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DEPARTMENT OF LAND AND NATURAL RESOURCES News Release LINDA LINGLE GOVERNOR _________________________________________________________________________________________________________
PETER T. YOUNG, CHAIRPERSON
Phone: (808) 587-0401
Fax: (808) 587-0390
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For Immediate Release:
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HONOLULU -- The Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) announces the availability of its 2007 Historic Preservation calendar, “A Style for Hawai‘i,” which features the graceful architecture of the Spanish and Mediterranean revival style buildings that were being built in Hawai‘i during the 1920s and 1930s. The calendar also features boating safety tips, tide chart and phases of the moon “The timeless architecture of these buildings, their enduring beauty and sense of elegant simplicity have become identified with an Hawaiian style, and are treasured features worthy of recognition and continued preservation,” said Peter Young, DLNR chairperson. The influence of Byzantine, Italian renaissance, Moorish, and Spanish renaissance, may all be traced in what is known today as the ‘California Mission’ architecture. Well suited for Hawai‘i’s tropical climate, their round arched openings, stucco walls, arcades, and red tile roofs, often accompanied by rich decorative elements, were considered by architects of the day as an ideal style for Hawai‘i. Franciscan priests brought the elements of what would become the Spanish mission style to California and the American southwest during the 18th century. California architects revived the forms in the late 1880s as a distinct style that reflected the region’s building traditions. By the late 1890s the young architect C.W. Dickey began to explore the style in several Honolulu residences In Hawai‘i, numerous versions of the form, by different architects, can be seen in such buildings as the Honolulu Post Office (1922), Hawaiian Electric Building (1927), Royal Hawaiian Hotel (1927), and Richards Street YWCA (1927), McKinley High School (1923-1928), and the former Honolulu Police Station (1929) which employed the more dramatic Spanish Colonial revival style, with openings adorned by terra cotta ornamentation and use of wrought iron. The Roman Catholic Church in Hawai‘i also adopted the style during the 1920s. Our Lady of Peace Cathedral received a remodeling in 1926-1929 that resulted in the addition of the red tile roof and present façade, and Saint Joseph’s church in Hilo (1919), St. Patrick’s (1929) in Kaimuki, and St. Louis High School (1928), were built in this period. The Wailuku Public Library (1928) and its neighboring Territorial Building (1931), Harkness Nurses’ Home at Queen’s Hospital (1932), Honolulu Academy of Arts (1925), C. Brewer Building (1931), and Kamehameha School for Girls (1931) well exemplify this beautiful adaptation to island life. Harry Stewart, the talented Territorial Public Works architect, continued this approach in the late 1930s, as the Lihu‘e Circuit Court building on Kaua‘i (1938), Baldwin High School on Maui (1940), and the Tax Office in Honolulu (1939) readily attest. Even into the 1990s Honolulu architects revived these earlier forms to evoke an “Hawaiian” sense of place in such buildings as the Manele Bay Hotel and the Hyatt Regency Kaua‘i. Today, conversations continue among Honolulu’s architects as to appropriate architectural forms for Hawai‘i, and how the traditions of the past figure into a contemporary style for Hawai‘i. The 2007 Historic Sites calendar can be obtained from the Hawaii Heritage Center, P.O. Box 37520, Honolulu, Hawai‘i 96837. People in Honolulu can go to 1040 Smith Street in Chinatown between 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Call the center at (808) 521-2749. The calendar is $10 each and includes shipping. The calendar is a project of the DLNR and the Hawai‘i Heritage Center, with funding support provided by the Alexander and Baldwin Foundation, Belt Collins, Chris Hart & Partners, Inc., Cultural Surveys Hawai‘i, DLNR Division of Boating and Ocean Recreation, Fung Associates, Hawaiian Electric Company, Inc., Kuiwalu, Outrigger Hotels & Resorts, Peter Vincent & Associates, LLC, Scientific Consultant Services, Inc., Spencer Architects and Takitani and Agaran. Photography is by David Franzen, design and production by Clarence Lee Design & Associates, LLC and printing by Edward Enterprises, Inc. Astronomical information was provided by Bishop Museum Planetarium, and tide predictions by Larry E. Brower, P.E. and EKNA Services Inc. Any person who requires this calendar in alternative formats may contact DLNR at 587-1972. # # # For more information, media contact: |
