Bonnie Jade Kake is a New Zealand Māori

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs, and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

and academic of

Ngāpuhi Ngāpuhi (also known as Ngāpuhi-Nui-Tonu or Ngā Puhi) is a Māori iwi associated with the Northland regions of New Zealand centred in the Hokianga, the Bay of Islands, and Whangārei. According to the 2023 New Zealand census, the estimate ...

Te Arawa Te Arawa is a confederation of Māori people, Māori iwi and hapū (tribes and sub-tribes) of New Zealand who trace their ancestry to the ''Arawa (canoe), Arawa'' migration canoe (''waka''). The tribes are based in the Rotorua and Bay of Plent ...

and

Whakatōhea Te Whakatōhea is a Māori iwi of the eastern Bay of Plenty region of New Zealand. Their traditional territory extends along the coastline eastwards from Ōhiwa Harbour to Opape, and inland to Mātāwai, and is centred in the area around th ...

iwi Iwi () are the largest social units in New Zealand Māori society. In Māori, roughly means or , and is often translated as "tribe". The word is both singular and plural in the Māori language, and is typically pluralised as such in English. ...

. She specialises in designing communities and housing based on a traditional model of living known as papakāinga.

Biography

Kake was born in Australia to a New Zealand Māori mother and a Dutch father. She grew up in an eco-community called Billen Cliffs, which her parents had founded, in rural northern New South Wales. As a child, she frequently visited her mother's family and land near

Whangārei Whangārei () is the northernmost city in New Zealand and the largest settlement of the Northland Region. It is part of the Whangarei District, created in 1989 from the former Whangarei City, Whangarei County and Hikurangi Town councils to admi ...

. Kake completed a degree in architectural design at the

University of Queensland The University of Queensland is a Public university, public research university located primarily in Brisbane, the capital city of the Australian state of Queensland. Founded in 1909 by the Queensland parliament, UQ is one of the six sandstone ...

in 2009, followed by a short course in carpentry at a

TAFE Technical and further education or simply TAFE () is the common name in Australia for vocational education, as a subset of tertiary education. TAFE institutions provide a wide range of predominantly vocational courses. Colloquially also known ...

(a Technical and Further Education college). In her early 20s, Kake moved to Auckland to work for Rau Hoskins and his design firm, designTRIBE. From 2013 to 2015 Kake studied for a master's degree in architecture at

Unitec Institute of Technology Unitec ( Māori: Te Whare Wānanga o Wairaka) is the largest institute of technology in Auckland, New Zealand. 16,844 students study programmes from certificate to postgraduate degree level (levels 1 to 9) across a range of subjects. The main c ...

. In 2018, Kake established her own business, Matakohe Architecture and Urbanism, in Whangārei, which speclalises in supporting Māori communities to develop their land. Kake is also a lecturer in the School of Future Environments at

Auckland University of Technology Auckland University of Technology ( AUT; ) is a university in New Zealand, formed on 1 January 2000 when a former technical college (originally established in 1895) was granted university status. AUT is New Zealand's third largest university i ...

; she researches and teaches on decolonisation of architecture and urban design, the re-establishment of papakāinga, and the development of design methods to support Māori sovereignty. In 2019 she published a book describing the resurgence of papakāinga. In 2025 Kake became the first architect in New Zealand to complete her architectural registration in te reo Māori, the Māori language.

Awards and recognition

In 2018 and 2019, Kake won Warren Trust Awards for Architectural Writing for her essays on Rāpaki Marae and

Ruapekapeka The Battle of Ruapekapeka took place from late December 1845 to mid-January 1846 between British forces, under command of Lieutenant Colonel Henry Despard, and Māori warriors of the Ngāpuhi iwi (tribe), led by Hōne Heke and Te Ruki Kawi ...

. In 2019, she received a Michael King Emerging Māori Writers Residency. In 2020, Kake won the Munro Diversity Award at the

Architecture + Women NZ Dulux Awards The Architecture + Women NZ Dulux Awards is a tri-annual set of awards which recognise the contribution of women to the field of architecture in New Zealand. The awards recognise full bodies of work and community connections. The awards were firs ...

. In 2021, she received an award from the New Zealand Society of Authors to support her research into the life and legacy of Rewi Thompson.

Publications

* Kake, J. (2023). ''Checkerboard Hill''. Wellington: Huia Publishers. * Hansen, J. & Kake, J. (2023). ''Rewi: Āta haere, kia tere''. Wellington: Massey University Press. * Kake J. (2019). ''Rebuilding the kāinga: lessons from te ao hurihuri''. Bridget Williams Books.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kake, Jade Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Architectural designers University of Queensland alumni Whakatōhea people Te Arawa people Ngāpuhi people Unitec Institute of Technology alumni New Zealand women architects 21st-century New Zealand architects New Zealand women writers New Zealand Māori architects