ARCH 743 Studio Studio Overview Following initial research, precedent studies, urban-design-scale analysis, mapping, and planning phases, this speculative urban design studio investigates the near- and long-term re-introduction of nature-based blue-green infrastructure for climate and sea level rise adaptation. Pre-development, the project area (see page 3 above) was part of a drainage basin characterized by springs, streams (such as Pi’inaio Stream and its delta), and marsh land. Pre-Western contact, the ‘Ewa end of Waikīkī included the Hawaiian community of Kalia. It was characterized by numerous traditional fishponds (loko i’a), including the large Ka’ihkapu pond, and residences owned by native Hawaiian royalty. In 1908 the U.S. military acquired, occupied, drained, and filled a large parcel of land for the subsequent construction of Fort DeRussy. The urban design inquiry project area includes the mauka and makai banks of the Ala Wai, the canal itself, the residential and commercial areas to the north and south of Kalakaua Ave, Waikīkī Gateway Park, and a variety of facilities located on a large plat of federal land, including the Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies, the US Post Office, Ainahau Triangle, the Kalia Road parking area, the various Hale Koa Hotel amenities (military personnel and dependents only), the U.S. Army Museum of Hawai’i, as well as Fort DeRussy park, boardwalk and beach, and the near-shore portion of the Pacific Ocean. The class’s goal is to advocate for the anticipation of climate-crisis challenges in Waikīkī through blue-green infrastructure framework development and urban ecological design that embraces open-ended, dynamic conditions, such as coastal flooding, rather than preventing them—all while promoting nature-based, ecologically performative “soft” solutions and learning from traditional native Hawaiian biocultural land-water practices. Comprised of graduate students in architecture and landscape architecture, the class will develop analyses, ideation, and overall long-term (6-ft SLR, anticipated ca. 2100 for the speculative purposes of this studio) visions and frameworks for sea level rise accommodation options in flood-prone areas of Waikīkī that decrease waterfront vulnerabilities by responding to inescapable shoreline changes, flooding, storm and groundwater inundation, as well as issues related to Honolulu’s aging conventional infrastructure. For the project area itself, student concepts will explore locale-appropriate, nature-based climate adaptation practices and opportunities for amphibious, blue-green infrastructure in both near-term (3-ft SLR, anticipated ca. 2050 for the purposes of this studio) and long-term (see above) visionary and bold illustrative urban design proposals. The essential drivers of urban form in these forward-looking visions will be multi-modal, non-automobile connectivity, multi-purpose coastal infrastructure systems, linked public hybrid open spaces, networks of ecological priority zones, and locale-specific, layered living shoreline systems as “soft” defense mechanisms against sea level rise and flooding, allowing for indeterminacy, increased biodiversity, improved ecosystem services, and, at the same time, education, decolonization, cultural restoration, and the creation of accessible urban waterfront amenities for all people.
ARCH 743 Urban Design Studio Spring 2022 5
