PROJECT DESCRIPTION
The Understanding Density project is rooted on a survey of multifamily typologies and neighborhood core samples spanning rural to urban conditions across the Hawaiian archipelago. Findings informed a series of massing studies at multiple scales and strategies for comfortable density.
This project was conducted in parallel with the Future of Hawai‘i’s Housing project and served as the foundation for the Understanding Density Visualization Catalog, a key component of the Holistic Housing Design Toolkit.
COLLABORATION
Plan Your Neighborhood visualizes different massing possibilities for a neighborhood from rural to suburban to urban environments. Urban contexts are based on sites located along Oahu’s rail.
Plan Your Neighborhood was developed in collaboration with architecture firm Kohn Pedersen Fox and their urban interface initiative, KPF UI. The app is built on KPF UI's award-winning software "Scout." For this project, Scout was specifically tailored to the Hawaiian context and landscape.
For more information on the app please visit KPF UI →
DENSITY ALPHABET TRAVELING EXHIBIT
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.
Partner Organization
Hawai‘i Public Housing Authority
Partner Organization Leads
Hakim Ouansafi, Executive Director
Kevin D. Auger, Redevelopment Officer
Becky Choi, State Housing Development Administrator
Research Partners
Luc Wilson, Director, KPF Urban Interface
Snoweria Zhang, Urban Innovation Architect, KPF Urban Interface
Brandon Pachuca, Urban Data Analyst, Developer, KPF Urban Interface
Topic Experts
Allison Arieff, Design and Architecture Writer
Production Team
Research Associates ʻEiwa Colburn, Jason Hashimoto, Charles Palanza, Christopher Songvilay Project Assistants Micah Axalan, Christina Holcom, Renz Laforteza, Vivianne Nguyen, Rand Oshiro, Griffin Ward, Hunter Wells
Project Type
Exploratory Design Research for the Hawai‘i Public Housing Authority. 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.
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