The project team (HHF Planners, Kualoa Ranch, and Kōkua Hawai‘i Foundation), joined by Hawai‘i Department of Education Deputy Superintendent, Phyllis Unebasami and AIA Honolulu Executive Vice President, Jacy Youn
The Piko Project kicks off! We’re teaming up with Kualoa Ranch and Kōkua Hawai‘i Foundation to bring-to-life Ka‘a‘awa Elementary School’s vision of a nature classroom for ‘āina-based learning! Stay tuned as we lead this community-based, volunteer effort to plan, build, and design a mala (garden) and traditional Hawaiian hale for Ka‘a‘awa keiki and the community, on land dedicated (and blessed) last week! A big MAHALO to John Morgan and the hard-working team at Kualoa for the use of the land, and for doing the work to clear what was a jungle of invasive trees for our project!
We are also proud to announce that The Piko Project has been selected as a recipient of grant funds from the AIA National’s Design Justice Grant Program (and Colloqate Design), which was created to support projects throughout the U.S. that demonstrate the tenets of the Design Justice movement. HHF Landscape Designer and Planner, Angelica Rockquemore, ASLA participated in last year’s inagural Design Justice Summit in New Orleans, and will be the lead designer for The Piko Project! The project will be designed and built with the aim to address, confront, and resolve the design justice challenge of providing culturally appropriate spaces for indigenous communities, and serve as an example of culturally-reflective design for educational learning environments.
Capturing the vision for “The Piko Project.” Drawing and photo by: Angelica Rockquemore, ASLA