2012 is the 370th anniversary of the discovery of New Zealand for the Europeans by the Dutch explorer Abel Tasman. To mark the 300th anniversary in 1942, Austrian architect Ernst Plischke was commissioned to design a memorial to Tasman. He did this with a classic modernist stele which remains one of the most elegant and timeless memorials in New Zealand.

The story of the background, design and construction of this memorial affords a fascinating glimpse into wartime New Zealand and the politics of an era of nation building. It also provides some illuminating insights into the work of one of the most innovative architects to work in New Zealand, discussing in detail this, one of his first architectural commissions "down under" after emigrating from Austria in 1939.