The University of Hawaiʻi Community Design Center is celebrating 10 years of engagement, research, and design!
Join us for a year of exhibits, speaker events, student workshops, and a special celebration of work to thank and honor those who contributed to the growth and impact of our center. Visit our anniversary website for updates about upcoming events.
Explore how our projects envision futures for our community.
Over 118 projects with over 60 public and non-profit partners demonstrate our collective capacity for community partnership and impact.
Waikīkī Resilience and Adaptation Project (WRAP) led by Judith Stilgenbauer FASLA
See how our place and culture shape the values and approaches to our work.
Hawaiʻi is unlike any other place on the planet. We continuously explore how this context situates our ethics and practice.
Hawaiʻi State Archives Project led by Karla Sierralta AIA
Meet the people who make up our teams.
We are teams of faculty, staff, students, and allied professionals spanning architecture, landscape architecture, planning, and our allied fields applying our research, teaching, and outreach efforts to serving our community.
2026 School of Architecture/UHCDC graduates and team members
Support our next generation of designers and stewards.
Student work by Airon Castaneda for ARCH 415 Course Integration with Sustʻāinable Molokai
"UHCDC showed me how design can make a meaningful difference for clients and communities. Today, I see that impact reflected in the gratitude of families settling into their new homes."
- Keola Annino MLA, DArch, Superintendent, Moss & Associates
"UHCDC taught me valuable design communication and client engagement skills that prepared me to manage project deliverables and better understand client needs."
- Elliot Lazo DArch, Designer, Benjamin Woo Architects
Where are they now?
Our first six students joined UHCDC ten years ago, the first to demonstrate the potential for this model of practice. Learn what they are doing today and what they took from their experience.
“Great things happen when a team works together. Every role matters, and it’s the collective effort that makes the difference in the end."
- Catherine Kenjo DArch, Project Manager, Mid Pacific Institute
“Working at UHCDC gave me the foundation to start my AXP and ARE, and experience in client engagement, public speaking, office operations, building public trust, and strategic space planning."
- Christopher Gaydosh DArch, Associate, AHL
“UHCDC helped shape my moral compass and guiding beliefs. The design sensibility, skillsets, professional network, and passion for service I gained there became a launching pad for my community-based work and focus on future generations. "
- Melise Nekoba DArch, Project Designer, WRNS Studio
“UHCDC started at a time when I was really eager to get my feet wet and learn more about the place I grew up on a deeper level. I got all of that and more. It was also good training on how to be part of a supportive team."
- Christopher Songvilay DArch, Architectural Designer, Worksbureau