People’s Choice Awards 2025

In academia, grind culture has become an unspoken rite of passage.
Somewhere between concept diagrams and vision boards, we stopped creating from joy. Burnout entered the room—none of us were immune. What began as a space for exploration was slowly overtaken by pressure and fatigue. Studio no longer felt full of possibility—it became survival of the fittest. But in normalizing exhaustion, were we losing the very meaning that brought us here in the first place?

That question became the foundation for Kauhale Maluhia, a micro-unit reimagined as a student wellness retreat. What began as a response to burnout grew into a broader critique of the systems that normalize it. At its core is the belief that restoration is not a luxury, but a prerequisite for deep learning and creative integrity.

The guiding philosophy treats rest as a form of resistance—a refusal to conflate human worth with output. While honoring the value of hard work, Kauhale Maluhia proposes a new rhythm: one that centers balance, longevity, and personal sustainability. The design invites students to slow down intentionally—through sensory grounding, reflective pauses, and spaces that support solitude and connection. At the campus piko, the project becomes both literal and symbolic—reorienting academic life around values rooted in Native Hawaiian ways of being.

The Lokahi Triangle—a cultural framework for mind-body-spirit harmony—reminds us that well-being is interdependent. When we live in balance, we live pono (in right relationship). This concept shaped the emotional tone and spatial organization of the project. It also resonates with the AIA Framework for Design Excellence, particularly Design for Well-being, Equitable Communities, and Integration—each reflecting the same pursuit of holistic balance.

Design choices support sensory grounding and psychological ease. Recessed seating fosters intimacy, while curtain walls blur the boundary between interior and exterior, offering students an unobstructed relationship to their natural surroundings. A warm kitchen opens to an outdoor dining area, encouraging conversation and community. Nearby, the relaxation deck—outfitted with reclining chairs—sits on the mauka side of the site, where trade winds and rustling leaves offer a naturally grounding experience. The Reflective Lounge provides a softly lit alternative to typical study spaces, giving students a place to read or reset without harsh fluorescent light. Upstairs, an open-air yoga deck allows students to stretch after long hours of sitting. Adjacent to this is a dark, quiet room with six curtained rest pods designed for power naps or meditation—offering relief from overstimulation. Rooftop solar panels further support the project’s ethos of sustainable rhythm and resourcefulness.

At the heart of the project, an impluvium-style roof frames the sky and channels rainwater into the central garden—a quiet exchange between built form and the ʻāina.

Though designed for student restoration, the space can also be reserved by on-campus programs for gatherings outside the classroom.

Kauhale Maluhia asks a larger question: how can students thrive—intellectually, creatively, and emotionally—if the environments we build neglect their humanity? It’s not a solution, but a beginning. A space where presence, not productivity, becomes the measure of success.