The Hawai‘i Architectural Foundation (HAF) provided three distinguished awards for excellence in architectural research.

The Award of Merit was presented to Yuging Han for his doctorate research project, “A Study on Indoor Natural Ventilation in High Rise House from the Perspective of Carbon Reduction, Shanghai, China.” Han utilized computational fluid dynamic (CFD) methods to analysis various air pressure  conditions to assess and optimize passive  ventilation strategies to improve comfort, reduce energy demand and decrease carbon emissions during the construction and operation of high rise residential buildings in Shanghai, China.

Danalli Ignacio earned the Award of Distinction for her research project, “The Power of Poeticism in Architecture Exploring the Concepts of Teshima Art Museum in Waikīkī.” Her project elucidated a number of key design elements utilized at the internationally recognized Teshima Art Museum, and sought to translate these into a new museum building for Honolulu. Her design explores how an architect can apply a set of design criteria to create spaces of meditation, sensory experience, and ultimately, a subjective sense of freedom in an otherwise congested urban realm.

Sho Tetsutani received the Award of Highest Distinction for his DArch project titled “Design Elements For A Vertical School, Case Study: Kakaʻako,” which focused on studies of early childhood development and pedagogical models in relationship to architectural space in the vertical typology. This project proposed a series of innovative design guidelines and spatial explorations centered around the child encompassing three concepts: Play, Nurture, and Learn.