By RNZ As a young architecture student, Deidre Brown was told to “leave Māori architecture on the marae where it belongs”. The University of Auckland.
As a young architecture student, Deidre Brown was told to "leave Māori architecture on the marae where it belongs".The University of Auckland professor (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Kahu) is the first academic and the first Māori woman to receive the NZ Institute of Architects' 2023 Gold Medal. Deidre Brown is also co-director of the Māori and Pacific Housing Research Centre MĀPIHI, which works towards creating healthy, affordable and sustainable homes for Māori and Pacific whānau.
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Dr Deidre Brown, head of the School of Architecture at the University of Auckland, has been elected to the Academy of the Royal Society Te Aparangi, and is the only Fellow with an architecture and art history background.
No matter how far a woman advances in her career, there still can be wake-up calls on inequality. But Dr Deidre Brown (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Kahu), head of the University of Auckland School of Architecture and Planning, takes it all in her stride. She was recently elected to the Academy of the Royal Society Te Apārangi - the only Honorary Fellow with an architecture and art history background. But she doesn t mind sharing a bizarre story.