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.

Initial ARCH 743 Research Topics:

1. State of Hawaii Office of Planning Hawaii 2050 Sustainability Plan and Hawaii 2050 Sustainability Plan Measurement Update 2. Summary of the State’s key climate goals and initiatives; difference between mitigation and adaptation; and State of Hawaii 2045 carbon-neutral goals and 2019 State Greenhouse Gas Inventory report 3. City and County of Honolulu Climate Change Commission guidance documents “Climate Change Brief” (2021) and “Climate Change and Financial Risk” (2020) 4. City and County of Honolulu One Climate, One Oahu Climate Action Plan 2020-2025

5. Hawaii Sea Level Rise Vulnerability and Adaptation Report (2017) and State of Hawaii, Climate Ready Hawaii, Act 178 Relating to Sea Level Rise Adaptation: 2021 Annual Report 6. State of Hawaii, Climate Ready Hawaii “Guidance for Addressing Sea Level Rise in Community Planning in Hawai’i” (2020) and “Guidance for Using the Sea Level Rise Exposure Area in Local Planning and Permitting Decisions” (2020) 7. City and County of Honolulu Climate Change Commission guidance document “Sea Level Rise Guidance” (2018) 8. Summary of State of Hawaii Coastal Zone Management Program (CZM) & its general goals and The Hawai‘i Ocean Resources Management Plan (2020) 9. State of Hawaii, Climate Ready Hawaii Working Paper “NatureBased Resilience and Adaptation to Climate Change in Hawaii” (2021) 10. City and County of Honolulu Climate Change Commission guidance document “One Water for Climate Resilience” (2020) 11. Climate Adaptation Design Principles for Urban Honolulu; City and County of Honolulu Department of Planning & Permitting, Office of Climate Change, Sustainability & Resiliency, SSFM International, and Arup (2020) 12. Transit Oriented Development (TOD) overview of concept, goals; and summary of TOD efforts and principles in Honolulu Precedent Project Studies:

1. Chicago River Walk project, Chicago; Ross Barney Architects, Sasaki, et al., Chicago, Illinois 2. Detroit East Riverfront Framework Plan, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, Michel Desvigne Paysagiste, Detroit, Michigan 3. Fayetteville 2030: Food City Scenario Plan, University of Arkansas Community Design Center, Fayetteville, North Carolina 4. Conway Urban Watershed Framework Plan (Sponge City), University of Arkansas Community Design Center, City of Conway, Arkansas

5. Gowanus Canal Sponge Park Masterplan and Gowanus Canal Sponge Park Pilot, Brooklyn, New York, dlandstudio 6. New Urban Ground, part of the MoMA 2009 Rising Currents exhibition, Architecture Research Office (ARO), dlandstudio, et al., New York, New York 7. Oyster-tecture, Brooklyn, New York, part of the MoMA 2009 Rising Currents exhibition and Living Breakwaters project, Rebuild by Design initiative, Staten Island, New York, Kate Orff, SCAPE, et al. 8. Big U, Rebuild by Design initiative, Manhattan, New York, Bjarke Ingels Group et al., and progress on implementation: LMCR and ESCR projects, current development 9.F.R.E.D. proposal, For a Resilient Rockaway competition, Leading Innovation in Resilient Waterfront Design Award, Ennead Lab / Ennead Architects

10. The South Bay Sponge, Resilient by Design, Bay Area, James Corner Field Operations 11. Coastal Resilience Solutions for East Boston and Charlestown (Climate Ready Charlestown), Stoss, Kleinfelder & ONE Architecture & Urbanism, et al., Boston, Massachusetts and Resilient Boston Harbor vision, SCAPE, et al., Boston, Massachusetts 12. Ala Wai Centennial project, After Oceanic, Sean Connelly, Honolulu, Hawaii