Jenica Amber Crous

Beading Studio & Eatery

Saam is a Beading Studio and Eatery situated in Auckland's New Market, at 302 Broadway and extending onto Nuffield Lane.

For this project, we were encouraged to explore manaakitanga, which to me means care and support, through genuine and intentional connection. I approached this with culture in mind, discovering that New Market is home to a diverse range of cultures. I knew I wanted to design a space that would bring people from all backgrounds together, and leaned into what this could look like through food and art.

This design offers a space that shifts the boundaries between people, immersing you in tangible bead-making and tactility. Grounding you in the present and creating space for stories and memories to surface. Saam offers you time to witness yourself and those around you.

This project explores manaakitanga, which to me means care and support, through genuine and intentional connection. It is inspired by the text String Figures with Companion Species by Donna J. Haraway, from which I was drawn to Haraway’s idea of the give and take that occurs when people engage with string. As well as the act of witnessing one another posed by Sumayya Vally.

The foundations of my design came from my site machines and bead-making processes. My site machines- string and wire drawing tools, created to engage users and interact with space, have inspired my implementation of String Vessels. I have become interested in gesture and offering at a handheld scale, guided by bead-making and ceramic processes, which I have incorporated through objects positioned as talismans.