Olivia Haddon is a Māori Design Specialist at Auckland Council.
She works with mana whenua to incorporate Māori design thinking into all of the council’s work.
“Last year I worked with Ngāti Manuhiri artists to design the Matariki lights projection on the Auckland Town Hall,” she says.
![Meet a Maori design specialist 1](/media/fgunfz0r/town-hall-olivia-haddon.jpg?anchor=center&mode=crop&width=680&rnd=132682686978170000)
“It was incredibly special for me to watch how Aucklanders reacted to seeing this work in a public space.”
If you visit the council’s main office at 135 Albert Street you will hear another project Olivia worked on when you catch a lift – each floor is announced in te reo Māori as well as English.
“Initiatives like this are a small demonstration of how we can make sure that te reo Māori is valued, heard and spoken by our visitors and staff every day,” Olivia says.