HAWAII LOA COLLEGE PACIFIC CENTER FOR THE MEDIA ARTS

Oahu, HI: 1985

Located on the windward side of the island of Oahu, the site lies on a steep slope that both provides views across a valley to the dramatic Nuuanu Pali volcanic range, and also presents itself prominently to visitors to the Hawaii Loa College campus. The 75,000 SF program asked for an Auditorium Theatre (500 seats) which shares stage facilities with an outdoor amphitheatre, as well as an experimental "Black Box" Theatre. Also included are classroom facilities, administrative and faculty offices, A/V production studios, and theatre support functions. Several outdoor spaces were required: a Polynesian Performance Garden, a Hawaiian Dance Garden, a Sculpture Court and outdoor Cafe.

The solution connects the performance-related program with the theatrical qualities of its landscape setting. The volumes of the two principal theatres appear to sit upon a series of terraces which transform in character from man-made to natural as they ascend between the pair of buildings to the hillside which rises up behind. A curtain-like canopy runs along the vehicular drop-off below, establishing a datum against which the persona of the theatres distinguish themselves. With the classroom wing to the left and the music rehearsal studios to the right acting as wings of a stage, a wide bank of stairs behind this entry porch leads up to the Main Terrace. Sitting over a variety of theatre support functions hidden below, this is the level upon which the major programmatic components--the Lobby, Black Box Theatre, Auditorium and Gallery--are accessed. The space of the Lobby itself is treated as an extension of the terrace outside, and its stage-like qualities are enhanced by the entrance and disappearance of the public through the numerous "wings" which lead off to the variety of functions which it serves. Behind, "backstage", additional theatre support functions lay concealed. From the Entry Terrace, access may be gained by a stair leading up alongside the Lobby to the Sculpture Terrace and Cafe. A series of smaller parterres, the Sculpture Terrace leads up from the Cafe to the Polynesian Performance Garden. From this final vantage point, the Sculpture Terraces drop away so as to create an outdoor theatre inhabited with sculpture, capturing the view of the distant Nuannu Pali Range, enframed by the two theatres, as a scenic landscape backdrop for the formal performances being held on the outdoor stage atop the cafe, as well as the informal "performances" on the Entry Terrace below.

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