The Plight of Pātea: Tampering with the trajectory of a small town in decline

Abstract

The infrastructure and regional economies of post-industrial New Zealand towns are becoming increasingly obsolete. Using the South Taranaki settlement of Pātea as a case-study town, the research aims to engage architecture with decline in order to establish resilience against further disuse. This thesis is organised into three parts which group related research and testing. Part One highlights the social and economic concerns of small towns in decline. Part Two reviews the architectural discourse of obsolescence, and establishes a conceptual framework of three strategies that respond to obsolescence: the Spectacle, the Scenario, and the System. Part Three investigates the existing conditions of Patea, and tests the proposition through a series of design interventions which culminate in a Master Plan. The outcome integrates new and existing architectures, offering an alternative designed environment for Pātea, and in doing so, reveals the latent potential of architectural obsolescence.