MLA at UHM SOA

Earlier today, MLA students in ARCH 682 Building Well-Being: Health and the Built Environment, taught by Dr. Carol Weber, presented their therapeutic garden design for the 2nd-floor lanai of a local retirement home and care facility. Residents and staff members in attendance had great questions and expressed that they enjoyed and appreciated the professional presentation and thoughtful work by Brandi B., Sierra S., and Sarah U. The facility’s management and planning team will consider the students’ proposal for further development and partial implementation.

A few impressions from last month’s ARCH 652 Site Design studio visit to Kihei on Maui, including initial site analysis sketches by Jacq W., Katie S., and Schuyler C. The class, taught by Erin Voss, was joined in the field by Bobby Pahia, Ekolu Lindsey, as well as Elijah Davidson from DHHL to chat about the history of the area, future plans, and the need for the Kamalani development to respect aina, kupuna, and community.

Welcome back and happy first day of classes! We hope you enjoyed the winter break and are ready for the start of Spring 2026.

Images: excerpts from F25 ARCH 761 final studio project by MLA student Sarah Uyeda (instructor: Erin Voss)

Impressions from this afternoon’s review in ARCH 763 Advanced Project Design Studio, taught by Lester Inouye FASLA. Students in this final-year MLA course take a project from concept development to partial construction documentation.

Some glimpses of this afternoon’s final studio review in ARCH 761 “Agents of [Re]Production: Choreographing Community & Ecology” taught by Erin Voss. 🎊 Great work by our AP-track group in their first MLA studio!

Impressions from this afternoon’s lively final review in ARCH 651 Fundamentals of Landscape Design (Studio Palehua IV) taught by Simon Bussiere. Congratulations to our amazing group of first-year MLAers, who finished their first-ever design studio with flying colors! 💚🎉

Some snapshots from yesterday’s final presentation in this semester’s ARCH 696 elective “Sites Are More than What We See: Sustainable Site Analysis - History, Process, and Tools”, taught by Robyn Sweesy. In their speculative final projects—analyzing the UH Ewa Property—landscape architecture and architecture grad students in the course were tasked with identifying preferred locations for a high-rise residential building, as well as affiliated uses (e.g., neighborhood grocery store, meeting facilities, a restaurant, etc.), with adjacent off-street parking.

BEnvD and MLA students in ARCH 381 Landform and Water, taught by Erin Voss, sketching at Ka Papa Loʻi o Kānewai. The class was tasked with field sketching and visualizing how water moves across the site for the purposes of agriculture.

Recent ARCH 696 visit to the class’ final project site, including the University Laboratory School (ULS) and UH Children’s Center. Mahalo to ULS principal Keoni Jeremiah and Children’s Center director Jeff Bock for welcoming the group!