OUTSIDE HOUSE: Kipuka Mauka

The Outside House is an experiment in design for dwelling where the land comes first. It is two small pavilions, the “mauka” and the “makai,” that structure space for living outside on this agricultural land in upcountry Maui. The center of the Outside House is the uneven, ever-changing ground between the pavilions. The unbuilt areas of the Outside House—lichen on the lava, a curved rock wall, a growing endemic mamane tree, and the weather–are the essence of daily living in this place. The enclosed pavilion is called the Mauka after the Hawaiian word for “inland toward the mountains.” This pavilion is a tiny detached room oriented to look up the lava flow and catch the first light of sunrise over cinder cones. After that brief morning sunlight, the room is in cool shade for daytime reading and napping. Photography: Olivier Koning