Jiayu Yang

Growth — Layers of Care

My project explored how spatial design can express growth not through expansion, but through attention and care. The brief asked us to design a project situated on Nuffield Street, Newmarket, that responds to community needs and spatial experience. My focus was to reinterpret the Māori concept of Manaakitanga — care, hospitality, and respect — as a material and temporal process.

I considered how basalt and timber could embody permanence and warmth, translating Auckland’s volcanic geology into a sensory experience. The space combined a craft retail store and café, inviting people to slow down, touch materials, and connect through making and conversation.

I used Rhino and laser-cut modelling to test how circular geometry and layering could guide movement and emotion. Through collaboration with the AUT 3D Lab, I developed prototypes and basalt-inspired textures to explore care as both physical and emotional design.

My design is significant because it transforms everyday retail architecture into a shared experience of attention and empathy. Growth — Layers of Care proposes that true growth in design lies not in profit or scale, but in how deeply materials, light, and time connect people to place.