On the Rise: Finn Forstner
Finn Forstner is an intermediate architectural graduate at Isthmus in Auckland.
Finn’s interest in community codesign has led him to explore this topic both in his thesis and in practice, as participatory design led at Isthmus. He is pictured here engaging the community on the design for Eke Panuku-led Hayman Park.
‘New Perspective’ view boxes designed and built by Finn were set up in Avondale to overlay conceptual designs for the new community centre/library onto the existing buildings.
The interior of the Avondale ‘New Perspective’ view boxes showing overlaid perspective drawings reimagining the scene.
As part of a collaborative placemaking consultation process, Isthmus hosted numerous events across the Hauraki district. These events designed by Finn included small activations in designated towns that allowed passerby to engage in design conversations with the design team.
Finn was part of the team at Isthmus that worked on the Tāmaki Employment Precinct Masterplan in collaboration with Furlong & Kain. The resultant masterplan won a NZIA 2024 Auckland Architecture Award for Planning and Urban Design.
A section of the New North Road ‘Ground Map’ and ‘Trinket Tower’ by Finn Forstner. The drawing was blown up to room-scale and personal objects placed centre-stage as part of a codesign process for New North Road by Isthmus.
Finn was the Isthmus mascot at its 2022 Wānanga, pictured here donning the ‘Isthmus Red Dot’ around Auckland Central.
Preferring to always leave some room for personalisation and adaptation in his architectural designs, Finn reconfigures and adapts his furniture to suit each flat resulting in it taking on an eclectic mishmash of styles.
Furniture by Finn Forstner. Through gradual reconfigurations and additions Finn’s furniture starts to tell a story, taking on a life of its own.
Finn is an active transport mode advocate. Seen here on his ‘Tall Bike’.
Feeling stuck inside during Covid, Finn envisioned a way to take his work outside. As a prototype, he created his little red bike boat and set sail. This led to a number of bike trailer and bike-led codesign processes where he engaged the community as an active mode advocate.
Isthmus worked closely with two local bike groups for an active mode transport project based in Māngere East and Manukau. For this project, Finn designed and built a series of bike trailers for the community which were later gifted to the groups as thanks for their collaboration in the project.
‘Otara Bike Burbs’. As part of the Hauraki Placemaking project Isthmus allowed the kids to take the lead. Going on a bike ride around Kerepēhi they identified the best spots to hangout and while drawing attention to problematic zones like difficult crossings and scary streets.
Finn embues his architectural designs with his innate sense of optimism and fun. Seen here is Opito Bay Bach, a residential concept design by Finn.
Here, Finn’s playful use of objects and colour creates a nostalgic and characterful ambience in this interior render for Opito Bay Bach, a residential concept design by Finn.
Whangārei Town Basin Pavilion eastern elevation. The Whangārei Town Basin project was the first piece of built architecture Finn worked on. This project meant a lot to Finn as it prompted a return north to a township that was very familiar.
Whangārei Town Basin Pavilion canopy detail. The pattered elements in this project involved collaboration with a local artist.
Finn is part of the team working on a full-immersion te reo Māori kura in Ōtaki. The project designed by Isthmus in collaboration with the Ministry of Education aims to create integrated learning spaces and a purpose-built whare hou (new building).
Finn’s thesis ‘A Regional Approach to Contingent Design Practice’ explores the potential of a new approach to architecture that is responsive to the complex sway of regional economics and the natural and social environments that fuel these communities.
A physical model from Finn’s thesis. The project repositioned the architect as an expert citizen who would facilitate and enable design within an expanded field. This included, activation, consultation, design, and ongoing occupation of spaces through a mobile design office.
During his thesis year, Finn spent time travelling the North Island taking photos of old Co-Operative Dairy Company buildings. Seen here: Dairy Co. Limited Cheese building. An example of some of the great farm and rural factory buildings now being retrofitted for other uses.
During his thesis year, Finn spent time travelling the North Island taking photos of old Co-Operative Dairy Company buildings. Seen here: Triumph (Ngaere) Dairy Factory (former) built 1914 in Taranaki. An Historic Place Category 2 listed building.
During his thesis year, Finn spent time travelling the North Island taking photos of old Co-Operative Dairy Company buildings. Seen here: Araiawa (Raio) Hall, Pukenui in the Far North of the North Island.
Occupy the City is a project Finn started to cultivate some fun and imagination in his architectural design practice by sketching over underdeveloped or empty buildings in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland. Occupy the City sketch. Freyburg Place, Auckland.
Occupy the City sketch. Corner Wellesley and Queen Streets.
Occupy the City sketch. Newton Fish and Chippery, Auckland.
Finn’s colourful family home reflects the carefree and fun-loving spirit of his childhood.
Finn’s Resene colour scheme is realised in this winsome tableau of buildings painted in uplifting and striking colour combinations that convey an upbeat and playful architecture.
A quaint church in rich Resene Bright Red is offset with the contrasting deep navy blue of Resene Bunting and accented with Resene Aoraki.
A proud central building adorned with a striped flag is painted in bold Resene Kaitoke Green with confident perpendicular lines in Resene Aoraki and accents of sunflower yellow in Resene Light Fantastic.
A watery pastel blue with a magenta heart, Resene Sail Away has been paired with complementary colour Resene Light Fantastic, a sunny yellow.
Surrounded by bold colours in his family home, Finn has learnt to experiment with colour and approach it with confidence and curiosity.
Finn’s optimistic Resene colour palette consists of: Resene Kaitoke Green, Resene Sail Away, Resene Bunting, Resene Light Fantastic, Resene Bright Red, and the crisp, cool white of Resene Aoraki.
ArchitectureNow’s On the Rise series, supported by Resene, profiles young designers from across the country who are shaping the future of the industry. Here, we talk to Finn Forstner, an architectural graduate who occupies the ‘in-between’ at a cross-disciplinary practice whose name exemplifies this: Isthmus — a land between two waters.
Jacinda Rogers (JR): I understand you are originally from Northland but now reside in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland. How has this impacted your practice?
Finn Forstner (FF): My roots in Northland have led to a fascination with the dichotomy between urban and rural.
Since leaving home to study, I’ve had a yearning to return to the small towns of Aotearoa New Zealand. There is a clarity and a beauty in the country that I can’t find in the city and it activates a different part of my brain.
In small-town New Zealand, random conversations with strangers feel welcome, time with others is highly valued and a collective spirit to thrive is the lifeblood of the cafés, bakeries, op shops and community halls that people congregate in.
I have a huge amount of nostalgia for the freedom a small town gave me growing up: freedom to explore, freedom to engage with the world around me, and a freedom to express myself, which our cities haven’t quite managed to replicate.
JR: From your perspective, what design kaupapa is needed to better serve rural communities in Aotearoa?
FF: Through the projects I’ve been exposed to during my three and a half years at Isthmus, I have observed that the development of design ideologies often begins in urban areas, to solve urban issues.
Yet, in a historically rural country, other parts of Aotearoa have been calling out for genuine analysis and engagement from the design profession for many years.
This call is not just about building in the regions but about finding a design approach that engages with regional values and the unique systemic conditions of a place by bringing the people who experience them to the forefront.
There is much we can offer rural areas as built environment professionals. Modernising industry, maintaining and preserving heritage buildings and providing a new rural model for housing, to name a few. The bottom line is that small-town New Zealand needs investment — not just with money, but with people’s time.
JR: What is your approach to community engagement?
FF: I brought to Isthmus my thesis exploring what a design practice centring itself around participatory processes could look like, and from the outset, they enabled me to test this with the work already being done in this space.
I’ve found the most rewarding approach is to engage people in their own problem-solving through clear design processes and inclusive production of output.
In order to engage the community, they must feel empowered to offer their opinion, so designing at a scale which people can interact with and feel a genuine ability to influence is essential.
One way I encourage community activation is through events/ prototyping/ public art as a means of drawing people into a conversation while distilling big ideas into a digestible format.
A fundamental part of this is learning about community groups and community funding structures as a means of making architectural design accessible to a wider group of people.
JR: How has your interest in community-driven design manifested itself in your role at Isthmus Group?
FF: As participatory design lead at Isthmus, I was able to progress my interest in community design and the importance of proper processes.
This role has given me continuous opportunities to explore how community input can be woven into what we do alongside some of the best facilitators and community codesign advocates in Aotearoa.
These opportunities have broadened my understanding through exposure to large-scale masterplanning work, landscape architecture and architecture, and taught me about the wider ecosystem in which our profession fits.
JR: Creatively, what inspires your architecture practice and are there any other areas you’re passionate about exploring?
FF: Architecture is the macro scale of my creative ideation. I am constantly seeking to tweak and fix things, whether this be my love affair with old scrap bikes or my foray into making furniture.
I have a hodgepodge approach of using whatever materials and fixings I have on hand to solve an issue. Often resulting in unique objects that work as well as the original… almost.
An object or a design is never finished in my mind, and I always leave space for an addition or a change of function. In my every day, this attitude is evident in the way my personal belongings and furniture morph and transform to every new flat and, in architecture, it is manifested by creating space for someone to add their personal touch or adapt to new functions.
My fascination with repurposing the existing extends to a desire to be involved in an adaptive reuse project in the future. I’ve always admired projects that save an old building and give it a new life with added character.
During my thesis year, I spent a bunch of time travelling around the North Island taking photos of old Co-Operative Dairy Company buildings and there was never anything better than seeing the ones the community had claimed back. …Turning butter-churning sheds into market halls and in the process adding so much life into what otherwise would be left to deteriorate.
JR: What sort of lifestyle would you like to support with your architecture?
FF: A natural progression of my enamourment for fixing bikes and the freedom to explore is my passion for active mode advocacy in the design field. This has led to the many bike-based projects I’ve been part of with the purpose of introducing more infrastructure for active modes across Aotearoa New Zealand.
Not only do active transport modes like biking, walking, running etc. offer convenience, but by getting out and about, people actively engage with their city/town and the other people living in it. The highlights of this work in communities, are the friendly people you meet, and the realisation of how incredibly lucky we are to live in this country.
It also tends to shine a light on some not-so-nice things like rubbish in places it shouldn’t be, a distinct feeling of being unsafe, and a clarity of how we have underinvested in public infrastructure. These things all become talking points about how it is actually pretty difficult to get around and participate in our community in the way many would like.
Through active mode advocacy, I have had more meaningful and open conversations about people and place here in New Zealand than in any other design space and I wish to integrate the learnings from these conversations into my work in architecture.
To help draw more attention to this cause, I built a ‘tall bike’ with a mate and have designed and constructed bike trailers that I take to community gatherings for the purpose of sparking and prompting design discussions with these local communities.
JR: Architecture and community work must be quite challenging at times. What helps you to keep things in perspective and stay positive along the way?
FF: I have a certain knack for keeping things light-hearted and not taking things too seriously.
A carefree nature was something I developed growing up. It was imparted to me by my parents and is also embodied in our family home which is full of bright colours, books, art, and models.
I have cultivated this attitude into lots of little projects where the focus is on making design fun and not getting bogged down by the complexities of a typical day’s work. One of these projects is an ongoing series called Occupy the City where I sketch over images of empty or underdeveloped sites across Tāmaki Makaurau.
I’m also a big music guy in terms of always needing something playing, whether it be on my ride to work or hanging around the house on the weekend. In particular, I have a fondness for dancing in the kitchen, which has in turn, led to a preference for specifying timber wood floors in my architectural designs.
JR: Lastly, tell me about your mood board Resene colour selections? How did you land on this colour palette and what does it represent to you?
FF: My Resene colour selections are centred around a playful model in a similar vein to my Occupy the City sketches that exemplifies the carefree and bold design language I admire. There is a childlike abandon to it, but it’s in this letting go and allowing your mind to play with form and decoration without restraint that makes design fun and ensures the final result has enjoyment baked in. This approach is an inherently open one that invites people to engage by not taking itself too seriously.
The colour palette I have selected is naturally bold. Resene Kaitoke Green holds centre stage — a rich and natural bush green that grounds the colour scheme. Its supporting cast is lively with Resene Bright Red, Resene Sail Away and Resene Light Fantastic, each providing a burst of primary colour that makes the forms ‘pop’ against the background. Resene Bunting pulls the darker tones into the detail alongside a crisp Resene Aoraki providing the highlights.
My family home was full of bright colours and if it taught me anything, it was to lean into strong individual colours and worry about how they come together later — whether this be in furniture, model making, architecture or codesign activations. I think I’ll keep this attitude with me for the rest of my life.
See more from the On the Rise series here.
