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Building Voices Design Competition –

Empowering Citizens Through Design 2017

The framework developed for the competition was presented at the 2017 World Design Summit in Montreal, Canada alongside the Design Islands project. Presented at the 18th Annual Pacific Building Trade Expo, Honolulu, HI, 2017. The competition was featured in Hawai‘i Public Radio, Bustler, Competitions.org, KHON2 TV, Big Island Now, Honolulu Magazine, Flux Hawaii, Dezeen, and Dwell Magazine.

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The 2017 Building Voices Design Competition was conceived as an international platform to explore design’s role in addressing Hawai‘i’s geographic isolation, cultural richness, ecological vulnerability, and global visibility. Framed by five critical topic areas and a design framework developed through listening sessions with faculty, students, and professionals, the competition introduced a “quadruple bottom line”—an adaptation of John Elkington’s triple bottom line expanded to include Indigenous culture as a fourth sustainability lens. This conceptual shift positioned culture not as an afterthought, but as a central measure of resilience and innovation in design.

As part of the inaugural Building Voices initiative, the competition and exhibition functioned as provocations, asking participants to articulate how design could operate as both a critical and applied framework for contemporary challenges in Hawai‘i. The event, held on Earth Day (April 22, 2017), was accompanied by a symposium and related programs that expanded the discourse through public dialogue. Collectively, these efforts established Building Voices as a platform for advancing design inquiry at the intersection of culture, ecology, and community. The outcomes not only informed the early agenda of the School of Architecture’s UH Community Design Center but also set the foundation for subsequent Building Voices initiatives documented in this portfolio.

For: University of Hawai‘i School of Architecture, University of Hawai'i Community Design Center

Type: Design competition

Competition Partners: AIA Honolulu, ASLA Hawai‘i, APA Hawai‘i, AIAS Hawai‘i, US Green Building Council of Hawai‘i, University of Hawai‘i Office of Sustainability

Competition Consultants:Ikaika Bantolina, Native Hawaiian Cultural Advisor; Chae Ho Lee, Associate Professor, UHM Department of Art and Art History

Competition Jury:Clement Blanchet, Clement Blanchet Architecture; Rebecca Buck, Amazon Web Services; Aljosa Dekleva, Dekleva Gregoric Architects; Joseph Ferraro FAIA, Ferraro Choi Architects; Helaoha Johnston, Honolulu Museum of Art; T. Annie Nguyen, United States Digital Service; Andrew Tang, City, and County of Honolulu; Daniel Vasini, West 8; Xavier Vendrell, Rural Studio (Jury Chair); Alisa Weinstein, Uber; Kuha'o Zane, Sig Zane Kaiao

Photography: Tom Takata Photography

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0040

Building Voices Design Competition –

Empowering Citizens Through Design 2017

The 2017 Building Voices Design Competition was conceived as an international platform to explore design’s role in addressing Hawai‘i’s geographic isolation, cultural richness, ecological vulnerability, and global visibility. Framed by five critical topic areas and a design framework developed through listening sessions with faculty, students, and professionals, the competition introduced a “quadruple bottom line”—an adaptation of John Elkington’s triple bottom line expanded to include Indigenous culture as a fourth sustainability lens. This conceptual shift positioned culture not as an afterthought, but as a central measure of resilience and innovation in design.

As part of the inaugural Building Voices initiative, the competition and exhibition functioned as provocations, asking participants to articulate how design could operate as both a critical and applied framework for contemporary challenges in Hawai‘i. The event, held on Earth Day (April 22, 2017), was accompanied by a symposium and related programs that expanded the discourse through public dialogue. Collectively, these efforts established Building Voices as a platform for advancing design inquiry at the intersection of culture, ecology, and community. The outcomes not only informed the early agenda of the School of Architecture’s UH Community Design Center but also set the foundation for subsequent Building Voices initiatives documented in this portfolio.

HIGHLIGHTS The framework developed for the competition was presented at the 2017 World Design Summit in Montreal, Canada alongside the Design Islands project. Presented at the 18th Annual Pacific Building Trade Expo, Honolulu, HI, 2017. The competition was featured in Hawai‘i Public Radio, Bustler, Competitions.org, KHON2 TV, Big Island Now, Honolulu Magazine, Flux Hawaii, Dezeen, and Dwell Magazine.

DATA + –

For:University of Hawai‘i School of Architecture, University of Hawai'i Community Design Center

Type: Design competition

Competition Partners: AIA Honolulu, ASLA Hawai‘i, APA Hawai‘i, AIAS Hawai‘i, US Green Building Council of Hawai‘i, University of Hawai‘i Office of Sustainability

Competition Consultants:Ikaika Bantolina, Native Hawaiian Cultural Advisor; Chae Ho Lee, Associate Professor, UHM Department of Art and Art History

Competition Jury:Clement Blanchet, Clement Blanchet Architecture; Rebecca Buck, Amazon Web Services; Aljosa Dekleva, Dekleva Gregoric Architects; Joseph Ferraro FAIA, Ferraro Choi Architects; Helaoha Johnston, Honolulu Museum of Art; T. Annie Nguyen, United States Digital Service; Andrew Tang, City, and County of Honolulu; Daniel Vasini, West 8; Xavier Vendrell, Rural Studio (Jury Chair); Alisa Weinstein, Uber; Kuha'o Zane, Sig Zane Kaiao

Photography: Tom Takata Photography