Heke · Painted Rafters Whare Kōwhaiwhai Aotearoa · Three Pigments

Pre-1900 Wharenui Tradition

Painted in
Kōkōwai Red

Curling koru and fern-frond scrolls flow along the soot-black rafter, bilaterally balanced in red ochre, void black and clay white — structural timber turned to narrative ornament.

This is the Māori Kōwhaiwhai Rafter design system, applied by Curio Design — a design-style library for AI agents. Full Māori Kōwhaiwhai Rafter guide → designbycurio.com/learn/maori-kowhaiwhai-rafter-pattern