The Pu’uhonua Hale Community is a place of refuge that aims to re-establish connections to ea by creating an ecosystem where its inhabitants take care of aina, each other and the land takes care of them in return. The project aims to provide hales and education to everyone in need and involve communities in a cooperative environment that fosters acknowledgment of the original ahupua’a and Hawai’ian culture. At the urban scale, the intervention proposes the restoration of ecologies by excavating original fishponds and creating new waterways that connect to the watershed to mitigate flooding and purify polluted waters, caused by an impervious urban fabric. The proposal considers the return of taro and rice fields to promote food sovereignty and brings back dune systems on the beach as habitats for different species. Additionally, the site supports different types of hale where people can freely decide whether to live indoors in a formal structure or outside under the stars. At the architecture scale, the project proposes a post-military future where the military Hale Koa Hotel is occupied and repurposed into a hub for homes, education, and health services. The building intervention envisions an entirely open-air structure where rich vegetation helps purify the air. A slice through the Maile Tower welcomes the land into the building through a public stairway that leads to a view of the ahupua’a.
