Two University of Hawaii at Manoa doctor of architecture candidates won a national award in the annual Designing Healthy Places competition for their project incorporating “agricultural urbanism” into the Kalihi area.

The Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture awarded Khoa Nguyen and Valerie Nica Ribao $1,250 for their project titled “O‘ahu Ahupua‘a: Connecting Land, Water and People.” Ngyuen and Ribao were one of five winning teams selected out of 169 entries.

“The Kalihi ahupuaa has largely fallen into disrepair,” said Ngyuen. “It is hidden from sight, forgotten and disconnected, with trash on its banks and overgrown with invasive plants.”

The winning team’s renderings focused on transforming industrial structures into a farmer’s market and greenhouse to support local products grown in the area, complete with an aquaponics system to clean stream water before it flowed to the ocean.