Students from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa spent two days on Maui exploring wildfire recovery through the Bowers + Kubota Interdisciplinary Field Study, held September 17–18. The field study brought together students from architecture, engineering and urban planning to examine recovery, resilient construction, mass timber and community. Through visits with professionals, government officials, community advocates and construction teams, students saw how different disciplines contribute to the complex process of rebuilding.
“The most important thing I learned is how much effort it is taking from all disciplines to help rebuild Lahaina. It isn’t just one type of professional that will help rebuild Lahaina,” said 4th year undergraduate engineering student Eric Christian Aganon.
Learning across disciplines
Students visited the Alexander & Baldwin Sugar Museum, met with American Institute of Architects (AIA) Maui and the Lahaina Town Action Committee, spoke with the County of Maui Department of Housing, toured the Swinerton Maui office and visited the Hawaiʻi Off Grid Bunkhouse with Habitat for Humanity. The experience encouraged students to think about their future roles as professionals working across disciplines and communities.
“Learning how architecture can be useful at the city and county level through very technical aspects of economics, business, etc. was extremely eye opening,” said Nevaeh Angel Nacion, a 3rd Year D.Arch architecture student.
Connecting technical knowledge with recovery
At the Hawaiʻi Off Grid Bunkhouse, students saw mass timber construction firsthand and connected building technology with housing and recovery. A meeting with the Maui County Department of Housing provided another perspective, highlighting the social, economic and environmental complexity of rebuilding.
“Every sector is doing what they know best, and our job is to support their approaches into aligning with the rest,” said Mai Lee, a 1st year graduate urban planning student.
A model for interdisciplinary education
“Recovery is a complex process that cannot be understood from a single professional perspective,” said Ho Kyung Lee, School of Architecture assistant professor and leader of the field study. “By bringing architecture, engineering and urban planning students together, we wanted them to see not only what each discipline contributes, but also where those disciplines intersect.”
The field study was supported by the Bowers + Kubota Fund and organized by Ho Kyung Lee, Eric Peterson from the School of Architecture and Vineeth Dharmapalan from the College of Engineering assisted with planning and accompanied students on the field study.
Special thanks to the trip hosts: Jeremy Stoddart (Past President at AIA Maui, Principal at PILI Design Build), Sne Patel (President at Lahaina Town Action Committee), Remi E. Mitchell (Director of the County of Maui Department of Housing), Duane Kreuger (Project Manager at Swinerton Maui), David Sellers (Principal at Hawaii Off Grid Architecture + Engineering), Matthew Kopp (Project Architect / Lead Designer at Hawaii Off Grid Architecture + Engineering), and Kaylah McHone (Community Engagement & Volunteer Coordinator at Habitat For Humanity Maui).