Place-Based Design · Cultural Economy
La'akea Ching · 2026
Abstract
The most enduring creative cultures are not those that produced the most. They are those that built the infrastructure to carry what they made. This paper argues that Hawaiʻi's specific conditions, its histories, relationships, values, and creative lineage, are not limitations but competitive advantages. Rooting design practice in place produces work that could not have emerged anywhere else. That distinctiveness is the point.
The full public-facing version of this essay will be available on Archived Dreams.