"Home has always been where I get my inspiration and ideas. Getting to use stories shared by my grandparents and sitting and talking with my uncles—that’s where a lot of it starts."

Arama spent most of his upbringing between Ōrākei and Helensville, two places that shaped his perspective in unique ways. While Ōrākei has always felt like home, Helensville gave him a grounding in community. “It was a small town where everyone knew everyone. That lifestyle was such a cool environment to be around.”

That sense of belonging has always stayed close, and it's where much of his creative perspective comes from. “I was lucky enough to spend a lot of time with my grandparents on both sides. Being around them really helped create a sense of home. I appreciate all the knowledge they passed down to my cousins and me.”

Design first entered the picture at high school—he lived in the hostel at Sacred Heart College and took design as part of his studies—but it didn’t truly come alive for him until after school. “I didn’t appreciate the craft until a little after high school. At the time, design was about passing and making something look cool. It wasn’t until I left that I started doing more experimental or contemporary design—thinking about why things are the way they are. That’s when design stopped being just about the brief, and became more of a comment or a timestamp.”

That shift in thinking is what underpins his work today. His process is layered, research-led, and heavily influenced by form, function, whakapapa, and curiosity. “I think always being heavily engulfed in the need to learn helps my design process. I want to know everything, and there’s nothing better than connecting things that just make sense.”

This year, Arama was selected to create installations for Tūhono, the light trail that lit up The city for Matariki. Two of the works in Te Tōangaroa included—Pūkaea, a light show projected onto the 8-storey Nesuto building and a series of digital lightboxes—reflecting themes of voyage, heritage and modern tukutuku. “I wanted to create a new take on Māori design. I kept the work simple yet complex—so at second glance, the negative spaces would create something else.”

He also brought his Rarotongan side into the work through colour and visual language. “I wanted the colours to reflect pareu (Cook Island sarong). Doing this helped drive the voyage narrative since I was also bringing Rarotonga into the story.”

The most rewarding part? “Being able to say I was part of the project. Seeing the work outside of my computer and stand as something on its own—that was an awesome feeling.”

Arama’s now working on the redesign of Coyle Park in Point Chev. Long-term, he’s thinking about legacy. “My main goal is to have enough knowledge and skills to pass on to the next generation. I’m all about legacy—and I hope one day I can give my grandkids what my grandparents gave me.”

When asked what Te Tōangaroa means to him, he doesn’t hesitate: 

“Te Tōangaroa is dynamic, it’s fast and it’s forever evolving. I hope we can keep pushing boundaries to achieve a better tomorrow. Te Tōangaroa is its people and if one is great, we’re all great.”