ABOVE: Kukui leaves and kapa (bark cloth)-inspired patterns grace new signage outside of Bilger Hall at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. The university's new Wayfinding & Signage project not only identifies campus buildings but creates a richer sense of place by orienting visitors to the Native Hawaiian moolelo, flora and fauna, and names associated with Manoa.
Where am I? Where do I want to go? Philosophical and practical questions both, especially pressing for new students on a college campus. The University of Hawaii at Manoa's new wayfinding system addresses both questions through Native Hawaiian ike (knowledge) and moolelo (stories). One of the two debut signs, installed last summer, gleams blue at the end of McCarthy Mall, the main corridor through the campus. It tells you where you are (the Life Sciences building) and what ili—the smallest area of land in the ancient Hawaiian land division system—you're standing in (Kauwalaa). The medallion in the ground before the sign, ringed by a star compass, a navigation tool used by Polynesian seafarers, features a QR code linking you to information about Manoa—culturally important plants, like ki, for example, and wahi pana, or significant sites. The name Leahi (a.k.a. Diamond Head), you'll learn, might mean the brow of the ahi; it might also refer to the fires Native Hawaiians once lit on the ridge of the crater, hence lei (wreath) of ahi (fire).
All of this—as well as videos on the star compass and a body alignment protocol similar to that practiced at some heiau (temples)—is encoded into that one large sign and small medallion. A total of twenty-one main campus building signs are planned to be installed by 2030. "The hope is that as students navigate the campus, they will not just learn about the buildings and what's in them but also about the larger environment around them," says Brian Strawn, the principal investigator on the project. Design partners Nalani Kanakaole, Sig Zane and Kuhao Zane of Sig Zane Designs brought in the Native Hawaiian cultural information, practices and the idea of including wahi pana; the star compass, contributed by UH cultural adviser and master navigator Nainoa Thompson, is an integral part of the project.
The new system has garnered recognition, such as Fast Company's World Changing Ideas award. What's striking about the system is not only the amount of information presented, from the kapa patterns on the signs pointing to wahi pana or the meanings behind each plant, but also the complexity. In the description of the Kauwalaa ili, the sign acknowledges multiple spellings and possible meanings of the ili, suggesting that answers to questions like "Where am I?" and "Where do I want to go?" depend on whom you ask and what came before you.
