Audry Yu
Interior Architectural Graduate, WSP
Master of Architecture (Professional) with Honours (First Class)
Bachelor of Design in Spatial Design
Architecture is a field she has always been interested in, says Audry Yu who came to AUT to study a Bachelor of Design in Spatial Design, followed by a Master of Architecture (Professional).
“Designing spaces and buildings is a very impactful area of the design field as you’re using your creative knowledge to really impact the livelihoods of people and cities. After completing my Bachelor of Design in Spatial Design, which is more interior/spatially focused, I wanted to pursue further study in a related but slightly different field, making studying architecture a natural pathway for me.
“In architecture, you design on a slightly different scale—one that is larger and more urban-focused than spatial design—and the parallels between the two areas of design are something I’m really enjoying learning.”
She says she would highly recommend the architecture programmes.
“I’ve honestly learnt so many things that I wouldn’t have even thought were related to the subject. AUT’s Master of Architecture (Professional) specifically teaches you so many important cultural understandings about the role of architecture as a profession in a changing world.”
Architecture and people’s wellbeing
For her master’s degree research, Audry explored the connection between architecture and people’s health and wellbeing.
“My thesis project was on the future of health, not in a hospital sense, but in how health and wellbeing can be more enmeshed in our everyday lives. I was questioning what the architecture of the ‘future of health’ could look like.
“I was drawn to this topic as I felt that it was really relevant, especially considering the COVID-19 pandemic and our many lockdowns. My research probed at many of the social, ecological and political dimensions surrounding the various ideas of health in Aotearoa. It attempted to integrate them into a non-typical architectural space, which I don’t think the architecture industry typically considers when designing a building.”
Her Master of Architecture (Professional) research was supervised by Associate Professor Kathy Waghorn.
Making connections
The people she met throughout her studies were the highlight of her time at AUT, says Audry who is now at WSP and loves working on multidisciplinary projects for commercial, public and education buildings.
“The thing I enjoyed the most about studying at AUT were the friendships I made throughout my courses. I really believe AUT helps foster great connections and it made studying that much more fun. While I initially chose to study at AUT because I had heard it was highly practical and forward-thinking in its teaching methods, I came to admire AUT’s commitment to being respectful to the diversity of its students.”
She had plenty of highlights throughout her almost five years at AUT.
“I was awarded the AUT Vice-Chancellor’s Significant Student Scholarship prior to starting my studies, which helped fund the three years of my bachelor’s degree. During my second year I also went over to Toronto, Canada, for a semester through the AUT student exchange programme which was an amazing experience. I was also very proud when my final-semester project in spatial design, We Are Not Unseen Spectators, received the award for an Outstanding Year 3 Project.”
*The Bachelor of Design is now known as Te Tohu Paetahi mō te Hoahoa - Bachelor of Design.
