0068

Design Loops –

Spatial Framework for Storytelling 2025

Design Loops received a 2025 IIDA Hawai‘i Pacific Chapter Design Excellence Award in the Maker category. This framework was first deployed to introduce the Campus Design Lab during the 2025 National SCUP Conference in Honolulu.

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0065

Other Spaces & the Spaces for Places Toolkit –

Mediating Devices for Sensitive Sites 2023-24

This project was partially funded by a 2021 National Endowment for the Arts grant. The toolkit was developed in close collaboration with the County of Hawai‘i and will be available for community use through Hawai‘i County’s Resiliency Library.

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0066

Expanding Understanding Through Design –

An Action-Based Framework 2023-25

This project received a 2025 Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA) Diversity Achievement Award, a national recognition honoring initiatives that advance access, participation, and cultural richness in architectural education. The framework presents fourteen actions for thinking and making architecture that strive to increase the diversity of participants, perspectives, processes, and outputs in architectural education and practice, drawing on many of the projects and experiences presented in this design portfolio.

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0064

Campus Design Lab –

Collaborative Space for Envisioning and Testing the Campus of the Future 2023+

The Campus Design Lab (CDL) is a design and research platform for the University of Hawai‘i, established as a neutral space for collaborative work that shapes the future of its campuses.

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0063

Hawai'i Housing Lab and the Holistic Housing Design Toolkit –

A Collection of Tools and Resources 2022+

The Holistic Housing Design Toolkit received a 2024 Fast Company Innovation by Design Award in the Social Justice category, selected from more than 2,000 international entries recognizing innovative design solutions addressing major global challenges. The toolkit has been tested by a variety of agents and was presented at the AIA National Conference on Architecture & Design in Washington, DC, in 2024.

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0057

’Ōlelo Hawai‘i Campus –

Supporting Hawaiian Language Revitalization and Normalization 2020-23

Co-developed with the Hawai‘i ‘Imiloa Institute—a statewide coalition of six Native Hawaiian language organizations, schools, and nonprofits—this project was created for the UH Hilo campus and received multiple honors, including a 2025 Architizer Vision Award, a 2024 Architect’s Newspaper Best of the Best Award, a 2024 ACSA Collaborative Practice Award, the 2023 Fast Company Innovation by Design Award, and the 2023 AIA Honolulu Award of Excellence in the Unbuilt category.

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0046

Beyond Wayfinding –

Incorporating Indigenous Knowledge into Campus Signage 2018-22+

Co-designed with Native Hawaiian artists and cultural practitioners Kūhaʻo Zane, Nalani Kanaka‘ole, and Sig Zane, this project received multiple honors, including the 2023 Fast Company World Changing Ideas Award, the 2023 Good Design Award, the 2023 SEGD Global Design Award, the 2023 Graphic Design USA Digital Design Award, and the 2023 AIA Honolulu Distinctive Detail Award. It was also exhibited in the Good Design Show at The European Centre in Athens, Greece, and was featured in a Fast Company article by Elissaveta M. Brandon.

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0052

Understanding Density –

Exploring Comfortable Density for Hawai’i 2019-23+

A traveling exhibit visualizing twenty-six massing variations for a two-acre urban block is intended to continue conversations about right-sizing developments and finding comfortable density for specific communities.

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0061

Oceanside Manor –

Recasting a Mid-Century Retreat 2021+

Currently under construction, with anticipated completion scheduled for Spring 2026.

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0058

STRIPE the Strips –

Reimagining the Strip Mall Parking Lot Typology 2021

This project originated in a five-day Design Tank commissioned by the Mayors’ Institute on City Design (MICD) to help municipalities respond to challenges and opportunities emerging from the global pandemic. The event brought together teams from UH Mānoa, the University of Detroit Mercy, and Tulane University, along with officials from the City and County of Honolulu and Kaua‘i County.

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0056

Field Instruments –

Responsive Framework for Outdoor Performance 2020

Field Instruments continues the design lineage of Plural Territories and Ring Rover, advancing our investigation into movable, dynamic, and portable structures that activate space and invite participation.

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0053

ROTC Center for Excellence –

Joint Operations Approach Supported by Class Labs 2020

In the fall of 2021, the first cohort of U.S. Navy ROTC students joined the Army and Air Force to become a part of the University of Hawai‘i’s ROTC program. To accommodate this growing student population, the three branches and the University came together to study how a new joint facility could improve the educational experience of ROTC students.

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0055

Campus Compass –

Communal Spaces for Outdoor Learning 2020

Campus Compass was generated during a five-day “Design Tank” to explore the potential of Varney Circle on the UH Mānoa campus for the UH Office of Project Delivery. It was one of four invited proposals.

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0051

Lawn Loungers –

Portable Spaces for Community Engagement 2019

This project received a 2020 AIA Honolulu Award in the Institutional category. Lawn Loungers was installed at SALT in Kaka‘ako for Parking Day 2019 and later featured in the UIA 27th World Congress of Architects in Rio de Janeiro in 2021. Lawn Loungers draws from research initiated in the Plural Territories project.

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0050

Future of Hawai‘i’s Housing –

A Bottom-Up Research Collaboration Exploring Housing for All 2019-22

Future of Hawai‘i’s Housing is a bottom-up research project conducted for the Hawai‘i Public Housing Authority that began with in-home interviews of 30 families across the archipelago. The project received the 2022 ACSA Collaborative Practice Award and was presented at the 108th ACSA Annual Meeting, EPIC 2019 at the Rhode Island School of Design, and other local venues.

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0042

P1CT ‘Ohana Suite –

Phase 1 Clinical Trials Infusion Suite for Polynesia’s first Early Phase Clinical Research Center 2018

Conducted for the University of Hawai‘i Cancer Center, this project involved the design and on-site construction of a low-resolution mock-up of a private infusion suite for in-depth user research. The P1CT ‘Ohana Suite received the AIA Honolulu Distinctive Detail Award in 2020. It was presented at the 2018 Ethnographic Praxis in Industry Conference (EPIC) in Honolulu and during the “Proof of Concept: Public–Public Partnerships at Work” at the Hawai‘i State Capitol.

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0045

Plural Territories –

Challenging Privately Owned Public Spaces 2018

Plural Territories received a 2019 AIA Honolulu Award in the Unbuilt category, was recognized at the 2018 ACSA Fall Conference “Play with the Rules” as one of nine large pavilions selected from 66 submissions, and was later exhibited in the “PLAY (things)” exhibition at the Villa Terrace Decorative Arts Museum and UWM SARUP in Milwaukee.

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0043

A-Frames –

Performative Patterns for Creative Display 2018

A-Frames, a mobile display system designed to support the presentation of creative work at the UHM SoA, received the 2019 IIDA Hawai‘i Pacific Chapter Ho‘ohuli Maker Award. The system was installed at the Moana Surfrider Hotel in Waikīkī and at the Hawai‘i Convention Center for Building Voices Honolulu Connects, and it continues to support adaptable indoor and outdoor learning environments.

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0041

Vertical School –

Design Guidelines and Conceptual Frameworks for Going Vertical 2017

This project explored the development of Hawai‘i’s first vertical school in Honolulu’s rapidly densifying urban core for the Hawai‘i State Department of Education. The “Guidelines for Going Vertical” were also presented to the AIA Baltimore Committee on Architecture for Education and featured in Hawai‘i Business Magazine (September 2017) in an article by Brittany Lyte.

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0040

Building Voices Design Competition –

Empowering Citizens Through Design 2017

The framework developed for the Building Voices competition was presented at the 2017 World Design Summit in Montreal, Canada, and later in Honolulu. Select competition entries were also exhibited during a public winner announcement and pop-up display at the Hawai‘i State Capitol on Earth Day.

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0039

Design Islands –

Cultural Artifacts as Space-Making Devices 2017

Design Islands was recognized with an AIA Honolulu Design Award in the Institutional category on 2017. Installed at the Hawai‘i State Capitol, the Hawai‘i Convention Center for the Hōkūle‘a homecoming, and actively used at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa School of Architecture (2017–2023), the project was also presented at “Crossings Between the Proximate and the Remote” in Marfa, Texas.

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0038

Inside Out –

Platform for Skills Training in the Performing Arts 2016

Exhibited in 50 Designers, 50 Ideas, 50 Wards at the Chicago Architecture Center, our team was one of 50 invited design firms, alongside Studio Gang, Architecture Is Fun, Wheeler Kearns, Paul Preissner Architects, Marshall Brown Projects, Ross Barney Architects, Design With Company, Norman Kelley, David Brown, Rubio Studio, UrbanWorks, PORT, Borderless Studio, Brininstool + Lynch, and many others.

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0037

Come to the Table –

Deconstructing an Iconic Image as a Platform for Critical Conversation 2015

Come to the Table was a companion installation to the 2015 Chicago Architectural Club Burnham Prize competition as part of Currencies of Architecture, a partner program of the inaugural Chicago Architectural Biennial, held at the Chicago Architecture Center.

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0036

End Scene –

Designing Duplicity: A Maze of Encounters, Readings & Returns 2015

End Scene received an Honorable Mention with Special Recognition, ranking among the top seven of 329 entries in the Stanley Hotel’s international Shining Hedge Maze Design Contest, inspired by Stephen King’s novel and Stanley Kubrick’s film.

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0035

Ring Rover –

Roaming Platform for Artistic Exploration 2015

This project advanced our evolving definition of “platform” as a spatial and social framework. The idea continued in subsequent works, including Inside Out, End Scene, Come to the Table, Design Islands, and others.

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0034

Base Conditions –

Marina City: Reimagining the Basic Unit of the Metropolis 2014

The Marina City apartment was featured as a filming location in Candyman (2021), directed by Nia DaCosta and co-written and produced by Oscar winner Jordan Peele. Following its release, the film made DaCosta the first Black female director to debut a movie at No. 1 at the U.S. box office. The project was also profiled in a two-page Wall Street Journal article by Alina Dizik.

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0031

Next Stop –

Chicago Architectural Club’s Burnham Prize Competition 2013

Next Stop: The 2013 Burnham Prize was a single-stage, international ideas competition envisioning iconic and context-responsive stations for Chicago’s emerging Bus Rapid Transit system. The competition was featured in ArchDaily, Bustler, Archinect, The Architect’s Newspaper, and other media outlets, and was exhibited at the Chicago Architecture Center and shared through a companion postcard campaign.

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0029

Future Prentice –

Chicago Architectural Club’s Chicago Prize Competition 2012

Future Prentice: The 2012 Chicago Prize Competition was a single-stage, international ideas competition exploring potential futures for Bertrand Goldberg’s Prentice Women’s Hospital. Its companion exhibition, Reconsidering an Icon, featuring competition and invited proposals, was on display at the Chicago Architecture Center. The work was covered by local and national media, including ArchDaily, Architectural Record, and CLOG Magazine.

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0014

Ski On Home –

Re-examining a Typology for the Sharing Economy 2007 - 10

Ski On Home received the 2011 Modern Mountain Home Award from Tahoe Quarterly. The project was featured in Braun Publishing’s Chalets – Trendsetting Mountain Treasures and selected for Dwell’s “Houses We Love,” with additional coverage in the Financial Times, Fast Company, and on ABC’s Nightline.

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0024

Survivor Maracaibo –

Documenting Urban Adaptations in Systemic Crisis 2009

Survivor Maracaibo: Urban Realities in 21st Century Socialism was published in MAS Context, Issue No. 4: Living, edited by Iker Gil. The journal’s international readership positioned the work within broader conversations on housing, infrastructure, and social equity in the context of urban crisis.

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0015

Artline Chicago –

Elevated Park As Platform For Art 2007

Artline Chicago was exhibited in Envisioning the Bloomingdale Line at Acme Art Works in Chicago, which presented 25 invited proposals reimagining the elevated rail line. The work was published in Chicago Architectural Club Journal #11: 5 Concepts: Envisioning the Bloomingdale, where it was selected as the cover image. The journal was later referenced in the Bloomingdale Trail and Park Framework Plan (Chicago Department of Transportation, 2012), an early step toward what ultimately became The 606

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0013

Lake Effect –

Floating Skyscrapers As Urban Infrastructure 2006

Lake Effect received the IBM Engineering Innovation Award in The History Channel’s City of the Future invited competition. The project was broadcast nationally on the Engineering an Empire series and exhibited at the Museum of Science and Industry and the Chicago Architecture Foundation. It was also featured in Architect Magazine, the Chicago Sun-Times, and the book Utopia Forever

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0010

Freedom in Numbers –

Balancing Voice, Memory, Media, and Movement 2005

Selected as a finalist in the McCormick Tribune Freedom Museum Sculpture Competition, Freedom in Numbers advanced to Stage II from 700 submissions representing 34 countries. Exhibited at the Chicago Tribune Tower and later at the Chicago Architecture Foundation in Public Process for Public Architecture, the project was also published in Celebrating Freedom: 1215179.1

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0006

Field of Play –

Construction-Site Products As Architecture Pavilion 2004

Field of Play received a Notable Design Citation in the Olympic Landmark for Paris 2012 International Design Competition. Selected as one of 24 finalists and ranked in the top 30 of 454 submissions, the project was recognized by a jury that included Shigeru Ban, Iñaki Ábalos, Stefano Boeri, Jean Nouvel, and Sir Peter Cook, alongside civic leaders and Olympic and Paralympic champions. Exhibited at the Pavillon de l’Arsenal in Paris and published in the catalog 454 Projects for Paris 2012.

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0003

Endemic Synthetic –

Exploring the Afterlife of the Material Waste Stream 2004

Selected as one of three winning proposals from 101 international submissions, Endemic Synthetic received top recognition in the Ecoshack Green Tent Design Competition. Exhibited at High Desert Test Sites 4 in Joshua Tree and later at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena as part of Fritz Haeg’s gardenLAb experiment, the project was also featured in the Chicago Tribune.

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0002

Ecology of Foreign Objects –

Platform for Environmental Awareness 2004

Ecology of Foreign Objects was selected as one of five finalists from 108 entries in the international two-stage Ford Calumet Environmental Center Competition, sponsored by the City of Chicago and Ford Motor Company. Other finalists included Studio Gang, Carol Ross Barney, and UrbanLab. Exhibited at the Chicago Architecture Center and featured in Architectural Record, the Chicago Tribune, and Competitions Magazine.

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0001

Dual Memory –

Interactive Memorial as Museum 2003

Dual Memory was selected as one of eight finalists from 5,201 submissions in the World Trade Center Site Memorial Competition. Exhibited at the Winter Garden of the World Financial Center in New York City, the Graham Foundation in Chicago, and the Chicago Architecture Center, and widely published and cited, it remains a reference in design and academic discourse on memory and urban representation. The World Trade Center Site Memorial Competition stands as one of the most historically significant architectural competitions of the 21st century

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