pacific, Māori and Aboriginal Indigenous communities in Aotearoa New Zealand, the South and Western Pacific Islands, and Australia. Enabling a symbiotic relationship between architectural research and architectural practice is a motivation of Charmaine’s work, with a focus on what uplifts and empowers Indigenous communities.
Research interests:
- Built environments for Pacific peoples
- Architectural practice-led research (or ‘action’ research)
- Pacific community and stakeholder engagement
- Values-led design processes
- Applying Indigenous knowledges to solve modern architectural problems