US Academic Takes Reins On Pacific Housing Research

Indigenous Hawaiian architect and academic Dr James Miller will soon cross the globe to start a new role at the University of Auckland.

Miller left a role as associate professor at Western Washington University to start at MĀPIHI – Māori and Pacific Housing Research Centre this month.

The 39-year-old will lead MĀPIHI’s research in Pacific housing.

Currently working remotely from Washington, Miller plans to move with his family to New Zealand in July.

The new role appealed partly because of the level of support the University offers Pacific scholars, which is far greater than in most US institutions.

“MĀPIHI is a unique centre that closely aligns with the research I’ve done in the Pacific, particularly in the Marshall Islands and Hawai’i, around housing security,” he says.

Miller grew up listening to stories about life in traditional Indigenous Hawaiian housing communities, known as kauhale. His father passed on stories about his childhood, growing up in a ‘camp’ in Hawaii, where the community lived simply in clusters of small houses. While they enjoyed collective spaces, there was no running water or plumbing.

Miller’s father left Hawai’i for the United States, because of the high cost of living, and has not been able to afford to return to his homeland.

“A core motivation for addressing housing in Hawaii is to secure housing for Native Hawaiians and mitigate the out migration of Hawaiians into the diaspora,” he says.

In 2013, Miller’s doctoral research took him to the Marshall Islands, where his interest in housing for Indigenous people developed. The central focus of his research was climate change adaptation on the low-lying atoll, which is facing severe effects from sea level rise.

Hearing stories of how Japanese and US imperialism had shaped life in the Marshall Islands ignited his interest in strengthening Indigenous design.

In 2023, a housing crisis was declared in Hawai’i, with indigenous Hawai’ians and other Pacific people particularly hard hit.

Property investment and tourism pressures have contributed to rising housing costs and lack of housing availability in Hawai’i, he says.

Miller helped develop strategies and broad brushstroke designs with local nonprofit organizations to provide culturally appropriate housing for Indigenous Hawaiians and Pacific people in Hawai’i.

“I’m looking at tradition, Indigenous ecological knowledge and contemporary technology to see how building design might meet the pressing needs of the present, that will increase in the future,” he says.

One solution is non-profit community land trusts, which buy large tracts of land to offer affordable housing. In some cases, home buyers sign contracts ensuring they will not sell for excessive profits.

Over recent years in Washington, Miller has worked with Coast Salish communities. One project involved helping design 24 houses and community spaces on two acres of land for people experiencing homelessness or addiction. Construction on the development started this week.

He has also been helping the Swinomish community to develop a plan book of culturally supportive housing designs.

At MĀPIHI, Miller plans to work with academics, NGOs, local and central government and professional groups to develop the centre’s Pacific Regional Strategy.

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