Mohuhano “Mo” Tuʻikolongahau was awarded the 2014 Hawaiʻi Woodshow’s Spirit of the Show Award for a chair he made of Hawaiian ash wood. The award recognizes the most creative use of underutilized Hawaiʻi grown non-native wood species. Tuʻikolongahau is a graduate student at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa School of Architecture.
Mohuhano “Mo” Tuʻikolongahau was awarded the 2014 Hawaiʻi Woodshow’s Spirit of the Show Award for a chair he made of Hawaiian ash wood. The award recognizes the most creative use of underutilized Hawaiʻi grown non-native wood species. Tuʻikolongahau is a graduate student at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa School of Architecture.
Tuʻikolongahau produced the piece, titled “Rise Chair,” in an advanced furniture design and fabrication class taught by Assistant Professor Hongtao Zhou.
“Mo’s design took advantage of the straight ash wood fiber to create a long spiral using a free-form laminating technique, combining both sculpture and structure elements to create an architecturally beautiful as well as functional chair,” said Zhou.
“It was challenging to balance the elements—structure, seating, backrest—to achieve a cohesive look that was functional at the same time,” said Tuʻikolongahau, who spent two months working on “Rising Chair.”
Tuʻikolongahau is a graduate of Tonga High School and earned his undergraduate degree in architecture from UH Mānoa School of Architecture in 2012.
Where to see the winning chair
Sponsored by the Hawaiʻi Forest Industry Association, the Hawaiʻi Woodshow is being held at the Honolulu Museum of Art School at Linekona until September 14. The show is free and open to the public.
There were more than 80 entries from Hawaiʻi, California and Japan in the 2014 Hawaiʻi Woodshow. The School of Architecture students and faculty contributed nine entries.
