The New Zealand Institute of Architects has given a president's award to Auckland University teacher and researcher Deidre Brown for her work on Maori architecture.
Dr Brown says Maori architects are starting to have a significant impact, especially in schools and institutional buildings but also in some aspects of domestic architecture.
She told Waatea News that architects now realise that making a building Maori will want to use does not just mean putting a koru on the door.
Dr Brown also said Maori are rethinking marae, which since the revival begun by Apirana Ngata in the 1920s have tended to focus on a meeting house and separate buildings for dining and ablutions.
She said social services and even small pharmacies are now provided.
