2015
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ItemAdaptive Reuse Strategy for Affordable Housing( 2015-05)As we embark on the future, we must prepare now to meet the needs we anticipate. Every day new buildings are constructed and old buildings become obsolete. Demand for new property sectors shifts and the supply must be transformed in response. There are two options for our built environment to meet these new demands. Option one: underutilized buildings can be renovated for in-demand uses. Option two: a new building can be constructed on an empty site or where an underutilized building once stood. The opportunities and constraints that come with each option vary case-by-case. This doctorate project recognizes the potential benefits of adaptive reuse (e.g., time and money savings, historic preservation and environmental sustainability), and establishes a method for site preselection to enable the pursuit of adaptive reuse success. Current research on this topic looks at the decision between the two options by evaluating every potential adaptive reuse project individually. This doctorate project uses a series of steps to filter away unsuitable properties, so that an optimal site can be selected, without having to analyze a seemingly endless number of potential properties. This method begins by narrowing the search area to the neighborhood level, using Smart Growth principles. Next, obsolete property sectors are identified in order to establish a building supply. This doctorate project focuses on the need for affordable housing to establish building demand. Therefore, multi-family residential is considered for the adapted end-use. Feasibility drivers are then established to narrow the pool of potential sites further. Lastly, the remaining potential properties are compared to find an optimal site for adaptive reuse. This process is demonstrated in Honolulu, Hawai‘i. While there are many cities facing similar challenges, Honolulu is hypersensitive to change. Applying the process in this environment demonstrates the potential effectiveness of the method; so that it can be easily adapted in other locales.
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ItemResilient Community Sustainment Design( 2015-05)This D.Arch Project proposes a resilient Hawai‘i community to withstand a natural disaster and to provide for self-sufficiency. The natural disasters that are being address are high winds and hurricane conditions. In most situations when constructing to be resilient, the words, strong, resistant, and invincible come to mind. The investigation begins by identifying natural disasters that are relatable to Hawai‘i’s geography then focuses on hurricane conditions and how we prepare ourselves for this weather condition; building codes, safe rooms, and causes of roof uplift. This leads to the perception of why should we resist the storm by using excessive amount of building material to be resilient and why not allow the storm to enter by using minimal amount of building material to be resilient. The occupant’s safety and personal well-being are the most important factors in this situation. A brief building material analysis is conducted to determine which would be best used for construction against the weather and time. Living in Hawai‘i, the natural environment can improve the occupant’s personal well-being, so why are they living behind enclosed walls to experience this. The bare necessities were explored and implemented, by examining nature, studying Le Corbusier, and critiquing case studies. However, five controversial issues that have risen from living in an open air structure home. Designing resiliency goes beyond the storm and the home. It also involves the physical, sociological, and mental aspects to be prepared for when situations go wrong. Community engagement can supplement the occupant’s personal well-being. In order for the occupant to be comfortable living in the open air structured home, community core values are needed to be established to create a prestigious resilient community lifestyle. Common areas, community activities, and marketing strategies were analyzed to demonstrate how people would be convinced that this lifestyle is applicable. Ancient Hawaiians practiced and shared the same core values when providing for selfsustainment. At the end of this D.Arch Project, a comprehensive concept design was made for this resilient lifestyle, community, and farm home for a new neighborhood near Wahiawā.
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ItemSociotecture: Revolutionizing the Process of Informal Housing in Egypt( 2015-05)It is estimated that one billion people around the world live in unsanitary, destitute, and dangerous slums. Millions of these dwellers live in Egypt. Within Cairo, Ezbet el Haggana is considered one of the world's largest “megaslum” with over one million people. There are vast areas that lack access to plumbing, electricity, roads, schools, hospitals or emergency personnel. Without the reversal of the slums, many countries will not be able to pull themselves into holistic nations and will remain bound by the poorest tier of their society. By socially rehabilitating these conditions through urban design and architecture, the restructuring of their physical environment will enhance the individual's identity, self-worth, and social interactions. Through the understanding of the historical, political, and economic climate of Egypt, as well as the slum residents' expectations and social needs, the design of the community is driven with the purpose of encouraging positive behaviors. With these outcomes, the design parameters inform the design project which aims to create clean, prosperous, and safe dwellings. The new urban approach aims to cultivate communal needs and nourish the social and economic development of the slums. Finally, a methodology of assessing slums was developed to promote a global approach that can serve as a framework for application across varying slums around the world. The methodology is then applied to Ezbet el Haggana in order to illustrate the potential of the process.
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ItemUrban Leftovers( 2015-05)Urban leftovers are dissociated fragments of the urban network, left behind from changes in the transformation of the city and its infrastructural networks; they are the awkward spaces created as a consequence of urbanization and the constant shifting of urban conditions. This thesis is an investigation of urban leftovers within the context of Honolulu’s metropolitan area. In recent years, there has been increasing interest from architects, urban planners, local governments, and citizens of the community to transform and reintroduce leftover spaces as viable resources for instigating positive change. Innovative initiatives such as the Boxpark, PopupHood, and Proxy SF, prove the potential of urban leftovers as assets for economic development and neighborhood revitalization. A physical survey of five neighborhoods in Honolulu’s Primary Urban Core led to the development of a cataloging system, resulting in an inventory of urban leftovers. Through typological analyses the documented sites were classified into four major categories of urban leftovers found in Honolulu: isolated, sandwiched, adjacent, and enclosed. In order to determine appropriate strategies for further investigation of urban leftovers, direct observation techniques borrowed from Jan Gehl and William Whyte were explored. To further exemplify the potential value of urban leftovers, urban analysis was carried out for four different sites in Honolulu. The resulting “design proposals” should not be seen as the solution for the site, rather as one response to a particular site specific condition. Each design investigation proposes one alternative vision for use of the site, while making an effort to enhance the existing urban infrastructure and address neighborhood specific issues. The research concludes that similar interventions could benefit places like Hawaii where there is limited land availability, allowing the city to expand within the existing infrastructure – enhancing, reconnecting, filling in the existing urban footprint.
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ItemPhysical Activity + Architecture( 2015-05)People today face many health problems associated with a sedentary lifestyle, including obesity, cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome, and some cancers. About one third of Americans are obese and that number is projected to increase substantially. Even though regular exercise can alleviate and in some cases prevent many of these health problems and greatly benefits a person’s quality of life, many people still do not meet the recommended requirements. This project analyzes how to motivate people to add physical activity to their routines through architecture and how architectural design can play a part in promoting health and wellbeing. Based on its findings, the project proposes a redesign of Ala Moana Beach Park and a linking of nearby parks through pathways, exercise stations, and signage that will encourage the residents of Oahu to exercise more regularly.
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ItemIntegration of Psychology and Neuroscience into the Design Process( 2015-05)Architects develop an understanding of many topics that are closely related to architecture, design, and the construction industry. There is a need, however, for architects to be exposed to more information within the fields of psychology and neuroscience. This research finds the gaps in the architectural design process that can benefit from these additional disciplines. It translates, or makes more accessible, relevant topics in psychology and neuroscience. Then, it develops a 'process web' that lays out these topics in an understandable format that shows potential overlaps and opportunities for architects to apply in their design process. In addition to this process web, this research expounds on the topic of mirror neurons. The introduction of this topic offers keys for an architect to understand how a person perceives or experiences comfort, empathy, and understanding within an architectural space. These findings suggest that an architect has the ability to trigger positive responses in the user of a building by applying principles of mirror neuron research by way of their architectural design. The ability to accomplish this can be a very helpful skill for the architect as the goal is always to design and provide the best possible space for those who utilize the architecture.
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ItemCommunity Healing: Child Maltreatment in Hilo( 2015-05)Every year, child maltreatment costs the United States billions of dollars in healthcare costs1. Child maltreatment has life‐long physical, psychological, and behavioral consequences for the victims. This problem is particularly a problem in the County of Hawai‘i, where the majority of residents believe child abuse is a major problem in the community and almost half of adult residents know someone who was abused as a child, or suffered abuse themselves2. This project looks at child maltreatment in Hawai‘i, with a focus on the Hilo area in the County of Hawai‘i. The goal of this research is to come to an understanding of how building design can affect child maltreatment risk, and how it can be used to both prevent and heal the effects of child maltreatment in families. This research will look at child maltreatment in the country in general, child maltreatment in Hawai‘i traditionally and historically, child maltreatment in Hawai‘i in the present and future, how the built environment effects people, and design parameters from related types of buildings. These separate topics led to the same conclusion of what elements need to be incorporated into the design of a building in order to ensure the well‐being of building users. These design elements are: a connection with nature, use of daylight, balance between encouraging social interaction and privacy, security, flexibility and transformability of spaces, and user control of their environment.
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ItemDesign Guidelines through the morphology of Transient Spaces in Healthcare Facilities( 2015-05)Transient space, as a programmatic element, is a major design driver of all healthcare facilities. Society today is currently reassessing the influence of transient space design onto the holistic healing process for it contains a notable portion of health qualities that the current physical assessment does not support, which in turn does not support the complete regenerative health of healthcare patients. Therefore the advancement of transient space design is critical in progressing the current healthcare treatment system. This dissertation investigates the intertwining relationships between architectural design attributes and human health. With a specific focus on healthcare facilities, the morphology of transient spaces is explored to formulate a new design strategy for creating healing environments. The project goal is to formulate an architectural design guideline on how to improve the healing quality of transient spaces in healthcare facilities. The guidelines have been derived from the results of various environmental, psychological, and medical studies that have outlined an environmental relationship to human health. Additional recommendations have been made from professionals in the field of architecture, medicine, and psychology whom have extensive experience working with the related material or research area. The design guidelines are formulated to offer clear design translations of how to implement and approach creating a healing environment. A comprehensive design guideline booklet covering the three main aspects of health in human beings (physiology, psychology, and identity) is linked with built examples to offer clear design initiatives and implementations for improving health through architectural design. Accordingly, the guidelines create an easy reference for design professionals to help increase the number of evidence-based design practices in the world of architecture, planning, and healthcare.
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ItemBuilding with Waste: Reusing Landfill Materials to Create Houses in the Pacific Islands( 2015-05)As a result of rapid urbanization, an increase in the cost of living, a lack of affordable housing, and poverty, Fiji has experienced an increase in informal settlements. Informal settlements are unplanned residential communities that organically develop on illegally claimed land with homes constructed to improper building codes or regulations. The houses of these communities are typically made up of poorly constructed, do-ityourself, shack-like dwellings made from rotting plywood, rusted corrugated iron, and scraps of timber. Because of the increasing number of residents in informal settlements, these dwellings are becoming over-crowded with a limited supply of urban infrastructure such as water and electricity. Two resources that informal settlements do not have access to are waste removal and sewage drainage. For many years the government of Fiji has been developing strategies to help informal settlers. However due to the continued increase in demand for these types of settlements, the nation struggles to supply affordable housing and resources for these residents. The intent of this research is to develop alternative building materials using items that are commonly found in this nation’s landfills in an effort to create affordable housing for Fiji’s residents of informal settlements. When building with waste, less money can be spent on building materials. This will allow more money to be used on additional resources to improve the conditions of informal settlements such as proper plumbing, v sewage disposal, water supply, and electricity. Creating alternative materials and educating the residents on how to collect and assemble the new building products will allow the community to capitalize on their skills as a means to earn a profit or create a business building with waste. This will help the settlements economically, as well as, extend the life-cycle of materials accumulating in landfills and other dumpsites.
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ItemArchitectural Site Intimacy( 2015-05)Indigenous thought process can influence current trends of creative problem solving via architecture and landscape design. This doctoral project contextualizes a method of design, as a way to address a global paradigm shift in understanding the relationship between God, land and humans. “Architectural Site Intimacy,” enables a design (especially at significant sites) the opportunity to connect visitors physically, spiritually and intellectually to the place and to God. Blending traditional and contemporary knowledge, both story and science, allows for social, physical and psychological benefits. By connecting to place, culture and history; I developed a framework to increase human awareness of the natural environment through architectural design. The experience I gained included working with the community in participatory planning, and then incorporating the community input by integrating cultural concepts in a design. “The Mamo Process” is a methodology which uses Hawaiian culture and site understanding to enable a meaningful connection between man and nature through architecture. This creates a meaningful interaction between the place, culture, and history that gives back to the place in a way that respects its’ past and transmits it to the future; with authentic cultural representation. By focusing on different realms, including the earth below and the heavens above, the cultural relationship between man and place is fully realized. By establishing a base of cultural influences and incorporating trans-cultural values of such as pono (righteous) and lōkahi (balance), we can reach interconnectivity between sea, land, people, and sky. The end objective is to harmoniously tune the different realms of influence through the power of design. The designer’s kuleana is to bring together the best practices of traditional and contemporary design strategies to choreograph an architectural environment and landscape that encourages a culturally appropriate experience. The design aims to educate visitors about the site mo‘olelo. The design for the Kūkaniloko Center of Culture is part of a greater cultural revival initiative.