Mayors' Institute on City Design, Design Tank
The Mayors’ Institute on City Design (MICD) commissioned the University of Hawai’i Community Design Center (UHCDC) and the Institute for Sustainability and Resilience (ISR) to help Mayors and County Offices respond to challenges and opportunities generated by the pandemic. In response, UHCDC & ISR developed and coordinated a Design Tank program, which began by reaching out to Kauaʻi and Honolulu Counties to assess their needs and priorities. We then assembled educators, thinkers, designers, and students from the University of Hawai’i and two of the most respected community design centers in the nation—the Albert and Tina Small Center for Collaborative Design, Tulane University; and the Detroit Collaborative Design Center, University of Detroit Mercy.
The Design Tank itself was a week-long virtual workshop, held January 4-8th, 2021. It began with a 2-hour kick-off meeting drawing nearly 50 participants, including Kaua’i and Honolulu County leaders and staff, community and business organizations, and design teams from Honolulu, Detroit, and New Orleans. Mayor Derek Kawakami and members from the Kauaʻi Planning office shared their perspectives on the site surrounding the Lihue Town Rice Street area. Honolulu County representatives from the TOD and Complete Streets division shared their interests and objectives for sites in Kapālama and Kaimukī.
The effort concluded with a 2-hour presentation on January 8th with this same group. Five design teams presented their work on five sites, followed by comments and discussion among all attendees. We are pleased to present these projects and comments in the following report, which we hope will continue to support ongoing efforts by city leaders to develop and implement novel solutions that meet the challenges of COVID-19.
Sponsor: Mayors’ Institute on City Design
Partners: County of Kaua’i, City and County of Honolulu, Rice Street Business Association, Envision Kaimukī, Better Block Hawaiʻi, Get Fit Kauaʻi
Organizing Team:
Cathi Ho Schar, Director, UHCDC
Makena Coffman, Director, Institute for Sustainability and Resilience
Daniel Friedman, Professor and UHM Campus Architect
Nicole Biewenga, Research Associate, UHCDC
Rebecca Ogi Denzer, Research Associate, UHCDC.
Students: Angel Hiu Ki Au, Moises Lio Can, Dustin Chang, Kristyn Yamamotoya
Design Teams:
Site #1 Kalihi/Kapālama: “Stripe the Strips”
University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa School of Architecture
Karla Sierralta AIA, Associate Professor
Keliʻi Kapali, Student
Hunter Wells, Student
Nicole Biewenga, UHCDC Research Associate
Brian Strawn, UHCDC Senior Research Associate, Project consultant
Site #2 Kaimukī
Albert and Tina Small Center for Collaborative Design at Tulane University
Ann Yoachim MPH, Director
Nicholas Jenisch AICP, Project Manager
Sergio Padilla, Instructor at Louisiana State University
Kareem Elsandouby, Student
Ellen Feringa, Student
Sofia Perrotta, Student
Katie Schultz, Student
Site #3 Līhuʻe Civic Center, ʻEiwa Street, Civic Center Historic District
Detroit Collaborative Design Center at University of Detroit Mercy School of Architecture
Ceara O’Leary AIA, Co-Executive Director
Christina Heximer, Co-Executive Director
Charles Cross, Director of Landscape Design
Maria Jose, Student Designer
Allison Yu, Student Designer
Site #4 Līhuʻe Civic Center to Convention Hall, Umi Street, Shared Use Path and Adjacent Līhuʻe Ballfields: “Līhuʻe in the Loop”
University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa School of Architecture
Simon Bussiere ASLA, Assistant Professor
Jonathan Quach, Student
Thien Nguyen, Molecular Biosciences and Bioengineering Student
Rebecca Ogi Denzer, UHCDC Research Associate
Site #5 Rice Street, Kress Street, Kalena Park: “Līhuʻe Lines”
University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa School of Architecture
Phoebe White ASLA, Assistant Professor
Lynn Mayekawa, Student
Kristyn Yamamotoya, Student
Ariel Dungca ASLA, Lecturer