 happens to be our 243rd episode of Human-Humane Architecture here on Think Tech Hawaii. And you are about to be our 13,000th viewer. So that's great to have you with us. And we is us at the same place at our town of Honolulu, Hawaii with you, DeSoto Brown in your Bishop Museum, hi DeSoto. Good day to everybody who is watching this and hello, Martin. And me and the foothills of our diamond head where you occasionally are broadcasting from as well with way more tropical exotic background of your birds and your dogs. And unfortunately at your workplace, you have to silence yourself and to dress up warm because although we foster a natural air condition, trade winds that's not working at your workplace is one of the few exceptions to the rule we have to say. And that's right. First slide up, because the content we're talking on a geopolitical stage is still pretty doomy because we're still besides having climate change, COVID cases are rising. And on top of that, we have a war going on over at where I just came back from back in Europe in the Ukraine, as we all know. And this pair of picture here, we wanna get right or make sure you don't get us wrong. Before we even start talk about this one here, what's the worst is talking the human and humane topic of the show, the tragedies that happen behind these demonstrations for lives lost. The pain that can never be repaired versus glass can, buildings you can rebuild, but lives that are lost and, you know, sanities, they're basically, you know, destroyed and can't be repaired and replaced. So let's keep that in mind when we talk about it. But then we choose this picture from the web on the left from already, you know, very sadly, a while ago, a mid-March of unlike the opening pictures of the previous shows where the buildings were either totally destroyed, bombed away or their fenestration was totally gone. This is one here where it shattered and it could have been a picture of somewhere in our fellow tropics in Florida that was one a while ago, not long ago after a hurricane and it looks like. So again, while we say over there, now we're getting out of the winter, maybe this building is not the best example because there's summer as well coming up and then the glass curtain wall doesn't be so convenient either. It's like we have summer here all year round, but in the wintertime, as we remember me personally and you from your growing up, partly in the cold, the soto, you need that existentially. While here as we keep talking, discussing we don't need it primarily. So on the right side, there's one of our recent high rises going up. So in the Ukraine, they're going down. Here, they're going up. And in the Ukraine, you need the enclosure, the fenestration. Here, you wouldn't need it. That's the irony of things that we kind of are recognizing when we think and talk about this. The picture we took on the right side is where the soto. That is one of the new buildings that's coming up in Kaka'a'ako, part of the power to use developments. And this is what? Kola, this is that one. And it has an exterior that is purportedly based on sugarcane, sugarcane stalk, sugarcane leaves. We don't really see that. I don't really see that. I think that that's just a decorative expression of what the architect was wanting to get across. And as we always talk about, if you're going to put something on the outside of the building, it needs to be performative. It shouldn't just be there to build pretty. Now, it's not bad to have interesting-looking buildings that aren't just big rectangles. At the same time, however, what's the livability and what is the carbon footprint and how much energy is being used? That's the thing that we hammer away at here on human-humane architecture. And you don't want things that are just wavy for the sense of looking wavy. It needs to be there for a reason. Yeah, and while our easyabreasy or our pying mobile, which you see in the very front, is easy breezy again from when you took care of it when I was gone and we took the rule off. The Kuhl, at least has, we won't call it lanais because they're not deep enough and not generous enough and not shading enough, but they're balconies. But the one that you see the construction fence and it's just coming out of the ground is the so-called Victoria Place, which we said we agreed Victoria Ward might turn around in her grave because we said it has little to nothing to do with her culture because this one won't even have any lanais. It's all glazed, it's all hermetic, it's all exclusive. And that is really kind of tragic. You might think now, why are we getting these things from architects who actually are not from here, which Ginny Gang, who is the architect of the Kula, is from Chicago and we can go to the next slide because also the Victoria Place that we see here in a previous show quote that we're examining that at the top right and also their first project for Howard Hughes was the Anahe, which we always feel is like intestines more than anything else. Also free of any lanais, totally glazed, but once to make these sort of funky formal moves, they are very, very expensive on a high price so one should have better afforded lanais for that. And also a project by them, we sort of drove, just drove by and by the way, we're talking about the Alamoana area and how much that was impacting the name of the mall and is impacting that area is they named the main through fare of the road Alamoana Boulevard after it, right? And the other project- Actually, the road came first and then came Alamoana Center. Oh, that's a little better or much better actually. Thanks for- It is much better because Alamoana means beach side road. Okay, so I feel better now and that's how they were doing it. I mean, that came from mid-century and mid-century, they made more sense. So these three buildings, the Victoria Place to come in another construction, the Anaha and then what they call the Park Lane, which is that addition on above the mall, built on the mall at the corner of Pekoi where we're going next or where we already are on this slide here with this corner on the other side of the Malka side, of that side of the mall of the Pekoi side, all by the same architects, Solomon Corpwell-Gewens and they are from the same city as Gini Gang is and that is Chicago. And it's probably undoubtable that these city in the United States that's considered to be the cradle of modern high-rise architecture, is that town, is that city of Chicago because you have Louis Sullivan, you have Frank Lark Wright, you have Mies van der Rohe immigrated there and started and make sure drive the car apartments sort of the synonym of high-rise condominium residential towers. So they all come from there and others come there too. So on number two, the IAO, that's by Bolin Sevitzky Jackson, which is also a firm even further east on the mainland. So that is what maybe these people up there in the general or the specific public are criticizing when they're saying finally, because we talked about it yesterday that I'm having my 10th anniversary here soon in August and I have mixed feelings about it because looking back, I have been here during the biggest boom since the mid-century, where the most high-rise is popping up and as we keep assessing, we have to say they're predominantly rather depressing. So again, we were there when this happened and we didn't prevent it. At least we have and we will continue to voice ourselves but what is that good for if it doesn't change anything? So we are part of these people here who also speak up quoting there at the top left when they were saying it is enough. The question is then our high-rise is the problem because what else do you do we discuss, right? We don't have enough land. So sprawling is not an option either. You got to keep the country country and make the city a city. So we're saying it's how you make vertical dwelling as we propose, declinize. So it's how you make the high-rises and not if you make high-rises. That's our point to be continue to discuss in the future as we did in the past. So let's go to the next slide because we find another howly here as you guys call the ones who are not from here. And that is someone from actually from where I come from from Europe originally that's from Kola's. He's from the Netherlands but he made his career in America, particularly in New York. And we're missing our a show partner around Lindgren who had in his amazing way told us stories about the content of the Delirious New York book that we're showing at number four at the top right. In this kind of ironic substance of the book. Sometimes I feel like some architects should maybe stay with theory and not build. And in many cases of the Rancolas buildings, I'm sorry to say I feel the same about him. Especially when we see what's down there and how do you feel about that disorder? Well, there's a lot to say about this building which is a proposed building right now. This is not a definite structure at all. Like many of the other buildings in the Alamoana Center, it is conjectural based on presumably the future of our rail system. However, this occupies this corner that we're gonna be looking at. And it doesn't, one of the things that I wanna point out is just in the next block is a building which fulfills a lot of the things that we think buildings should fulfill. It's from 1951. We're gonna see it in just a few minutes and a few slides. But this building we're looking at doesn't do any of those things. Again, this is a plain glass structure. That is a box that's gonna get hot when it's in the sun. It's also not a very large lot. So this is occupying every square inch of the property to push right out to the street to fill that up as much as possible to get the maximum use out of it. I'll say no more. Yeah. And our quick check on orientation and fenestration. Orientation macro is okay because it's running alchemic kind, doesn't block the sort of the macro wind flow. But fenestration wise, it's gonna hit the east and the west facades and it's doing something similar to the symphony building that's on Kapilani Boulevard, a corner of Warth Street that is sort of push and pulling zigzagging, folding the glass facade, which isn't doing anything beyond trying to make it look more attractive. But as far as performatively, it doesn't do anything. So that's really, we only know from this article down there in the best journal that they selected Oma, so Rem Colas to design the building. So we're basically suggesting, who are we? We're basically throw this away, Rem, and start all over. And why do I have confidence that that will work out well? And before we leave the slide and we go there, we wanna maybe go to the very top left, show quote number one, because the developer of this project we already know from very recent shows about the Liliya. This is Brookfield Properties. And once again, this is probably down there, the one that we're talking here on the Alamoana area is certainly probably in more high-end development or probably not social housing, affordable housing, while the Liliya claims itself it will be. And that one at least has lanai. So Rem, when you start all over, please add these, so important to us here in Hawaii, that's our genetic codes is the lanai living. So do that. So next slide. Why do I have confidence that Rem can pull this, start all over this auto? Well, you were just visiting Portugal with your beautiful wife, Suzanne. And this is someplace she's familiar with because she lived there for a while as a teenager. And so she's able to guide you around and speak Portuguese. This is the, in the city of Porto, which you visited with her, which was filled with interesting buildings that you've sent me pictures of. And this is a concert hall. And it's got this distinctive heart painted on the stairs. And this city happens to already have two, not star architects, let's say, but very accomplished and award-winning architects. And when Rem went there, you said that he felt that presumably that he had to do his best work there. So this concert hall that you visited, you think is an excellent piece of architecture. So you know he's capable of doing it. And we need to see that put into effect here, not just in Portugal. Yeah, exactly. And you see Suzanne down there at the bottom of the heart, agreeing on that one whole heart, at least. So to speak. So to speak, yes. So speaking, exactly. So the lesson of that is, Rem, you're not looking at the recent crap that we unfortunately have to report on, but you're looking at what's just down the road. Just as a reminder, a few blocks diamond head of your building is a building that has the same orientation. And you can learn from its fenestration if you do a little bit of your history homework, which one should do if one comes to another place, right? And that is, once again, the Alamoana building, our favorite, before they stole its performative feathery cape that kept it cool away from it, and they need to give it back. As some museums, you're getting the message, the metaphor, as some museums need to give back indigenous Hawaiian art, and they are to give it back to your museum. So here, whoever stole this from it, the owner, the developer, the maintenance, people need to give it back. But then again, that was then and now is now. So now you gotta be able to do even better than basically it was pretty good back then. So next slide, that gets us to our missing team member, Ron, because this is the topic of howly. So our point is basically, doesn't really matter as you kindly say, DeSoto, with your culture, it doesn't matter where you guys come from, but it matters what your mindset is. And if your mindset is like in line with our values, then you're welcome, but if you're not, then better get there. Otherwise, well, cooked up, then hit on his head. He went the lesson the hard way, right? When they really found out he wasn't God, they were thinking he might've been, right? So here is one of Ron's pieces here, and reflecting on that one, Ron was sharing with us that at Keelingsworth, his former boss, later business partner and friend, always wished he would have brought his architecture more to the masses, to the people, also to the little people and not staying in luxury resort architecture, which they did all over the world in a beautiful way. And Ron, you basically also being one of our most loyal viewers. Thank you, Ron, because you within the firm pushed it to that the most because this here, as we prefer to keep calling it a Waikiki Park Hotel, because that was his original name before it got turned into the gentrified and price upscaled Halepuna as the sibling of your Halekulani, you had designed tropic exotic side ventilation, which we see on that center column picture there, which also the flush to the outside glass fenestration besides the vertical easy breezy guardrail in front of it, by the way, also had a sliding door, in addition to the one on the Lanai, so you could do what we call side ventilation. Upon renovation of the building, they took this away and they sort of to 50% more hermiticized it. So we're saying again, at the next chance of whatever your remodeling intervals are, or might it be sooner, because at one point, one of these hurricanes is gonna hit us and when you replace that, go back to the original. And I think it's, isn't fair to say the soda that we're saying again, that Ron back then is still that raw model to look up to and to use as a mentor for all these dark attacks when they come here and speak to him literally and figuratively and engage and immerse themselves in his tropical exotic mindset. Right, and learn. Yeah, so next slide. This is usually the year that you are a history expert. So you are the owner of all the historic documentation and material, but I wanna live up to that and learn from you. So these are historic pictures I contributed. I don't know how old something must be to account as being historic and whatever you look. No, no, it did, and yeah, history does not mean it happened to only 50 years ago or more. It's happening, we're living history right this minute. This is the same photograph, but you just changed the exposure and you just changed the contrast to give two totally different views. This is the central building and this is one of the new apartments that's in the Alamoana area. The picture on the left shows the construction fence with this brightly illuminated little window to look through to watch the construction through these decorative painted panels, but on the right with the different exposure in the background, you see our favorite Alamoana building, the way it looks now, which is no longer having the innovative louvers that it originally had, but now there's a hole through the building and there's that central building with a decorative hole through it that we're seeing things that we wish had been there. We're seeing that they had done things differently. We wish that they had done bigger lawn nines, et cetera, et cetera, all the stuff that we keep talking about. So yeah, this is history because the central building is in existence now and it's no more just a theoretical thing. It's actually there and it is what it is. Yeah, I'm taking a glimpse not until now I actually see what continues to be my permanent background, which is the most biochlamatic biophilic feature of Capuloni Boulevard is this monkey pot canopy. And you see this through that opening there. So how ironic is that? And taking a glimpse, again, how blind must you be to not see what again is next door and then do your homework because again, they placed that the central on Juana 90 degrees turned. So blocking the macro airflow. And then again, yes, the lawn nines that they have, we have to give them that basically to the south or shading, but there is too much. And actually look at the now there's too small but you guys go back and watch this show. If you see here, they're basically trying to make us want to believe that there was way more than eyes and extrusion in the facade than there actually is in the, in the realized building, right? There's the BBs, the big bedrooms. Yeah, we analyze big bedrooms. We don't see them to that degree here. I always remember my professor that we remembered in I think last week who always said, I don't believe this model, it lies. So that's what I'm recalling now here that's what I would say being a professor now myself, that model is lying here. You were promising us something that you didn't fulfill which is like, right? Right, it's either a model or a rendering, but it can lie. Not the real thing. Yeah, that's a digital model you're right. That's a digital model. So let's go back to REM side and talking about what is there, what's there currently? Let's look at that. And that's also, you know, one of my favorite places is the Cho Dang restaurant in the back there. It's not only my favorite, but also my emerging generations who you kindly visited at their rehearsal for their today's final review that they kindly will be part of and we hopefully gonna share with everyone soon on this channel here. And this is the Cho Dang restaurant and they're very kindly, acutely, once I told them that this is my favorite on their way to school where they have to carpool from a colleague and that's where they unfortunately share their flu buck with, which put them out. So you guys get better before this happened and we all reunited and studio after me returning they very nicely brought me and fed me with my favorite kimchi stew that we will see in a minute. So that's the center. And the next slide, I got my hopes up a little bit too high because the developer in his recent redevelopment or refurbishing, he was going for a theme that made me believe it is the original my Americana favorite 70s, 72 blimps with fury. However, here we put the gremlin in there or the AMC pacer that as the metal is shiny on the other continent, the show with Ron he taught us that that car is made more favorite talking Dutch architects. He is Rem's colleague. We can double them and her favorite own AMC pacer that the way more we're fetishizing the way more than where they are from the United States of America. So this is not from the 70s originally you had to teach me, right? Correct, that's right. This is actually a strip wall that replaced a gas station and it was built in the 1980s but the facades that you're looking at now that you really liked and the curved portions of the building on the facade actually are a later rendition or a later remodeling. So it's kind of retro intentionally retro not original as you had hoped and fantasized it was. Yeah, we're almost at the end of another sign 20 minutes, but let's mouthwater you more than kimchi is so let's get up the next five because here it is. But besides being yummy, also there's a part of inclusivity that's inherent to that side because now they have to adjust the price to everything getting more recession everything getting a little bit more expensive but it's still rather affordable. It used to be under 10 bucks. It's really, really delicious that kimchi stew and these side dishes there and affordable. And so next and final slide looking at it from coming out of the mall we see this urban nomad here and this urban nomad again is part of that scenery is part of that situation. So once again, when these sides get redeveloped once is the question how does it get redeveloped environmentally but the other question is how does it get changed and remodeled socially and both are very critical here on Isle Islands. And with that, I guess we have to leave it with that. Hope to see you next week. We will continue with this here or we squeeze in the 10th Saturday reparadising of the emerging generation that you guys are very excited about as Ron had as well as Bundit. So we will see but we will continue this one here and until then also stay very inclusively tropical and tropical inclusive. Bye bye. Thank you so much for watching Think Tech Hawaii. If you like what we do, please like us and click the subscribe button on YouTube and the follow button on Vimeo. You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn and donate to us at thinktechhawaii.com. Mahalo.