Historic First: Pacific heritage at the helm of Architecture and Planning

Associate Professor Michael Davis will make history as the first person of Pacific heritage to head the School of Architecture and Planning at Waipapa Taumata Rau, University of Auckland.

The appointment reflects his vision for the future of architecture in Aotearoa while marking his rightful place as a son of Sāmoa.

“We have proud traditions of creating buildings, spaces and places across the Pacific,” says Dr Davis, reflecting on his presentation at the Society of Architectural Historians, Australia and New Zealand conference last year. His research An Island Practice: The Legers in Nuku’alofa, Tongatapu explores how island economies foster innovation through relationships, embodied knowledge and integrated practices.

However, industry estimates show fewer than 50 registered architects of Pacific heritage practising in New Zealand, and even fewer across the wider Pacific region.

The challenge says Davis is bringing these heritages into contemporary practice and creating pathways that allow the next generation to come through - much like his own journey of retracing the path of those who came before him.

“I come from two lines of builders,” he states. “One side from the west of Ireland, the other from Nova Scotia, who came down into the Pacific.”

His ancestors are builders and designers whose work shaped communities across the Pacific, including Bazley Leger, his great-great-grandfather. He’s believed to have helped construct the Royal Palace of Tonga in 1867 for King George Tupou I.

Leger married Alaisa Shepherd of Salafai, Samoa; the couple settled in Tonga. For years, Davis along with his cousins, have been piecing together the puzzle of their ancestry - tracking down archives, oral histories and family records scattered across Sāmoa, Tonga, and Fiji, where his mother was born in Lautoka.

“We’ve been searching for evidence,” he says. “It’s not easy to find, but these stories have been passed down since I was a little boy.”

Their research has confirmed much of what was once family lore: the Leger family’s deep involvement in construction projects in Tonga, including churches and possibly the royal palace, and the Boyer family’s prominence as builders in the region.

“We’ve combed through archives, and connected with relatives who hold fragments of the story,” Davis explains of the quest to reconnect ancestral ties.

“Now, we know with greater certainty that our roots in architecture and building are real and significant.”

It was at a recent gathering, an uncle’s 80th birthday, that he realised there were gaps around the family’s identity.

“My mission is to close that loop and for our family to recognise who we are.” He says each discovery along the way also serves to strengthen the purpose behind his work.

“I represent everybody that’s come before me. It’s taken me 50 odd years to understand that in a meaningful way.”

Holding space for Pacific

That sense of continuity drives his mission: to symbolically and literally build pathways for Māori and Pacific students in architecture.

“My role is to hold space,” Davis explains. “The School has had Māori and Pacific values woven into its DNA by some wonderful, persistent colleagues. They made space for me. Now, I want to nurture opportunities for those who have come after me.”

That means creating an environment where those values can continue to be realised and expanded.

“It’s about creating opportunities, but also giving back to the institution—and celebrating how we do things.”

Yet his journey has not been straightforward. “Because I look Palagi, it’s taken time for me to find acceptance,” he admits.

That acceptance and support has come from many quarters and colleagues, since he first joined the University almost 20 years ago. He says Professor Deidre Brown has been a key person, while Pro Vice-Chancellor Pacific Professor Jemaima Tiatia-Siau has never shied away from keeping him true to his path. Senior lecturer and doctoral candidate Lama Tone, a longtime colleague, has been an outstanding support.

“Lama Tone has done a great job, finding opportunities for outreach and working out how we move forward.”

He's also recognised that the pursuit of his career has been a way to honour his Mum and Dad.

“Ultimately that’s why you do what you do. The more I’ve been involved over the last few years in pursuing my family’s relationship to architecture, design and building - and what that is in the Pacific - the more I realise that what I’m doing, is actually just honouring them.”

On the home front, Davis acknowledges just how fortunate he is. He met his wife, Vanessa, a lawyer-turned-designer in Amsterdam, the pair have a daughter and a son.

“I went halfway around the world to meet a woman from Mission Bay,” he jokes.

“She’s very clever. I’m lucky,” he says proudly. Their partnership is a fusion of creativity and pragmatism - their worlds of architecture and design having grown together over time.

“I always thought I’d pull her into architecture, but what she’s done is pull me into design and business,” he says of her approach to systems and client management that have broadened his perspective on architecture, as part of a larger ecosystem.

With the support of his colleagues, Davis is ready to build on the work that others have done before him as he assumes leadership of the school. To seize opportunities to create space for students to grow, while strengthening the institution through the shared ability to ‘hold space’.