Introduction:

The Design Charrette will focus on urban design and mixed use building design for two adjacent sites that comprise 12 acres situated at an important edge of Waikiki. A principal challenge of the problem is to find converging strategies addressing the number of diverse interests (e.g., developers, hotel companies, local residents, tourist boards, local planning offices, etc.) and to therefore contribute to a vital urban environment and engaged community. The Design Charrette will engage three scales: Regional Planning, Urban Design, and Site/Building Design.

After arrival in Hawaii, students will be assigned to Design Charrette Teams. Each team will be comprised of students from each participating school. By mixing the students from each school, we hope to encourage greater cultural and philosophical interchange. A faculty member and/or professional guest will be assigned to a Design Charrette Team, and will serve as Team Facilitator over the course of the Design Charrette.
 
Brief Background of Waikiki , Honolulu, and Hawaii

Waikiki, a major area of Honolulu, is one of the most widely recognized tourist destinations in the world. Over six million people visit Hawaii every year, and the majority pass through the 2.75 sq mile area of Waikiki. This highly desirable visitor destination, with its near perfect climate, beautiful white sand beaches, high rise hotels, and abundant shops, well serve the tourist’s needs. At the same time, it is a vital and bustling home for many Honolulu residents.

No part of the world is immune from the tourist economy. Under the label of "eco-tourism" and "adventure travel", even the most remote mountain village is set up as an object for the camera and for "immersive cultural experience". Some cities however, e.g., Paris, Venice, Hong Kong, San Francisco, to name a few, are particularly bound up with touristic forces. Tourism involves desires of escapist fantasy. The object of the fantasy (a city, a locale) may invoke a number of potentially conflicting responses: seduction (tourist boards, travel companies), resistance (self-empowered local cultures), hyperreal presentation (history /culture packaged for mass consumption). In this new world of tourism, distinctions of fantasy and reality cross over each other, become blurred. The production of fantasy is a serious business, the most real of realities for those — often lower paid local residents - dependent upon its health and growth.

One hundred and fifty years ago Waikiki’s marshy outskirts were taro, rice and pig farms while its shoreline was a favored resort for Hawaiian royalty. The evolution from the protected beachfront rimmed by productive sustenance to the resort metropolis of today was gradual until 1959. In that year, Hawaii became the 50th state of the United States and from that point on development burgeoned. Today we must rethink the meaning of Waikiki. Thirty percent of Hawaii’s economy is generated by the visitor industry but the society, cultures and environment of Hawaii can not be exploited for the gains of one commercial sector, no matter how large.

The participants of the Design Charrette will investigate and integrate the aspects of culture, which include the indigenous, the newly arrived and the well established, climate, resources, environment, impacts of location and economic complexity. Urban densities, changing functions, allowance for growth, infrastructure dynamics including; needs, supply, distribution and outflow are to be included and incorporated. Considerations of the regional, urban and individual scales are to be emphasized in the phases of the Design Charrette. A comprehensive and innovative focus on improving the quality of life for the residents and visitors is especially sought.
 
 
 
 
Critical Issues
As a way of focusing and intensifying Design Charrette work, each Team is asked to address the following questions through expression in specific design decisions:

1. Tourism and Place: Given the economic/cultural forces that are intertwined with globalism, tourism and the environment, what now are the critical aspects of understanding and defining place?

2. Local and Global Culture: Within the global late-capitalist economy, and the often borderless transmission of mass media, how is local tradition and culture defined and expressed now? In what ways might these identities retain authenticity and sustain themselves while resisting exploitation and commodification within a tourism based economy?

3. Totalized Planning and Piecemeal Transformations: What should be the relationship between individual sites and the city, and by what means might these relationships be established? When are the parts no longer pieces of the whole? Does urban design/urban planning remain a viable strategy given the acceleration of development and the complex and conflicting forces acting on the city?

4. Program and Social Relations: Given the present context, what are the most promising programmatic and spatial arrangements to encourage social relationships and urban vitality?

5. Sustainability and Urban Life: Can the unique characteristics of a particular eco-system serve to inform decisions regarding sustainable urban development? How might sustainable natural systems and arrangements best relate to the social, psychological, political, economic, and architectonic dynamics of urban life?

 Problem Statement

The Design Charrette problem involves addressing and reconciling three scales of concern.

Scale 1 Large - The Region, The City.

The regional and Honolulu city design scale of the Design Charrette addresses issues of place, meaning, contextual nexus, culture, density, environmental restoration, and economic viability. Consideration of the Charrette site, located in a significant place in Waikiki, implicates investigation of the larger City and Region in which it is located.

-Waikiki is the major area of Honolulu in a number of respects: it is the most widely known area of Hawaii worldwide, it has the highest and most consistent density of any portion of Honolulu, and it is Hawaii’s major source of economic vitality. Honolulu comprises by far the highest majority of the State’s population, is the source for the bulk of Hawaii’s revenue, and serves as the principal hub in the Island’s transportation network.

-The site occupies a critical position with respect to the active Waikiki tourist zone on one side, and the quiet low-rise residential district on the other side. Waikiki beach is four blocks south of the site. Six blocks north are small neighborhood street front shops that have thrived for generations with little regard for the nearby tourist Mecca.
-The site marks the eastern end of the Ala Wai Canal, the strongly-defined northern boundary of Waikiki. The adjacent civic and recreational district includes the Honolulu Zoo and surrounding parks.

-The site is at a pivotal locus — a place holder for change. As influences converge and change becomes inevitable, this place will have new meaning. Will it be terminus or fountainhead, buffer or battlefield, center or edge? It’s position could serve a variety of possible roles: a gateway to Waikiki, a linkage or barrier to the residential neighborhoods, an anchor or pivot to possible future commercial/retail activities along Kapahulu Avenue and Ala Wai Blvd, and a linkage/terminus to possible future mid-block pedestrian greenway.

In addition Teams are asked to consider the following concerning the regional and Honolulu city design scales:

-Urban and metropolitan growth boundaries.

-Definitions and/or blurring of town centers (linked defined towns and/or undifferentiated sprawl).

-Major transportation infrastructure including potential new public rail transport.

-Transportation linkages between the airport and other island locations.

-Overall densities and land use distribution considering present and anticipated future growth.

- Long-term aspects of cultural, economic, social and environmental sustainability in Hawaiian Islands

 

Scale 2 Medium - Waikiki, The Site (Master Planning)

Design at the urban scale must consider larger time and spatial frameworks. It must critically review present conditions and create the best future possibilities. An overall approach to restore the natural environment, conserve resources and energy use by designing with climate and the island’s carrying capacity is encouraged. Open spaces and view channels should be considered as densities increase. Mixed use zoning with enhanced streetscapes and improved street level activities, continuous pathways and contiguous greenways are to be investigated. Improved pedestrian usability, the growing need increase vehicular circulation, merging visitor accommodations and residential units of mixed economic levels are issues that need resolution. Developing links from the site to the surrounding community - to commercial, cultural and recreational areas within Waikiki and beyond, connections to downtown, major arteries and the university — these are all essential considerations of the investigation.

At the Waikiki and Site scale teams are additionally asked to consider:

-Integration with existing and proposed regional vehicular and public transportation.

-Tourist and resident relations.

-Development at the edges of Waikiki, including the Zoo, Kapoliani Park, and especially the Ala Wai Canal and adjacent golf course.

-Definition of neighborhoods.

-Pedestrian orientation.

-Connection to the landscape, particularly the Mountain/Sea "axis".

-Public and green space allocations, distributions, connections, including possible restoration of the oceanfront.

- Long-term aspects of cultural, economic, social and environmental sustainability within the Waikiki context: to include specific focus on resource use, transportation, landuse/densities and social/economic relationships

Scale 3- Small - The Site (Massing Articulation), The Building .

The two adjacent sites comprise approximately 12 acres (523,000 square feet). The larger of the two parcels is presently occupied by the Jefferson School, bounded to the north by Ala Wai Blvd/Ala Wai Canal, to the east by Kapahulu Ave., and to the south by Kuhio Ave. In addition, an approximately two acre parcel adjacent to the existing golf course north of the Ali Wai Canal, presently occupied by a public library at the eastern end of the canal, will be included in the site area.
The site is relevant for exploring the "Critical Issues" above in that:

-It is a nexus where strong and divergent forces and uses reside along each site edge.

-It is the largest underdeveloped contiguous land parcel remaining in Waikiki, therefore having potential for altering larger urban patterns.

-It is situated between the principally tourist, and principally resident zones.-It has ample exposure to sun and wind.

-It has highly desired view access to the Park, Ocean, Diamond Head and Mountains.

 

The site program calls for medium-high density mixed use development including affordable and market rate units, hotel/hospitality uses, offices, retail, entertainment, parking, and public open space/recreation uses. Both sites are presently owned by the State. This fact should be considered as it may allow development types, subsidies, and uses that would be difficult attain on private land. Links to public transportation are to be considered. Participants are called to consider issues of sustainability in relation to building technology, social vitality, cultural expression, and climatic response.

Teams are asked to consider the following concerning the 2 acre site:

-Retention or demolition of the existing public library.

-Public open space, and how this space is linked to other existing/proposed open spaces, vistas, pedestrian corridors, and features proposed for the 10 acre site.

-Public Programs. Possible programs might include:

-Museum (historical, ethnographic, natural history, contemporary art, surfing, etc.).

-Waikiki public library, canoeing and water sport facility (possibly connected with development proposals for the golf course and Ala Wai Canal).

-Honolulu Zoo annex or extension.

Teams are asked to consider the following concerning the 10 acre site:

-Assigned F.A.R. range (consider distribution of mass/void addressing views, ventilation, sunlight, urban connections, etc.). As a general guideline, Teams working with an F.A.R, range between 1 and 3 should consider a 50% ground open area; Teams working with F.A.R. of 3.5 and above should consider a 35% minimum ground open area.

-Current Land Use Ordinance maximum building height for adjacent residential buildings is 220 feet. Teams may consider heights beyond the current maximum.

-Retention or demolition of the existing public school.

-Transit links, including public transit links or hub/station.

-Public open space, and how this space is linked to other existing/proposed open spaces, vistas, pedestrian corridors, and features proposed for the 2 acre site.

-Private open space.

-Mixed-Use Development including the following aspects:

-Consideration of subdividing the 10 acres into smaller parcels to be treated as separate developments, or keeping the 10 acres as a single parcel and single development.

-Overall distribution of the following uses according to the general guidelines (percentages shown indicate approximate suggested percentages of total built areas):

-10% Commercial (primarily located at street level, but may be considered on other levels).

-10% Parking.

-10% Office.

-20% Hotel.

-50% Residential (consider appropriate ratios of owned vs. rentals, market rate vs. subsidized units, unit types).