Kakaʻako 2100+ Redesigning Public Spaces for Sea Level Rise

Abstract

Coastal urban cities will be at risk of sea level rise in the near future unless architects, city planners, and designers start to prepare for uncertainty. Effects of sea level rise can be seen today by the overwash of beaches and erosion that affects nearby buildings, being vulnerable to the sea and other natural disasters that will come with it. Honolulu is one of many vulnerable cities that will be affected by sea level rise and requires solutions unique to its climate and cultural values. In the year 2100, it is predicted that Honolulu will experience 6 feet of sea level rise, affecting highly populated districts such as Waikiki, Kaka’ako, and Downtown. Honolulu is currently undergoing urban development and shifting its architectural identity causing issues and controversy in the topic of culture and sustainability. Kaka’ako is the highlight of Honolulu’s current urban development plans and is the selected site for this study. The master planning of Kaka’ako consists of different developers and designers, creating an inconsistency between programs and places. Along the coastline of Kaka’ako, notable public spaces will become exposed to rising sea levels and other climate events. They are all under different development plans for the future with no relationship and transitions to different spaces. The purpose of this research is to redesign the public spaces in Kaka’ako to be a cohesive system of coastal defense strategies while still providing areas for people to occupy and access the shore. The final design will be a metamorphose scheme of coastal defense components for Kaka’ako based on sea level rise projections. Challenging the idea of city planning and development, a metamorphose scheme is meant to show changes in time, environment, and features, to emphasize the purpose of adaptive coastal design. Analyzing precedents and case studies from historically local practices to modern foreign strategies will provide a baseline for modification into a design suitable for the specific site. The components will become modular pieces to arrange into a whole system and resulting in a living shoreline, to replenish habitats and buffer against impacts from climate change. These pieces will be a reflection of cultural practices and modern coastal defense designs adapted from existing case studies. This concept is to protect the adjacent urban community with a green belt of soft and hard infrastructure along the coastline, defining the liminal zone between the land and sea while observing the flux in sea level rise.