PROJECT DESCRIPTION
Beyond Wayfinding is a bi-lingual signage and wayfinding system acknowledges and celebrates the layered environmental, social, cultural, academic, and historical contexts of the campus. This interactive network was co-designed with Native Hawaiian artists and cultural practitioners, Kūha'o Zane, Nalani Kanaka‘ole, and Sig Zane, to invite guests to learn Indigenous navigation techniques and corporal alignment practices while highlighting significant locations and topographical elements surrounding the university.
For more information, visit UH Mānoa Wayfinding & Signage →
BACKGROUND
This project responds to an institutional need to re-imagine the signage and wayfinding system of the Honolulu-based campus and simultaneously physically embody the university’s commitment to realizing its mission of being a “Native Hawaiian place of learning.”
Beyond Wayfinding was informed by one-on-one interviews, campus tour observations, cross-departmental conversations, and the generous contributions of more than 150 faculty, researchers, and students.
AWARDS & DISSEMINATION
2023 Fast Company’s World Changing Ideas Award
2023 AIA Honolulu Distinctive Detail Award
2023 Good Design Award
2023 Graphic Design USA’s Digital Design Award
2023 SEGD Global Design Award
Exhibited at the Good Design Show at The European Centre, Athens, Greece, March 15 - May 12, 2024.
The UHM Wayfinding system was selected as one of the five commendations the university received during the 2022 WASC (Western Association of Schools and Colleges) accreditation.
EMBODYING A “NATIVE HAWAIIAN PLACE OF LEARNING”
The University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Wayfinding & Signage System orients campus visitors to the geographic layout of the university and its institutional history, while recognizing the ʻāina we are situated upon and prioritizing Kanaka ʻŌiwi (Native Hawaiian) navigational practices, epistemologies, and moʻolelo.
This video was created for the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa’s Wayfinding & Signage pilot website.
Design Partners & Cultural Practitioners: Sig Zane Designs & Sig Zane Kaiao: Nalani Kanaka‘ole, Sig Zane, and Kūha'o Zane
Consultants & Construction Team
Global Specialty Contractors
Two Twelve
CRĒO Industrial Arts
Parametric Design Advisor: Daniel Caven Design
Advising Team
University of Hawaiʻi Office of the Vice President for Administration
University of Hawaiʻi Native Hawaiian Place of Learning Advancement Office, Kaiwipunikauikawēkiu Punihei Lipe
Daniel S. Friedman PhD, FAIA, NCARB
University of Hawaiʻi Office of Project Delivery, Carol Ogata
Production Team
Research Associates John Colburn IX, Glenn Grande, Jason Hashimoto, Kai Hoshijo, Charles Palanza, Christopher Songvilay, Sho Tetsutani, Noelle Yempuku, Griffin Ward, Hunter Wells Project Assistants Jack Ames, Keola Annino, Airon Castaneda, Christina Holcom, Keliʻi Kapali, Melise Nekoba, Vivianne Nguyen, Valerie Ribao, Coby Shimabukuro Sanchez, Mackenzie Suess, Bryson Tabaniag, Thomason Takata, Kayla Watabu, Tre Zamora
Project Type
Design Research & Wayfinding Design for the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa. Conducted as independent Principal Investigators at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa via a contractual mechanism developed by the UHM School of Architecture and the UH Community Design Center.
Photography, Videography & Animation
Signature Photography: Tom Takata
Drone Video & Photography: Jack Ames
Video Voice-Over: Kai Hoshijo
Video Editing & Motion Graphics: Hunter Wells
All other photography by Strawn Sierralta
Integrated Course
UHM SoA Arch 750G, Summer 2018
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