October 09, 2025

A New Take on Disaster Housing in Hawaiʻi (Part 1)

32 minutes

When the Lahaina wildfires devastated Maui in 2023, Hawaiʻi's governor did something unprecedented: he rejected FEMA trailers. The reason was simple一those trailers were designed to last three seasons but routinely became permanent housing for 10-plus years, bringing mold, formaldehyde, and health problems with them. Hawaiʻi wanted something better.

Jordan Rogove and Wayne Norbeck, co-founders of DXA Studio and Liv-Connected, manufactured and delivered 109 homes to the Maui community in under two months. Their solution challenged conventional wisdom about disaster housing, demonstrating that speed and dignity can coexist.

Their work on the Lahaina project reveals the tensions in disaster response: federal bureaucracy versus innovation, volumetric versus flat-pack construction, and how to maintain design integrity under tight deadlines.

This conversation also traces their journey from Virginia Tech classmates to established architects running a New York City practice. Along the way, they discovered that adaptive reuse and architecture-as-activism weren't just design philosophies, but rather catalysts for creating Liv-Connected, their modular housing initiative focused on integrating health technology into factory-built homes.

Episode Outline

(02:17) Meeting at Virginia Tech and collaborating on design competitions post-grad

(10:24) The Haiti competition approach: team building and community engagement

(16:04) The inspiration behind integrating health technology into modular housing

(18:46) Getting FEMA's attention through the Texas General Land Office RFP

(24:09) Why Hawaiʻi rejected FEMA trailers and sought out permanent housing solutions

(26:39) Design trade-offs for manufacturing at scale

(29:56) Navigating FEMA's seven-layer decision-making structure

Additional Resources

Check out The Mira Shoppe. American Building Podcast listeners get a complimentary gift with their first purchase! Email [email protected] to receive your exclusive code and treat yourself to a piece you’ll cherish, while supporting a brand that gives back.

Learn more about Liv-Connected

Learn more about DXA Studio

The New York Times article: In Lahaina, ‘Dignified’ Havens for Wildfire Survivors

Episode 81 with Vishaan Chakrabarti

Dreams from my Father by Barack Obama

Connect with Jordan Rogove

Connect on LinkedIn

Connect with Wayne Norbeck

Connect on LinkedIn

More From American Building

Grab the exclusive guide: How Eight Developers & Designers Are Responding to The Housing Crisis

Learn more on the American Building website