Mike Austin
Fale Interior detail, Tonga, 1983, printed 2021
Digital print, oak frame
360 x 520mm (frame)
One of eight for Weekly Objects
$550

“Something a little different this week folks, eight image artefacts from the quietly acclaimed Dr Mike Austin.

Documents from a life spent dreaming of the sea, and in pursuit of making meaning of how people live and dwell across Te Moana Nui a Kiwa.

An architecture teacher, writer and a deep and thoughtful thinker. These images played a small and potent role in widening our view outwards. Mike’s veracious curiosity for the ocean that he lives within underpinned his belief that there is a great deal this place and its people could teach us.”– Kim Paton

From the photographic archive of Dr Mike Austin, this photograph features lalava lashing with kafa (sennit) on beams. Woven mats are placed between the purlins and the roofing materials. 

This one is an anomaly for Weekly Objects – not commissioned but instead uncovered in the archives of Dr Mike Austin for the 2022 exhibition Oceanic Architectural Routes. Our dear friend Mike is donating his commission to the gallery, so all proceeds from this edition support Objectspace – thank you!

Shipping is calculated at checkout, or pick-up for free from Objectspace, 13 Rose Road, Ponsonby. 

Artist Bio

Dr Mike Austin has made a significant contribution in the research and understanding of buildings, architecture and culture of Oceania and the Pacific. Austin began teaching at the University of Auckland School of Architecture in 1969 after working in the architectural office of Newman, Smith & Greenough. His PhD in 1976 supervised by Gerhard Rosenberg, Polynesian Architecture in New Zealand, was the first serious study of Māori and Pacific architecture. From that time Austin has focussed on a syntactical understanding of the language and development of architecture in the Pacific region. He taught from 1969 until 1999 at the University of Auckland and was Head of Architecture at Unitech Papua New Guinea in 1987 before taking a position as Professor of architecture at Unitec in 2000. He retired from full-time academic work in 2016.