UH announces architectural design team for Daniel K. Inouye Center

Announcement comes on eve of Presidential Medal of Freedom Ceremony honoring Inouye

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Links to video and sound:   http://bit.ly/1dWghLZ 

Soundbites and video information below.

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Washington, D.C. -- The University of Hawai‘i today announced the selection of Clifford Planning & Architecture LLC and Pei Cobb Freed & Partners Architects LLP as the architectural design team for the new Daniel K. Inouye Center for Democratic Leadership (DKI Center) at the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa (UH Mānoa). 

UH Interim President David Lassner made the announcement at a reception hosted by the Daniel K. Inouye Institute at the Library of Congress in Washington D.C., to celebrate the Senator's Presidential Medal of Freedom, which will be presented at a White House ceremony tomorrow.

Yvonne Szeto, a partner of Pei Cobb Freed & Partners, will serve as lead designer for the project and will guide the team’s efforts throughout the planning and design process.
 
The assignment marks a return to the Mānoa campus for Pei Cobb Freed & Partners. “We are delighted to renew our long-standing association with the University of Hawai’i,” said Ms. Szeto. “It is an honor to play a part in the commemoration of Senator Inouye’s legacy, and we look forward to working with the University on this important project.”  In her career of more than three decades with Pei Cobb Freed & Partners, Ms. Szeto has served as design principal for many notable buildings around the world, including the IMF Headquarters in Washington, D.C., the OECD Headquarters in Paris, NASCAR Hall of Fame in Charlotte, and the Law School and Residence Hall at Fordham University in New York.
 
Dr. Janine S. Clifford, principal of Clifford Planning & Architecture, the architect of record for the project, commented: “For me as a fourth-generation Japanese-American growing up in Hawai‘i, Senator Inouye embodied the American Dream: to aspire and be afforded the freedom to achieve with hard work and perseverance. We are honored and humbled to share in this experience.”

Established in honor of the late Senator Inouye, the center will serve as a living tribute to a man who championed the ideals of freedom, fairness, integrity and democratic ideals throughout a lifetime of service, and who played a significant role in shaping the history of America, Hawai‘i and the Asia Pacific region.
 
"The University of Hawai‘i is proud to establish the Daniel K. Inouye Center for Democratic Leadership, in honor of the trifold principles of freedom, fairness and integrity which were the ideals by which the Senator lived his life. One of the most significant figures in U.S. history, Senator Inouye did not shy away from standing up for what was right and just - even if it came at a personal cost. He regularly stepped forward to give voice to the underserved, and advocate for justice and reconciliation for historical wrongs. It is, therefore, our privilege to honor this great individual by establishing the Daniel K. Inouye Center on the UH Mānoa campus," Lassner said.
 
“The DKI Center will be a fitting tribute to the Senator, who was not only a graduate of UH Mānoa, but also an active supporter of the campus throughout his lifetime. It is with pride and aloha that we honor his legacy and welcome him ‘home’ with the Daniel K. Inouye Center, where valuable pieces of his life’s work will be housed,” UH Mānoa Chancellor Tom Apple said. “The DKI project is also a homecoming for the design team of Clifford Planning & Architecture LLC and Pei Cobb Freed & Partners Architects LLP, whose roots and design influences can be seen today in the buildings along the campus' East-West Road - from the East-West Center's Jefferson and Lincoln Halls to Kennedy Theatre, Edmondson Hall, Moore Hall, Hale Kuahine and Hale Mānoa. It is befitting to the legacy left by Senator Inouye that the design team selected for the center has the same roots and deep connections to the campus that he had," added Apple.
 
The DKI Center will house seven (7) academic programs that will advance public awareness of U.S. history and government, public service leadership, democratic ideals and global awareness through visiting and resident experts, communications programs and exhibits, public engagement and educational programs - particularly for K-12, lectures and other civic engagement efforts. These seven programs include:

1. Daniel K. Inouye Archives - Preserving, organizing and archiving the Senator's Congressional papers and memorabilia, with digital access partnership with the Library of Congress;
2. Policy and Leadership Programs - Offering degree-granting curriculum in international affairs, public policy and public service leadership;
3. Oral History Project - Enhancing the Inouye archives through the capture of living memories and the collection of existing transcripts, audio and digital media archives;
4. Inouye Fellows Program - Supporting original research utilizing the congressional papers relating to public service leadership, democratic ideals and global awareness through a unique partnership with the Library of Congress' Kluge Fellows Program;
5. Hawai‘i Democratic Leadership Partnerships - Providing programs on public service, leadership and civic engagement focused on students and aspiring leaders; the center will be assessable for school visits and collaborative school program;
6. Daniel K. Inouye Lecture Series - Elevating national dialog through lectures on Democratic Leadership at UH Mānoa, as well as in Washington, D.C. at the Library of Congress; and
7. Museum Partnerships - Supporting exhibitions and public programming efforts of the Bishop Museum and Smithsonian on topics such as Hawai‘i's rich political history, the Asian and Pacific American experience, Veterans of War, Life of Congress and other opportunities to share the story of the Senator's life, values and legacy in Hawai‘i and Washington, D.C.
 
In addition to the academic programs, the facility, which is slated to replace the deteriorating Henke Hall, will include: archival space for the Senator's collections, dual reading rooms with digital access to the Library of Congress, auditorium space for public lectures and classroom use, classroom facilities, meeting rooms, multipurpose rooms, exhibition space and multimedia capability, study areas, research facilities and more.

SOUNDBITES:

David Lassner, UH Interim President:
We really foresee a day when every student in Hawai'i will visit the Daniel K. Inouye Center at the University of Hawai'i so they can understand and appreciate their heritage.   :11 seconds

Ken Inouye, Son of the late Sen. Daniel Inouye:
I want to say thank you very much to all of you for remembering my father.  It's been almost a year since he passed.  So the fact that we're all here in this room tonight, I give you a very big mahalo.   :12 seconds

Irene Hirano Inouye, Widow of the late Sen. Daniel Inouye:
We've tried to, through the projects of connecting the University of Hawai'i,  the LOC, connecting Bishop Museum, Smithosnian, has been the way we've tried to approach his legacy. 
:13 seconds

Yvonne Szeto, Design Partner, Pei Cobb Freed & Partners:
We want to make sure that, as the Senator would probably want, it is not to be just a memorial or monument, he wants it to be a living part and a vibrant part of the community that he served. 
:12 seconds

SHOT LOG:
:00 -- Wide shot of the Members of Congress Room, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
:04 -- Ken Inouye
:10 -- Jennifer Sabas, Daniel K. Inouye Institute
:16 -- Irene Inouye
:20 -- David Lassner with Ken Inouye
:25 -- Irene Inouye with Rep. Colleen Hanabusa
:29 -- Sign on Podium Daniel K. Inouye Institute
:33 -- Irene Inouye at podium
:47 -- Rep. Hanabusa with Rep. Tusli Gabbard
:51 -- Generic cut aways
:56 -- Cut away with Ken Inouye
:59 -- Wide cut away with Ken Inouye, Hanabusa, Gabbard
1:05 --  Generic cut away
       

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***The University of Hawai‘i (UH) was established in 1907 and its campuses are all fully accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges. The UH System now comprises all public higher education in the State and provides a rich array of associate, baccalaureate, graduate, and professional degrees and certificates to about 60,000 students through seven community colleges, two baccalaureate campuses and a major research university that holds land-, space- and sea-grant designations. For more information, visit www.hawaii.edu.
 
***The University of Hawai`i at Mānoa serves approximately 20,000 students pursuing more than 225 different degrees.  Coming from every Hawaiian island, every state in the nation, and more than 100 countries, UH Mānoa students thrive in an enriching environment for the global exchange of ideas.  For more information, visit http://manoa.hawaii.edu and http://manoa.hawaii.edu/media/.  Follow us on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/uhmanoa and Twitter http://twitter.com/UHManoaNews.
 
***Clifford Planning & Architecture is a Honolulu-based firm that offers professional services in land use, project management, architecture, and interior design. The firm has completed numerous institutional projects in Hawai’i, including the Molokai Education Center at the University of Hawai’i; the Campus Headquarters for the University of Phoenix in Honolulu, which received the 1999 AIA Award for Historic Preservation/Adaptive Reuse; and the ongoing renovation of the Prince Jonah Kuhio Kalaniana’ole Federal Building and U.S. District Courthouse in Honolulu.

***Since its formation in 1955, Pei Cobb Freed & Partners, based in New York, has completed nearly 250 projects in more than 100 cities across North America and around the world. The firm’s clients include major corporations, private developers, and public authorities as well as educational, cultural, and religious institutions, and its projects have received more than 200 major design awards. Among the firm’s best-known works are the Grand Louvre in Paris, the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C., and the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia. In its former manifestation as I. M. Pei & Associates, the firm designed the East-West Center at the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa, a 1963 complex that includes the iconic Jefferson Hall and Kennedy Theater.