A fine balance: Hawaiian culture and cosmology
Located on a nine-acre campus above the University of Hawaii-Hilo, with spectacular views of Hilo Bay, the 'Imiloa Astronomy Center was blessed by Hawaiian priests and opened to the public in late February.
The summit of Maunakea hosts the world's largest collection of astronomical observatories. It is also a historical and sacred site for Native Hawaiians. As the exhibit designers, it was our job not only to create a new tourist destination, but also to give physical form to the client's desire to weave together the stories of Hawaiian cultural traditions with the science of astronomy.
For the last four years, AldrichPears Associates worked closely with the University and the Architects, Durrant Media 5 to create this $28 million center. The design team team included Ian McLennan, The Taylor Group, InVisible Media, Doug Welch Designs and Science North.
Themed journeys
The 12,000 s.f. exhibit gallery is divided into two thematic areas with exhibits in both Hawaiian and English. The metaphorical journey to the top begins at a stylized forest found at the foot of Maunakea.
The first thematic area relates two stories of the origin of life: a Hawaiian account and a Western science account. In the multimedia Kumulipo theater, visitors are transported from the dark beginnings of the Hawaiian universe into a world charged with the potential for life. Next, visitors experience the history of the Universe as understood by western science. This includes a unique "scanner station" booth. A computer "scans" the visitor, then illustrates the colorful history of one of their iron atoms in the billions of years since the Universe began.
Learning by doing
The second area casts visitors as modern-day voyagers within the realms of astronomy and the Hawaiian culture. It looks at the goals, challenges, and technology of both these communities.
Visitors compare traditional and contemporary canoe-building tools and techniques, "interview" canoe builders about the challenges of building a voyaging canoe, plan their own voyage using a computer interactive, and learn to navigate using multimedia exhibits focused on traditional wayfinding techniques. They can also explore the work of astronomers in the observatories of Maunakea, use historic and modern telescopes, assemble a simple telescope to better understand its component parts, and discover how the telescopes of Maunakea collect light. They can take an aptitude test to discover what astronomy-related careers are suited to them, and visit some of the coolest neighborhoods in the cosmos in a unique 3D theatre experience: 4D-2-U.
Conclusion
The 'Imiloa Astronomy Center successfully blends together two apparently disparate stories by drawing out the commonalities between them. AldrichPears Associates is excited to have played a significant role in seeing this goal realized.
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