Tofā mamao reinterprets Samoan Funerary Customs from an external viewpoint. In particular, the New Zealand-Samoan Diaspora and the adaptation of traditional customs to a foreign context. Inspiration was found in the adaptation of domestic spaces to funerary spaces by New Zealand Samoans, for example, the conversion of garage to Fale and living room to Fale Lauasi- mourning room- where the Aiga (Family) and extended Aiga come together to mourn and celebrate the life of a lost one.
The funeral complex is sited upon a ridge to elevate the Utulaelae people above sea level rise and tsunamis, with views of their homeland and ancestors. It is near the Mulivaifagatola River Inlet for access to the sea and, and the bridge that connects the community to Salani.
Samoan custom and vernacular architecture are central to this funerary complex project. The planning of the funeral complex follows traditional notions of formality rings, with buildings radiating outward from the central Fale decreasing in informality, encouraging circularity. A majority of the buildings are reinterpretations of the vernacular buildings in order to create comfortability and familiarity for the locals, providing cultural and climatic sensitivity.
Funeral goers arrive at the site, reintroduce themselves to the immediate and extended Aiga at the Fale and then the deceased on the seaward Malae or Fale Lauasi, and finally travel to the inlet for the final departure to the final resting place. There are kitchen, sleeping and bathing facilities provided onsite.
The Loa (Ghost Canoe grave typology) ferries the deceased chiefs to the Tia (stepped pyramid grave typology) graves on the reef, a place of rebirth for the deceased, where they will live on, the pyramid form attenuating waves, regenerating the reef, providing habitats for schools of Atule, a marker for sea-level rise, and creating a destination on the reef for their descendants and the people of Utulaelae who are now protected by their forebears.
Non-chiefs are buried under the sleeping houses, their graves marked by large columns that hold up the roof of the sleeping house. This, and the reef pyramids, relates back to the concept of Tofā mamao, providing protection and longevity and ensuring the wellbeing of the people of Utulaelae.
To further the concept of Tofā mamao , and create a far more grand funeral experience for deceased chiefs, the inlet down from the main site has been widened by relocating the extensive mangroves to the flora-decimated foreshore of Utulaelae, in order to further attenuate waves and provide a greater degree of protection from severe weather and increase habitat regeneration.