Architectural desginer, surfer, filmmaker and University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa alumnus Kaoru Lovett discusses the meaning of a “Hawaiian sense of place” and more in a recent article in Architect magazine. Lovett thinks architects who reach beyond the profession have a lot to offer the 50th state.
Lovett discusses his award-winning AIA’s Look up Film Challenge entry Mixed Plate and shares his views on the state of architecture in Hawaiʻi today and how to navigate between wanting to preserve your hometown and being open to new ideas.
More on Mixed Plate
Lovett and fellow UH Mānoa School of Architecture graduates Ronald Ribao and Graham Hart won the People’s Choice Award and placed third last year in the AIA’s Look up Film Challenge with their entry Mixed Plate: The Architecture of Hawaiʻi. Their film compares Hawaiʻi’s architecture to a “mixed plate,” that staple of contemporary island cuisine derived from the state’s multiethnic history.
Several UH Mānoa locations were included in the short film: Kamakakūokalani Center for Hawaiian Studies, Center for Korean Studies and the East-West Center.
When asked by AIA if participating in the Look Up Film Challenge change their perception of architecture the Mānoa graduates said, “We realized that even the most common buildings have cinematic and beautiful moments within them. We were happy to have captured them.”
