Varney Circle Design Tank
Varney Circle and Fountain honor the memory of revered Normal School teacher Ada Susan Varney. The fountain, completed in 1932, is the work of Cornelia McIntyre Foley and Henry H. Remple. Varney Circle serves as a symbolic hub connecting the original UH Mānoa quad with McCarthy Mall, Campus Center, Hawaiʻi Hall, Fine Arts, and the Queen Liliʻuokalani Center. In concert with the UH Mānoa Campus Framework team and the UH Office of Project Delivery, the University of Hawaiʻi Community Design Center (UHCDC) agreed to organize a focused, proof-of-concept “Design Tank” to help explore the full potential of Varney Circle as a campus focal point. Over the course of this two-day charrette, Design Tank participants—landscape architects, architects, urbanists, and built environment students—explored new ideas, concepts, cultural connectedness, and images that help envision the future of this historically significant and geographically central site.
Mahalo to:
Nelson A. Lee PMP, Director, UH Office of Project Delivery
Russell Y.J. Chung FASLA, EVP PBR Hawaiʻi
Nicole Swanson, Landscape Designer, PBR Hawaiʻi
Barbara Sannino Shidler AIA, Architectural Historian, Mason Architects
Caroline Raftery, Architectural Historian, Mason Architects
Kelsy M.Y. Jorgensen, Author, E Hoʻi Ka Uʻi
Design Review Panel:
Roxanne M. Adams, Director, UHM Buildings and Grounds Management
Donovan Albano, President, UHM ASUH
Peter Arnade PhD, Dean, College of Arts, Language & Letters
Ronald E. Cambra PhD, Assistant Vice Chancellor for Undergraduate Education
William R. Chapman PhD Interim Dean, School of Architecture
Carleton Ching, Development Program Manager, Office of Strategic Development & Partnership
Thomas Conway PhD, Professor and Chair, UHM Senate Executive Committee
A. Konia Freitas PhD Chair, Kamakakūokalani Center for Hawaiian Studies
Lori M. Ideta EdD, Interim Vice Chancellor for Students
Laura Lyons PhD Interim Associate Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs
Maura Stephens-Chu, President, UHM GSO
Client: University of Hawaiʻi Office of Project Delivery
UH Mānoa Campus Framework Team:
Daniel Friedman PhD FAIA, Professor & Campus Architect
Nate Goore, Co-founder & partner, MKThink
UHCDC Organizing Team:
Cathi Ho Schar FAIA, Director
Rebecca Ogi Denzer, Research Associate
Mark Lombawa, Research Associate
Dustin Chang, Student Assistant
Moises Lio Can, Student Assistant
Poya Harirchi, PhD Candidate, DURP
Kialoa Mossman, MURP Student, DURP
Design Teams:
Varney Square
Simon Bussiere ASLA AILA, Assistant Professor, School of Architecture
Thien Phuc Ngoc Nguyen, Molecular Biosciences and Bioengineering Student, CTHAR
Jonathan Quach, DArch Student, School of Architecture
Hoʻopili
Judith Stilgenbauer ASLA, Professor, MLA Program Director & Graduate Chair, School of Architecture
Matthew Higa, MLA Student, School of Architecture
Jonathan “Malu” Stanich, MLA Student, School of Architecture
Campus Compass
Karla Sierralta AIA, Associate Professor, School of Architecture
Rebekah Dalton, BEnvD Student, School of Architecture
Hunter Wells, BEnvD Student, School of Architecture
A Cultivated Core
Phoebe White ASLA, Assistant Professor, School of Architecture
Keola Annino, MLA & DArch Student, School of Architecture
Lynn Mayekawa, MLA Student, School of Architecture