HĀLAU KŪKULU HAWAI’I: A HOME THAT BUILDS MULTITUDES
ABOUT THE INSTALLATION
AFTER OCEANIC BUILT ENVIRONMENTS LAB
ESTABLISHED 2010, HONOLULU, HAWAI‘I
LEONG LEONG ARCHITECTURE
ESTABLISHED 2009, NEW YORK, NEW YORK
Hālau Kūkulu Hawaiʻi: A Home That Builds Multitudes presents a hale (building) that embodies grassroots efforts to care for ʻāina, a Native Hawaiian term for land, meaning “that which feeds.” Organized by After Oceanic Built Environments Lab and Leong Leong Architecture, this scalable design builds upon aspects of Indigenous Hawaiian architecture, adapting traditional hale and waʻa (canoe) lashing techniques—using cordage to secure built structures without metal fasteners—for contemporary architectural construction. The project brings together the expertise of culture bearers and traditional hale builders with architects, artists, and engineers at the Kūkulukumuhana camp in the storied Waipiʻo Valley on the island of Hawaiʻi, to develop prototypes by sharing knowledge with one another. Their approach demonstrates the value of engaging in collaborative building using Native knowledge systems as a means of supporting cultural, ecological, and political recovery across Pae ‘Āina Hawai‘i (the Hawaiian Islands) and the Kānaka Maoli (Native Hawaiian) resurgence. Hālau Kūkulu Hawaiʻi illuminates the challenges and potentials for advancing Native architecture in Hawai‘i.
ACCESSIBILITY RESOURCES
When we enter the installation Hālau Kūkulu Hawaiʻi: A Home That Builds Multitudes, a large immersive wood arch sits in front of a graphic mural to our left. To our right is a wood platform providing seating for a projected video on the wall opposite the mural. The video depicts a community of artists, architects, and culture bearers building a hale similar to the large structure in the gallery in the sacred Waipi’o Valley on the island of Hawai’i. Black vinyl Native Hawaiian text wraps around the walls of the gallery and overlaps the mural. By the gallery entrance it begins with, “A ka luna pali Waipiʻo” in reference to Waipiʻo Valley in the mural. To walk closer to the mural we have to pass underneath a hale structure. The structure is made of wood with an arched roof that nearly touches the ceiling and is as wide as the gallery itself, taking up at least half of the space. The structure is built from smooth wooden beams with rounded edges. Rows of horizontal beams run across the structure and shorter beams weave their way over and under the horizontal beams. There is about a couple feet of distance between all the beams that creates an openness to the structure so we can easily see through it to the text between the windows along the wall across from the hallway. Rather than a grid, each opening between the beams is inverted towards either the top or bottom. Highlighter yellow-green colored rope holds the joints together, hanging onto notches in the wood. The cords are artfully tied. Sections of five cords wrap around, link together, and cross over. More cords in dark brown wrap around the horizontal beams in sections, some a few inches wide, holding inner and outer horizontal beams together.
The mural on the wall at the end of the arch is an illustrated landscape of dark blue mountains rising over and embracing a vast valley with the Native Hawaiian text running across the center of the image. Thin lines run throughout the landscape creating depth in the flat graphic image. Two waterfalls flow from the top of the mountains in the distance as if the water was part of the sky, flowing into a river snaking across the valley and towards the bottom of the wall. The water is depicted with the color white and the rest of the scene is a range of calming dark and vibrant blues. Organically shaped patches, some dark blue, light blue, and minty green, are scattered across the valley like plots of land. Behind the mountains and under the night sky filled with small white dots of stars, light breaks through. Towards the right of the mural soft yellow light peeks through an opening in the mountains. By the bottom of the image and wall are tiny silhouettes of a couple dozen people by the river, small dome shaped structures, and an arched open shade structure. Among the people is a small truck, and to the left of the crowd in another plot of brown land is a single bulldozer.
Acknowledgements
Designed by Sean Connelly (Ilocano) and Dominic Leong (Kanaka Maoli) with Ethan Chan, Hannah Frossard, Remi McLain, Amir Mirza (Kanaka Maoli), and Chloe Munkenbeck. Hale built by Nalani Tukuafu (Kanaka Maoli) and Jojo Henderson (Kanaka Maoli). Waʻa (canoe) lashing by Nā Kālai Waʻa with Leiʻohu Colburn (Kanaka Maoli). Exhibition Hale installed by DB Amorin (Sāmoan), Emi Kim (Uchinanchu), Enormvs Muñoz, Dane Keahi (Kanaka Maoli), and Jade Rhodes (Black/Mvskoke). Wood supplied by Aborica with Evan Shively. Millwork by Joinery Structures.
Videography by kekahi wahi with Sancia Miala, Shiba Nash (Nihon-ji) and Drew Kahuʻāina Broderick (Kanaka Maoli). Exhibition book by Tropic Editions with Marika Emi. Site hosted by HŌʻĀ Kūkulukumuhana Summer Cultural Enrichment Program with Lanakila Mangauil (Kanaka Maoli) and Honi Pahi‘ō Tagabi (Kanaka Maoli).
This installation is made possible with additional support from Hawaiʻi Nonlinear 501(c)(3).
