Haakariwhi Matekino hopes to play a huge part in making quality affordable houses for Māori.
The Toi Ohomai student has come up with designs for 21st century Māori housing developments.
In the final year of his Bachelor of Creative Technologies degree, Haakariwhi Matekino is aiming big.
“The aim of my project is to minimalise the affordability of homes and maximise the health,” says Matekino.
Before attending Toi Ohomai Institute of Technology, Matekino became annoyed with falling ill while living in cold and mouldy homes.
He says he learnt how to build his own tiny home at a cost of $4,200 which he says is affordable.
“I was accustomed to these poor quality homes." says Matekino, "Me and my child, she fell victim to it quite badly. My first year of study here she was sick almost every week at least twice, two days a week, just from ‘te mate rewharewha’- really bad. I had to take a lot of time off work and study”.
As part of his assignments, Haakariwhi has designed off-the-grid and tiny home concepts.
He says he hopes to present his ideas to Iwi and interested housing groups.
“$10,000 consecutively for each tiny home, so each tiny home that is designed, is designed to house at least three people. So, that's a small whānau, but the affordability of that house alone makes it so cheap for any whānau in NZ to live in, you can live in that on the dole”.
Haakariwhi hopes housing providers will use his designs after he completes his degree at the end of the year.