University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa School of Architecture students earned awards at the annual Hawaiʻi‘s Woodshow™ in November. This year’s Innovation+Imagination Student Challenge, gave UH students an opportunity to showcase artistry, ingenuity and technical skill combined with the beauty and sustainability of locally sourced woods.
“Nearly all of these students are first time woodworkers,” said Nicholas Hunsinger, instructor of the ARCH 494 course that participated in the event. “Their dedication, curiosity, and willingness to embrace feedback stood out, culminating in projects that not only met the criteria but introduced fresh perspectives. I am extremely proud of all of them.”
The event, supported by local artisan sawmills, provided architecture students with sustainably sourced wood bundles for free, encouraging them to learn about and work with their local materials. By exploring the production, processing and design potential, the challenge aims to inspire a responsible forestry industry in Hawaiʻi.
“Architecture students just love to build things,” said Steve Hill, director of the fabrication laboratory in the School of Architecture. “But it is difficult for our students to access materials that are not imported across thousands of miles. The Innovation+Imagination Student Challenge breaks down that barrier by providing local wood that is free to the students. That makes it easy for our students to learn about, and work with, these beautiful materials growing in our own backyard.”
1st place and Puʻuhonua Award recipient
Jonathan Boyd earned first place for “Kinexus Lamp,” which captures the essence of motion and connection through a central sphere made from copper rings. These rings are encircled by wooden rings of steam-bent, laminated Cuban Mahogany with Primavera veneer.
“I was inspired by my passion for engineering, kinetic structures, and space exploration,” said Boyd. “Combining these interests felt natural for my first art piece. This lamp represents my initial foray into kinetic art and will serve as the foundation for more complex creations in the future.”
3rd place and Puʻuhonua Award recipient
Rin Xiao’s “Hanging Ribcage Coat-Hanger Lamp” won third place and a Puʻuhonua Award. The lamp was modeled off of a human ribcage with ribs, spine and shoulder blades to double as a coat hanger.
“As a first woodworking project, it was great to be able to work with all the different local woods, each one having their own color and different hardness,” said Xiao. “Integrating them together was definitely a process of figuring it out along the way.”
Honorable mentions
- Kenny Morrow’s “Ipukukui: Arcturus” is a bedside night light whose form is inspired by the sophisticated forms of the Peʻa (sails), the Kia (mast) and the Paepae (boom) from the Hawaiian Waʻa (canoe). The abstracted sails, crafted from Japanese rice paper and Koa wood, escalate from the wooden base, further embodying the movement of wind and water.
- Aika Valenzuela’s “Bound By Wood” is a box lamp that contrasts the fluidity of wave-like organic designs with geometric rigidity, crafted from Koa and Fig woods.
- Maʻili McKeague’s “Light Wave” features a lamp design that includes vertical slats in a spiral that gradually descend creating a flow in its structure. The lamp guides light in a spiral direction to the opening.
“The entries in the woodshow represent ideas, perspectives, feelings, cultures, histories, events, and time and space in different dimensions,” said Travis Idol, professor in the UH College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resilience and sponsor of the Hawaiʻi Woodshow.
