Madison Tasaka
STAGE SET
This thesis attempts to understand the urban scene as a stage set, without regard to what is behind the facades but as a sequence of visually-organized urban rooms, laden with meaning and reference and capable of embodying both a historically-resonant setting for ordinary life and a viable collective core space around which more private and practical urban functions can be organized.
This strategy finds a special resonance in the reconstruction of a landscape lost during a disaster, on a site where both the cultural history of the area is in need of reinterpretation and rebuilding precisely because it has been disrupted, and in which the practical need for a new, functional urban environment is pressing but also necessarily a first step in a sequence of rebuilding efforts. Lahaina, a once-thriving town at the core of Hawaii’s tourism industry, was substantially burnt down on August 8, 2023, during a massive wildfire. Lahaina was known for its historic character both to tourists and to the residents, and many of the places that embodied this character were lost in the fire. The demands of rebuilding and stabilizing the economic lives of the surviving residents are real. The need for action is urgent, this project looks to put little demand on the remaining locals but pushes for prosperity to return to the island diligently. With economical needs stretched thin I’m proposing that costs must be maintained as low as possible while still providing the maximum benefits to both incoming tourists as well as residents of Lahaina. My project looks to provide both an affordable route as well as a welcoming attraction for the locals and visitors.
So, in light of this, this thesis proposes the following design strategies: multi-stage regrowth, optical illusions, and critical conservation. Through a set of 4 stages, the recovery effort allows the project to be done in steps giving time for funds and allocation to be provided slowly rather than all at once, optical illusions allow a venue that provides visual and economical appeal, and all of this will be done with the conservation of Lahaina’s culture and values in mind.
Through a set of permanent and or temporary optical illusions the town of Lahaina can be recreated in all its beauty at a fraction of the total cost.
Street view of the Old Lahaina Center with an illusion of our past and a glimpse of our future.