Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 13, Number 10, 1 October 1996 — Ahupuaʻa concept maikaʻi [ARTICLE]

Ahupuaʻa concept maikaʻi

I read with great interest the September arti-

ele, "Building a Home for Hawaiians." 1 would like to congratulate OHA and its housing division officer, Steve Morse, for their eomprehensive view towards pro viding

affordable housing while at the same Ume acknowledging the need to integrate eeonomie, health, cultural, and educational provisions in support of such a "community village." This kind of vision is maika'i and follows our traditional concept of the ahupua'a of selfcontainment and efficient use of our sacred 'āina. The efficient and practical appUcation of the 'āina and its resources on behalf of the people must start from the top levels of planning effort so that such mana'o is nurtured and shared in both spiritual and temporal practice. Too many urban areas are laid out in a pieee-meal fashion. We must leam from this hewa and go back to our traditional land planning concepts using modem realities to support our effort. In addition, let us not forget that we must work on identifying unifying design elements that give our buildings a distinct vernacular that says Hawaiians live and work. Our buildings and our "community villages" must shine with pride. We must do this for ourselves because no one else will. Ke Akua, E mālama kākou, Kilipaka Kawaihonu Nahili Ontai, AIA Kahuna Kuhikuhi Pu'uone