Scandinavian firm Snøhetta paired up with Honolulu-based WCIT Architecture to design a proposal for the Barack Obama Presidential Center Library at the University of Hawaii.
Snøhetta wasn’t the only high-profile firm commissioned by this university in the tropics; Allied Works and MOS, the latter pairing up with Honolulu-based Workshop-Hi, also submitted designs for Hawaii’s bid to host the library, Inhabitat reports.
So far, Hawaii is seen as an underdog in the race, as its competitors in the contiguous U.S.—New York’s Columbia University and the University of Chicago—are considered favorites to win the bid. Also in the race is the University of Illinois in Chicago.
The three final cities each have a personal connection to President Obama: Honolulu is the city of the president’s birth and early childhood, New York city is where he spent his time as an undergraduate at Columbia University, and Chicago is where he taught law, met his wife, and started his political career.
All three designs for the University of Hawaii are set on a beach site adjacent to Kaka’ako Waterfront Park. The plan by Snøhetta and WCIT Architecture features a building that “appears square from the outside, but opens at one corner into a rounded courtyard with a pool. One end of the structure meets the ground, providing public access to a roof planted with grasses,” Dezeen reports.
The designs for the University of Hawaii aim to elevate the facility from just a library into a center for learning, public space, and multipurpose center.
“It will be a place where the president can come and meet with leaders from Asia … to bring Asia to Hawaii and to the rest of the world,” Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell told local station KHON2 News.
Read more at Dezeen.
Related Stories
Building Team | Jan 10, 2019
Skilled labor shortages continue to make off-site fabrication and construction attractive
But the AEC industry’s “culture” impedes greater acceptance, according to a recent National Institute of Building Sciences survey.
Building Team | Jan 7, 2019
2019 outlook: Firms not betting on another record-setting year
Despite the positive indicators for the market, AEC professionals remain largely cautious when it comes to growth prospects for 2019.
Building Team | Jan 4, 2019
Design-build delivery is setting new parameters for project management
FMI paper provides clues to what makes these contracts click (or not).
Building Team | Dec 11, 2018
And then there were two: HQ2 sites, in hindsight, seemed obvious
The two cities already had the greatest number of Amazon employees outside of Seattle.
Building Team | Oct 16, 2018
Dead lobby syndrome: An affliction only experience can cure
The competition for great tenants has rarely been as fierce as it is today.
Building Team | Aug 21, 2018
Five habits that are keeping your digital strategy from working
Strategies are always created with the best of intentions for improving business, the effort involved in executing the strategy – especially ones involving disruptive digital capabilities – is greatly underestimated.
Building Team | Aug 17, 2018
Silicon Valley is here. Get over it.
AEC firms continue to have angst about a tech-industry takeover of the market. One expert’s advice: “Embrace technology. Do not fear. You can shape it.”
Sponsored | Building Materials | Aug 1, 2018
Building for now... and the future
Metal building systems are often selected for large-sized structures, and with good reason.
Building Team | Jul 30, 2018
Construction tech is the new investment darling for VC funds
In the first half of 2018, venture capital firms invested $1.05 billion in global construction tech startups, setting a record high.
