American Samoa

The Downtown Historic District Revitalization Master Plan looked to reinvigorate the central business area of the Pago Pago Harbour. The existing harbour is primarily used for port activity, medium-level retail, and commercial activity with minimal, quality public access to the coastal edge. By contrast, the new master plan identifies 10 key projects along the coastline that focus on outcomes that explore social, cultural, historical, economic, and ecological drivers. This master plan re-directs engagement of the district to the Pago Pago Harbour, celebrating history, and looking to the future as a space to be enjoyed by both locals and visitors.

The design thinking set out to provide both a framework and design testing of options for revitalising a historic harbour district while enhancing connections and interactions at the intersection between land and water.

Expression of Samoan cultural identity and integration of landscape, architecture, and community into a symbiotic whole were core to the design and resulting outcomes.

Acknowledging the intimate relationships between landscape and people, along with key tenets of Samoan cultural identity, enabled the co-design and development of the resulting master plan — a vehicle for expressing the unique vernacular of Samoan and Island architecture and landscape.

The wide-scale landscape design strategies redirect engagement of the district inwards to the harbour and its underutilised thresholds between the built and natural, creating a series of moments that celebrate the history and identity of the harbour and its people, while facilitating the future growth of the community.