Out of the East

Abstract

Post-war economic shifts and modernisation of industrial technologies caused many of New Zealand’s rural industrial buildings to become run down without any acknowledgement of their heritage value. These historic buildings have been abandoned due to their original programme no longer being viable, with the surrounding landscape often infiltrating the buildings until they enter into a state of wild decaying ruins with no separation of inside and outside. This thesis argues that standard approaches to complete restoration could remove important aspects of the heritage buildings’ decay while also disabling our ability to connect to the story of the ruin’s abandonment. It also argues that the qualities resulting from the building’s abandonment and ruin are an important part of the building’s on-going heritage, which are vulnerable to becoming lost forever.

The thesis investigation site of Tokomaru Bay is a rural town on the coast of the Gisborne region. The sheep freezing works of the town were closed and abandoned in 1952 resulting in a decrease in population from 1427 to just 393 people. After its closure the buildings have been left to decay in the overgrown landscape. This thesis examines ways in which decaying rural industrial buildings can be given a new programme to become economically viable again, without losing their meaning or their original heritage qualities. The Japanese philosophies of Wabi-Sabi, Ma, and In-Ei celebrate qualities of impermanence, transition and darkness that have come to define New Zealand’s abandoned rural industrial buildings. The thesis investigations will explore how these three Japanese philosophies, when integrated together, might offer a new approach to revitalising the buildings – safeguarding the qualities of decay, spatial ambiguity and darkness while also making the buildings habitable once more. Applying these philosophies to the interiors of abandoned heritage buildings may help depleted rural communities regain their sense of identity as a community. This thesis takes the position that New Zealand’s rural abandoned industrial heritage buildings within declining communities should not simply be restored to their original condition, because the story of abandonment and ruin is an important chapter in the story of the building, and the community’s story as well.

The principle aim of this thesis is to investigate ways that these three Japanese philosophies can be used to generate interior interventions that safeguard the story of New Zealand’s rural industrial heritage buildings while restoring the identity of the rural community that it represents. Overall the main objectives of the thesis are to integrate the Japanese philosophies of Wabi-Sabi, Ma, and In-Ei to: develop design ideas that safeguard the story of the abandoned industrial heritage building; provide spatial experiences that enable the people to intimately connect to the story of the abandoned building; engage new architectural interventions as contemporary occupants of the ruined building; become an active participant of the on-going story of the building’s heritage; and provide a new programme that rejuvenates the building economically.