Two years ago, AIA Honolulu reached out and asked if the School of Architecture at the University of Hawaii at Manoa would like to hold an exhibition about building materials that can be grown and sourced on our islands. Since then, three students have independently focused their doctorate theses on this very relevant topic. Just like food, Hawaii imports nearly 100% of our building materials, and sometimes even construction labor, from other places. Would it be better, not only for the environment but also for our own security, if we could grow our own food as well as construction materials on our land?

Grown Home is an exhibition featuring research and design from our alumnus and students focusing on regenerative building materials and their applications by:

Katherine Pananganan: Exploring Mycelium as a Sustainable Building Material: Minimizing Carbon Dioxide Emissions and Managing Waste in Hawaii

Bryson Tabaniag: Limu as a Building material: An Experimental Case Study for Potential Use for Small-Scale Homeless Sheltering and Circular Economy

Jacob Boles: Building Hawaii's Sustainable Future: An Exploration of Hemp and Bamboo and its Application as a Modular Building System.

Here to a future where one day we can grow our own homes. Please come and join our home grown students at the exhibition opening reception (see attached poster for details).