Jade Kake
Rebuilding the kāinga: architecture as pathway to Māori self-determinationRetry
Jade Kake stands at the forefront of reimagining Māori housing and architectural practice in Aotearoa. Through Matakohe Architecture and Urbanism, established in 2018, she works collaboratively with Māori communities to develop papakāinga, marae, and civic projects that express cultural values and facilitate hapū rangatiratanga.
Her influential 2019 book "Rebuilding the Kāinga" reframes Māori housing as a Treaty issue, calling for systemic reform to enable Māori to build businesses and homes on their own lands. As both practitioner and advocate—having helped establish Te Matapihi and secured Whangārei's papakāinga plan change—she bridges policy, design, and community development.
In 2025, Jade became the first architect in New Zealand to complete registration entirely in te reo Māori, whilst developing a bilingual architectural dictionary as part of her PhD research. Her work demonstrates that decolonising architecture requires not just design innovation but fundamental transformation of language, policy, and power relationships.
