Introduction Our spring 2022 University of Hawai‘i at Manoa School of Architecture graduate-level urban design studio investigated ideas for the near- and long-term re-introduction of nature-based blue-green infrastructure systems for climate and sea level rise adaptation into the fabric of the coastal primary urban center of Honolulu. Specifically, the class focused on a mauka to makai transect through Waikīkī, reaching from the northern bank of the Ala Wai Canal to the ocean—including the federal lands surrounding Fort DeRussy (below). Six graduate student teams, comprised of Master of Landscape Architecture and Doctor of Architecture candidates, have developed forward-looking, speculative urban design frameworks and concepts for future mixed-use that embrace open-ended, indeterminant, and dynamic environmental conditions, such as coastal flooding, rather than preventing them—all while promoting ecologically performative and culturally-appropriate “soft” solutions and learning from traditional native Hawaiian biocultural land-water practices. The conceptual, multidisciplinary student work developed in this design studio intends to stimulate discourse and contribute to a long-term vision for a resilient and adaptive Waikīkī that merges the seemingly conflicting goals of economic development, climate and sea level rise adaptation, ecological performance, social and environmental justice, and urban placemaking into mutually beneficial, sustainable relationships.
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Limit of work: urban design studio project site
ARCH 743 Urban Design Studio Spring 2022 3
