Hawaii ASLA Chapter

Walters, Kimura, Motoda, Inc. earned the chapter's highest design honor with an Award of Excellence in the general design category for the No. 1 Capitol District Building, Courtyard Revitalization and other improvements. The building is home of the Hawaii State Art Museum. The firm also won awards for work at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, and at Guam's Marine Corps Base.
Photo credit: David Franzen

The ASLA Hawaii Chapter (HASLA) recently recognized the state's top landscape architectural design projects and individuals
at its 2012 American Society of Landscape Architecture Design Awards Gala.

The event is only held every three years. Awards were given in four categories: general design, residential design, planning and analysis, and research/communications.

Eleven awards were handed out to five local landscape architectural design companies for projects on Oahu, the Big Island, Kauai and Guam.

PBR Hawaii & Associates, Inc. won a Merit award for the Punahou School: Omidyar K-1 neighborhood (pictured), a Merit award for the urban design plan for noncampus lands at the University of Hawaii, West Oahu campus, and a Merit award in research and communications for signage along the seven-mile Ke Ala Hele Makalae trail that runs from Nawiliwili to Anahola on the island of Kauai. The trail name means "the Path that goes by the coast."

Walters, Kimura, Motoda, Inc. earned the evening's highest honor – an Award of Excellence in the general design category for the No. 1 Capitol District Building, Courtyard Revitalization and Other Improvements.

"The Design Awards offer a terrific opportunity for us to recognize Hawaii's most outstanding professionals and firms in our industry," said Chapter President Brian Wolf. "Not only do the winning projects represent phenomenal work, they also remind us of the important role landscape architecture plays."

Belt Collins won two residential Merit awards for A"alapapa and Kona residences, plus a Merit award in planning for the Kaka"ako form-based code.

Dana Anne Yee of Honolulu was named to the 2012 ASLA Class of Fellows in the service category. She has led more than 26 nonprofit-based projects in her 26 years in the landscape architecture profession.

In addition to the project awards, HASLA also recognized four landscape architects with the Po'okela Lifetime Achievement award, emblematic of significant contributions to the landscape architectural field. "Po'okela" means "commitment to excellence" in Hawaiian. The awardees were: W. Frank Brant; James Bell; Richard Tongg (deceased, Hawaii's first licensed landscape architect); and Catherine Thompson (deceased, Hawaii's first female landscape architect). HASLA also honored two nonlandscape architecture organizations"?u Friends of Hawaii Botanical Gardens, and Auwahi Forest Restoration"?uwith the Malama "Aina award, which recognizes distinctive efforts in promoting the preservation and enhancement of the landscape in Hawaii. Malama "Aina translates as "love and respect the land."

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