PŪTAHI RANGAHAU/AUT RESEARCH CENTRE

Learning from Collective Housing Co-designed With Indigenous Communities in Aotearoa New Zealand and Chile

Developed by researchers from AUT and PUCV-Chile, this international project examined how Indigenous values were embedded in contemporary collective housing through participatory design. Based on interviews with designers and project leaders in Aotearoa New Zealand and Chile, the study highlighted how co-design processes enabled communities to shape living environments that reflected their cultural traditions, ecological relationships, and social structures. By comparing approaches across the Pacific, the research offered valuable insights into how regenerative, socially connected housing had been developed in diverse global contexts.

project snapshot

Related publications

  • Besen, P., Ivelic Yanes, I., Bloomfield, S., Aguayo, C., Brockie, O., Jorquera, C., . . .Hernandez, C. (2025). Lessons from collective housing projects co-designed with Indigenous communities in Aotearoa New Zealand and Chile. Architecture_MPS, 31 (1). doi:10.14324/111.444.amps.2025v31i1.004
  • Besen, P. (2025). A return to connected living: Lessons from collective housing codesigned with indigenous communities in Aotearoa New Zealand and Chile. In AMPS Blog. AMPS - UCL Press. Retrieved from https://journals.uclpress.co.uk/amps/news/91/
  • Besen, P. (2025). Enabling flexibility and residents’ agency in shaping social housing: Case studies from South America. In J. A. Lara-Hernandez, A. Melis, P. Boarin, & P. Besen (Eds.), The dusk of design: Exploring multidisciplinary approaches and evolutionary biology in architecture (pp. 123-131). Springer. doi:10.1007/978-3-031-76867-5_10
  • Besen, P., Ivelic Yanes, I., Bloomfield, S., Aguayo, C., Mokomoko, C., Grimshaw, M., . . . Varela, C. (2024). Designing collective housing for a regenerative future: Lessons from participatory design processes with indigenous communities in Chile and Aotearoa New Zealand. In AMPS Conference: Urban Futures - Cultural Pasts, Barcelona 2024. Barcelona: AMPS. Retrieved from https://amps-research.com/event/virtual-barcelona/schedule/participatory-ideas/designing-collective-housing-for-a-regenerative-future-lessons-from-participatory-design-processes-with-indigenous-communities-in-chile-and-aotearoa-new-zealand/
  • Besen, P. (2023). Co-designing collective housing for a regenerative future: Lessons from Indigenous communities in Aotearoa New Zealand and South America. In M. Mortensen Steagall, & R. Pouwhare (Eds.), LINK 2023 Conference Proceedings Vol. 4 (pp. 29-32). Auckland: Auckland University of Technology. doi:10.24135/link2022.v4i1.199