 to my co-host to sort of Brown back in Honolulu, Hawaii, and me being here in the Munich, Germany. And we're still in the claws of COVID corona. We're using this time to look at something that used to run us, which is the hospitality industry, which is pretty much down right now. And we started to find out that some clues for a promising future might be in the future. And I think that's a promising future might lay in the past. And for that, we bring in our guests today, once again, from a vineyard, a cocktail vineyard in Napa Valley, Mr. Larry Stricker. Hi, Larry. Good to have you back. So we're going straight to the first slide, which shows us the beginning of your guys conquering the world in the resort typology. And this is how it all started back on the island of Wahoo in Hawaii with Conrad Hilton and your friend and business partner and colleague Edward Killingsworth. And this is the Kahala Hilton. And our additional consultant here, exotic escapism expert, Anna and us have been talking about how innovative and also provocative and risky that project was because way back it was far, far away from the booming YTK at its time. So if we can get the first slide and second slide up here, this shows us not only at the top right how far away it was because in the distance of that picture, you can see one of our iconic out-of-practice volcanoes diamond heads. And we've been zooming in on this picture here because sometimes for the general audience, we're not architect. It's easier to identify the size through automotive than through architecture, which often looks timeless as in best cases, as in this case here. But here we have, you just sort of told me this is a 1964 Chevrolet, right? 65 Chevrolet that you see the white car in the lower left corner. So this would have been a few years after the hotel opened. Exactly, yeah. So going to the next slide, per our pedagogy and methodology of using vehicles as that guy's element, here is my, you know, me as a German, I'm an Americano. So I love what we call Schrockenkreuzer, which are the street cruisers, the big boats that only you Americans were able to make. And this is one of the last ones. This is my Lincoln Town car that made sense when I was still living in Paris and in the desert to some degree because I needed some exposure to protect me from the extremeness of the elements, not so much more in Hawaii. That's why I traded it into our pying mobile, easy breezy, one that you just sort of kind of take care of. Yes. And this was parked in front of the eyes or on the high street in front of the alley. How Hawaiian call Diamond Head because they reminded us of the shape of a fish of that name. Yeah, the eye. And why I, exactly, and why do I bother you with my big boats because it was built the same year as the project we're going to talk about today in 1993. So let's go to the next slide. You just sort of tell us more about the top picture, please. Well, there's an aerial photograph of Diamond Head or Leahi, as you just pointed out. And as you can see, it's a crater with an empty part in the middle. This is an old photograph, as we noticed, because there are no highrises yet in Waikiki that we can see at the top of the picture. But if we look beyond that Waikiki area, in the far distance, we see the Waianae Mountains. And that takes us to the location of the hotel or the structure we're going to talk about today at Coalina. And that is the Ihi Lani Hotel, which we see in the bottom picture. Diamond Head and Waikiki, we go traveling out to the Waianae, look at this hotel in detail. And that's an interesting similarity, Larry Ryden, in many ways between the Coalina and Ihi Lani. Yeah, I think the Ihi Lani and the Kahala came, you know, further to you, as far from the airport to the east, as Ihi Lani is from the airport to the west. But they were both, you know, rather, they were the first hotels in a very isolated area. And they had, I know, it took a while for Ihi Lani to gain some recognition. And the first year, it was principally used by the staff of Japan Airlines. So we forget that the Kahala also had some rough first year and with room rates at a terrible low of $25 a night. So it's amazing how things have progressed. The other interesting comparison to Kahala is that when our client from Japan Airlines, Chuo Kojima, when I first met him, he said they had researched several resorts in Hawaii. And fortunately, they were all designed by the same architect. So that's why we were selected. And of course, the Kahala and Kahala Kalani, Manalani, and Kapalua was still around back then. Yeah. And that reminds us of a survey, a ranking that your friend and partner, Ron Lindgren, had shown us in one of the last shows with the wellness world of wellness, which, as I recall correctly, actually was from the early 90s, which exactly represents that you guys were topping that list with these four projects in the world. They were all by you and all in Hawaii. So next slide. Next slide is our mandatory biochromatic environmental check. As we've pointed out that your project, I would say intuitively, if not intentionally, we're very ecologically conscious and successful. So here again, the Google Met with the North era, and you pointed out, Larry, that you obviously designed it to optimize the views, which, you know, almost every sort of prime location, short front project does, but at the same time, they're also all very, very easy breezy in the hotel rooms. And why that is, we go to the next slide. You, Larry, tell us a little bit more about what we see. Well, we see the extra large lanais on all the guest rooms. And here we're seeing on the, where the guests are standing there, the open railings, and just above that, the planter railings, or the railing, the lanais with the landscape planters in them. And from our previous experience, we found that we, when the value engineering comes along, we lose half of the planters. So I just looked at my original rendering of the lighting, and I did show planters on every floor. So we were able to retain half of them and still come out a hero and helping save costs on the instruction. This is a very great advice to the emerging generation. You got to shoot high, you know, shoot the highest to then still be happy with what you get after value engineering. And we threw in the top slide quotations from previous shows, which shows from left to right, it's sort of organic evolution from that actually the Kahala had rather small openings. There were still significant opaque pieces left and right of the floor to ceiling sliding doors. And then slowly but surely through Ron's Halikolani and then next out in your case, you got it bigger and bigger, in your case to 100%. So these are truly the largest lanais and the largest openings to lanais that you can have on the island, which is really spectacular to have. Go to the next slide. What we see is because you guys designed it obviously from inside out as much as from outside in, and as Suzanne was always reminding us that the kind of renovation intervals in the hospitality industry are like five to seven years. So at the bottom left, we see when it was still under the Marriott ownership, and that was a renovation I think in 2011. And then on the top right, we see the most recent renovation for seasons to go over. And we're happy to say and to illustrate that substantial things have stayed unchanged. We still got the same large sliding doors to the lanais and he even got the wooden sliders, the French wooden sliders, which is great. We're using again the automotive to point something out because, and this is relative to the great achievement of having stayed pretty true to the original authentically. But I was looking for when you look at the backdrop of the bed at the top right, I was looking if there had been a woody Lincoln town car, but there wasn't any. The only woody that you've got in the 90s was the one that you see up there at the top left. So we wouldn't call this heavy-handed as you had to with the Mamalani renovation, but still we would advise at the next renovation, which then obviously would occur in five to seven years, even if you did not do these things, but keep it rather even cleaner. But you had an interesting background story about the original interior that was also rather troubled and challenging, right? Yeah, I think the original client rep from Japan Airlines, the group was called Ten Pacific Hoteliers, and they were inspired by Tukahala and particularly Tukahala Kalani and wanted to achieve that level of success. However, during the design process and the development of the hotel and economic functions within Niko hotels took over from this Ten Pacific Loop, and it ended up being more of a, you know, not the luxury level that we had designed the hotel for, and then Marriott came and took it over from Niko and brought the level up a little bit, but then it's come full circle now with four seasons, and it's back to the level of luxury that we originally designed. That's well deserved. So let's go to the next slide and talking evolution. While the Tukahala was very sophisticatedly, but still double-loaded corridor, the evolution that you guys work actually was shifting to way more trophically exotic single-loaded corridors as we have seen in the Palm Desert Hotel up there and in Yomana Lani, and then in the Ihi Lani, the Ihi Lani has this great central courtyard atrium that we can see here, and that's not only open to the very top with a glass roof, but also open as we see here towards the Maoka, towards the mountain. And when I took this picture here together with your friend and partner, Ron Lindgren, because when he was there for the Gokomomo Sampyongin we were cruising out there and catching it at this beautiful sunset light and we took the picture here. And I witnessed, I was sneaking close to the windows. I can see some of them still being able to be split open, so you can actually get some pretty nice breeze through if you want, so you can get crop ventilation. And that's the most important thing under the current virus that we have, because outdoors you're safe, indoors there's trouble. So you were ahead of the game, Larry, for that. So we also want to point out, go back to the vegetated planters, and the desert palm hotel and also in your Manalami who are sad to not having seen them operated anymore, so planted here thanks to the four seasons and kudos, they're still doing it. So we're very happy to see that, that they want to see the legacy alive up to its detail. So thanks to the hotel management. Next slide. Well, when the Iihilani hotel was first built, there was the plan that that entire area of Kholina was going to become a resort complex like Kanapali on Maui. But because of economic reasons, most of those planned hotels never got built, and the Iihilani was just there by itself for a great many years, and lacking the synergy of other hotels, it made it less occupied than it might have been otherwise. So in 2011, the Iihilani resort opened next to it, and that obviously is run by Disney. So we go from the stripped down bare bones, honest, concrete of Iihilani to next door this very artificial faux tropical concoction which being created by Disney is supposed to be a fantasy. It is supposed to look like, but in fact it does. I find it not very wood details that really aren't wood. They have A-frame, thrusting, Polynesian-inspired roof that are kind of packed on to... I don't think those two make very good neighbors. However, that is the way they have worked out, and it is undeniably helpful for there to be more than one hotel rather than Iihilani all by itself. And I couldn't agree more with you, but it has a good example of what happens when you throw your design guidelines away. When we originally started Iihilani, the design guidelines were really very stringent and dictated a terracing of the buildings so they weren't all one height. And it appears that they allowed Disney to proceed without following the guidelines. I think you're right. Yeah, and I find it almost ironic because when you started out with what one called structural expression is that the Kahala Hilton with the sticking out bones exemplifies the best. You were slowly but surely almost like nature does with creatures with birds. But aren't really that necessary anymore. They go through the backgrounds and so you did in large parts. While at the same time, architect Tawaya, I guess, we're the ones who did this here, we're doing kind of the opposite and as you perfectly said, in a silly way. So it goes from according to Ron, structural expressionism to sort of a fake regionalism, which is kind of really ironic. Anyways, so hopefully it doesn't happen again, although we have some fears to share in the volume two of this show. It's going to happen next, so it might get worse. So along the same lines of sort of an extended postmodernism. So let's go to the next slide and lift up the spirit a little more because here we are in some parts you have been showing and sharing again the structural expressionism at its best and here in the sort of very most elaborated way of the quadruple bundle of columns that as Ron said, this is the most ultimate where the beams can just slide through the columns here. So very fine and that's in the pool area here. And the next slide shows a detail of it at night time and I threw in this sort of quote to one of the Polynesian pop shows we've been doing the solo and while here it's staying away from doing it to literally I believe that figuratively you do it very well the way the light comes through and the combination of water and plants is indeed very tropical exotic but with contemporary means that's much appreciated. The quadruple columns really tied back to one of the original projects that I worked on which was the Coppola Bay hotel. If you go back and look at the lobby columns there some very similar in structure. Absolutely and while the most crime being that that one was torn down to replace it with something equally hideous to what we're just talking about we get to that a little bit too again. This one here is then continuing that legacy of the quadrupling columns. Yeah absolutely and next slide shows us how cleverly that theme has been sort of exclamated and then alternated here while in the core of the building where the most loads are you had basically given the quadruple columns a solid core with these reveals on the outside very clever and you said Larry that's probably the way the columns meet the ground is a result of one of the renovations and you don't recall that that had been your detailing so I basically say next time guys when you remodel please consult Larry as far as the fine grain. I think in the main structure with the most recent core seasons renovation they did that would be in the recessed area with the quad columns which accentuate the four columns so that was a nice touch too. Yeah and we will see that later in the show but let's go to the next slide and you Larry share with us where that is. That's where the columns meet the ground there at the entry and again this was a much tighter site than the other say the Montalani. Montalani was 30 acres and this site was just under eight acres so it might be much more dense as far as the guest rooms but still the driving force was to create almost 100% guest rooms which was used to the ocean. Yeah and while we were very sad to see that sort of tropical exotic lushness of vegetation and water having been taken away in the Montalani and also in the entrance area we want to recognize and appreciate that it's still there here in the Elani although I can only imagine that probably the way how the water met the column was was solved in a more elegant way and probably it didn't have that extra glimpse down there so again I think overall Elani has which by the way we want to mention here is a young timer so it's only 25 years so a quarter of a century young so it's far away from being on the register but it's getting there so you can't start early enough to really treasure a killing's worth which they have been doing but again try to do even better in the detailing I guess which it appears that the water level is about 6 inches too low in that photograph Yeah exactly that's an easy way thanks for that. See guys consulting Larry wouldn't cost much just pouring a little bit more water he has really a very economical solution and explained to us how the columns go up here to accentuate the entrance in this great entrance feature here Well I think it's a matter you know and it was we look at this in scale to be the six-story Manawani which had similar Port Couchere we're looking at a much higher building and then again to create this terracing effect we do the same thing there was also from the entrance here considerable wind so we designed the entry to minimize the wind problem I think the last time I was out there we originally had the old revolving doors but I think it would be before seasons renovation they've done just pairs of sliding doors that that apparently were flying but then it is when it can get windy out at this end of the aisle yeah that was I was going to say that is a very windy location where this hotel happens to be but I also wanted to say about this particular picture I don't think I've ever been at the hotel at night to see the lighting which really accentuates those different levels that have been added here that have been put in addition to the main Port Couchere itself and they look really dramatic and they are very eye-catching and compliment and again to the architects of renovation they were enhancing existing features that you have designed there rather than adding some on their own and we will find out more why that was and who are the authors behind in our volume 2 of this show and let's phase out and go to the next slide just a second to last which while we were talking as having started out as the century modern guy where everything was square boxy rectilinear you already shared with us that the zeitgeist and also the zoning and bombing the zeitgeist has forced you to do different things and I recall Ron saying and that's why I was inserting here that quote to the show and I already tell of it with Ed that you guys should watch online that Ron said that Ed wasn't particularly fond of you guys basically how should one say sort of differentiating the box sort of kind of stepping down and also the pitch grooves obviously but again you guys were the next generation and you had to smuggle a modern agenda not only through more postmodernism but also what had to come after that which is the early 90s and that's the time I had to go to school and that was the most devastating a lot of times because we didn't know where to go so you guys were just keeping the course steering on course and only slightly and I want to if you don't mind sharing with us the little eye-winking detailing of the little zoom slide piece that I show at the top right well again some of this terracing was dictated by the design guidelines which had to do with the height and the year to the setbacks and then a lot of it was functional when you do stepping back it's always interesting how you carry exits down the terrace building so that's what we're seeing at the far left edge of the stepping and that's crowned with the presidential suite and the swimming pool with the posting beam trellis work around it so it all works with the stepping of the building and the terrace and it's talking swimming pool besides the big lagoon here which is a large natural pool that gets us to the last slide which shows us the main swimming pool on the ground level and again explains to us a little bit the relationship between the Halicolani and the Ilani the rep who was kind of the prime mover for Japan Airlines was really in awe of the luxury and the quality of the Halicolani and he wanted to emulate that in every way possible and that's one of our philosophies that continues through all the years of our firm that you don't have to be different you just have to be good and often times an architect sits down and says what can I do differently you know the only thing you can do is improve on what you've done in the past I think that there couldn't be a better closing note for this show you don't have to be different you just have to continue to be good and be that thanks so much for that message so there's more to come we're going to contemplate more on this your masterpiece the final killing on the Hawaiian island and until then please all stay as easy breezy and as easy breezy as you Larry, Juan and Ed and see you next week bye bye