 Think Tech Hawaii. Civil engagement lives here. Welcome to Think Tech Hawaii and this is the program Human Humane Architecture. The normal co- the normal host for this program Martin Desbang is currently on vacation for the summer and so I'm co-host DeSoto Brown who is sitting in for him and today we have a guest who is an architectural expert who is Don Hibbard and we're going to be talking about a famous architect named Hartwood. So welcome Don and thank you for being here. Don, let me ask you quickly before we get started into Hartwood. What is your former role? You're a retired man now and I'm very envious of you but what did you used to be? I was the administrator for the State Historic Preservation Office for 23 years and then once I got out of that I've been doing architectural history consulting since that time. And you're enjoying it I bet. Yes. Yes you are. Okay so tell us about the person we're going to be talking about today as an architect named Hartwood and why don't you just get started on letting us know who he is and we're going to look at a lot of the work that he did as well as contemporary work from the time period that others were doing here correct? Sort of yeah. Okay all right. Take it away. Okay I'll start. Yeah we have our first slide and in the background is one of the famous, there's Hartwood. That's Hartwood. Tell us about him. And so Hartwood was born in 1880 in Philadelphia. His family moved out to Kansas at an early age. Then he, his father was you know like they call it hand-graining when you paint wood so it looks like it was grained. Yeah yeah yeah. Elani Palace has that. His father did that. Oh okay. And so then he went on to Colorado and he started working as an architect there, an architect's office and then from there to San Francisco and he met CW Dickey in San Francisco and Dickey convinced him to go into partnership with him in Hawaii in 1919. So then he moved out here to Hawaii. Okay and yeah and Dickey by the way is a famous architect in his own right as well. Oh yes by far. By far. The preeminent. Exactly. Yeah so next slide. And one of the first projects that they worked on was Waiole Mission in Waiole on the island of Kauai and this was built by Dickey's grandfather. Yeah right. And Dickey will use it mainly. This is his inspiration for what he called the double-pitch ship roof, the Hawaiian roof. Correct. And next. Which my house has. Was it built in about 1930? Okay very good yes and here's another view of the mission today and while Dickey was concentrating on the roof, Hartwood was infatuated with the Lanai underneath. Okay. And Dickey went back to California and Lanai or other wood was, the newspaper said, left to row his own canoe. Which he did. Yes and one of the first commissions he got was with the Lihui United Church next. Next picture. And again still on Kauai. Yes. Yeah so let's go to our next slide. And well if we got to our next slide. Yes maybe it's gone. There it is. And he designed this building which as you can see, this is a gable roof rather than a hip roof but he has the long sloping roof with the Lanai underneath. Correct. And so he also started to use other elements in the little vertical element. He put lava rock which is first time that they start really using local materials in a big way. Correct. He also has some concrete in there. Also you can't really see in this picture but on the the tower there's a plantation machinery that he uses to operate the bell. Oh okay. And the little window there is called a gemal window. Yes which of course we all knew. Yes exactly. And so I just in case you weren't familiar with it as much I threw in a couple examples from Honolulu as well. Okay. And what year is this? This is 1921. Okay. Other is viewing out better close-up I forgot was there. Next. Yeah that looks very church-like that. Yes. And here you can see the gemal window in McKinley High School. Correct. And you so you have the two windows with the round arches and you have a column in the middle. Right. Looks Italian to me. This is Spanish actually. Okay okay but that looks like something you'd see in an Italian. You could very easily too as well. Middle ages sort of building right. And Mediterranean will pick up on that. Yeah okay okay. And then this is by Lou Davis and then the next one here's one Emory and Webb puts it also in the top floor of the advertiser building. Okay. Here a more industrial style when nobody's they still keep it as a pair with the column separating them. Yeah the decorative element of the column in between. Yes. Yeah I was going to say that looked like the federal building the old post office. Almost yes. Yes it does similar time. Yes. Okay next here is the lanai on the parish hall as you can see has the lava rock. It has the bifold door so the whole place will open up. Correct. It's very conscious of as far as ventilation and cross ventilation. Correct. And this is all before air conditioning mind you. Oh very much before. So this is where you want to do these things. Yes. And a plain colored concrete forest station concrete floor. This one's not stained I think it's painted as you can see it's getting shifting worn off right. I think this is before stained concrete. Yes it is. Yeah. Okay next and he comes back to Honolulu and he'll design the Christian Science Church on Punahou Street and again you can see on the side the sweeping roof going down covering the lanai. So he's taking the same concept and using it again. Yes. Next. And the bands of yeah and what I was going to say here was there again is the the native lava rock being used but it's got those decorative horizontal bands through it so it's not just a plain wall. Right. It was a very distinctive handling of the material. Yeah. And and also you'll notice the windows. Watch those. We'll see them again later. Okay. Okay. Next. That was what 1924. 22. 22. Okay. And then later on in 1927 he'll start incorporating Asian motifs into his work and he's really the first one to start integrating Western and Asian elements together. And that's very that is a very Hawaiian thing to do and I don't mean ethnically or culturally Hawaiian. I mean local Hawaiian generic style. Exactly. Yes. And so here's the the Chinese Christian Church on King Street. Next. Which is a very beautiful building. He'll use it again at Gumps down in Waikiki. Gumps is now there but it no longer has the spacious lawn in front. No. And and matter of fact he deliberately built it this way because he's trying to say Hawaii is more of a hospitable place, friendly place and he starts to try and make his commercial buildings look more like residential buildings. Which this does. Yes. And may I also point out that the word Gumps which you can see on the facade of the building which is facing towards Kalakawa Avenue is the first neon sign in Hawaii. Oh that I didn't know. From when it opened. Oh wow. I did. Gumps was built at the same just about after I think the year after the Royal Hawaiian Hotel opened. And I think the idea was because this new more expensive clientele, higher clientele's going to be here, we will build a store that can in fact accommodate those people. And Gumps was actually a San Francisco store. Correct. And Honolulu was very proud that they had a Gumps before Los Angeles. Oh and with good reason. Yes. And it had a lot of high-end merchandise too. Yes it did. Next. And then Dickey and Wood will combine and do the Alexander and Baldwin building. Which again is going to combine like the Hawaiian roof on top and then the terracotta walls are all in Asian and Chinese motifs. Correct. That's right. That's right. And again he will be the first one to landscape in front. Yes. Put the coconut trees. The sidewalk was stained green. Yes. So very nice. Yeah. And then across the street the Dillingham Transportation Building also transplanted mature coconut trees too. Right. And so Bishop Street was the first time that that got done which is now very commonplace. Correct. Right. Next. In the 1930s he was very lucky he started teaming up with a man named Fred Ork who was the head of the Board of Water Supply. Yes. The Board of Water Supply in the late 20s had a big scandal because they were taking off money and we almost had a water shortage in Honolulu. Yes. And so the Board of Water Supply was formed to start managing this and take it out of the hands of politicians. Correct. And Ork and Wood started to team up together and it was very good. They mentioned that they start a policy where they said they believe that beauty need not be sacrificed to utility. Right. And that beauty costs no more than ugliness of neglect. Save perhaps a little more thought and planning. And that is actually kind of based on the Gump's store slogan which was good taste need cost no more. Yes. Okay. Very good. There you go. Okay. And so he'll design several pumping stations for the city. This is one. This is in Makiki. You'll notice this is in black and white. As is the next one which we can see. The Nuwano aerator and again this is up in Nuwano which the Board of Water Supply did and Hum Wood developed. I put these older pictures in because now rather than talk about oh beauty that water can enhance your life and beauty in your surroundings now the Board of Water Supply broadcasts water is a maintenance problem. And don't use too much of it. Yes. And they filled in the pond. It was a little waiting pool in Makiki. They've taken that away. Maintenance maintenance. Yes. Yeah. And I think this is a good point that this is a good time to also mention the Board of Water Supply for many years made a point of making their pumping stations architecturally distinguished as well as taking care of the grounds and making their grounds and the well maintained grounds around their pumping stations a focal point of a really a real community asset. Exactly. They have not been able to keep that up in recent years as you just alluded to. So while many of these buildings still stand they no longer have the maintenance that they used to and they definitely do not have the landscaping that they used to. And they've also shifted from urging us to use water and beautify our lives to in fact de-emphasize that and use less water, save water, conserve water, plant zero escape plants rather than plants that need a lot of water. So we've had a real 180 from the time period we're talking about here in terms of decorative featured community assets too. They're still there but we no longer show them off the way we used to. So now I'm going to get into the second part of our talk more or less which is what Doko Malmo is involved with mainly post-war architecture. Yes. Wood will work up until through the 1950s. He'll be 70 years old in 1950 and I think. And still going. Okay. Are we ready for our next slide? Yeah. Let's go to our next slide. And I'll just go back to this. This is the parish hall in Lihue. From 1933 on he was talking with Elsie Wilcox about building a new church for the United Church in Lihue. And finally after World War II the church decides to move forward and the higher heart would come back and do that building. Appropriately. And so next. And I think that yeah and we'll get back to that but I'm seeing some elements in that early building that we're going to see later on in the 50s and 60s as well that he's kind of pioneering but go ahead. Correct. Yeah. I just throw this in to show you what heart would look like at 70 years old and at one time I thought that was old and now we don't re-evaluate. Yeah. Now that we've gotten old we don't think about that anymore. Correct. Next. And so here's the building that he will build for the Lihue United Church. And I found a really nice quote from 1938 that Honolulu Star Bulletin ran a special edition talking about housing in Hawaii and especially modern housing in Hawaii. Yeah. All right. And everyone had around six architects do stories. Yeah. And all of them were talking about how modern, how progressive things are. Yes. And Heartwood took a slightly different slant. Yes. And he starts off his article by saying, recently someone bemoaned Honolulu's loss of charm. Those of us who have been here long realized that this client was not without some merit. Yes. That Honolulu has lost some of its charm is undeniable. That for this there are some compensations is no doubt also a fact. Is this true? It seems natural to deplore the vanishing of the good old days and to forget the present good. Well, yeah. One does not have to go back very far. Remember this is 1938. Yeah. Right. Right. To recall the time when the best buildings in the islands were almost completely lacking in architectural pretensions and deficit have not devoid of modern conveniences. Houses not watertight, insufficient light and inconveniently and uneconomically planned. City streets and country roads largely in the horse and buggy days, water supply inadequate, infrequent deliveries, boat service slower and less comfortable. And in many other ways, the comforts and conveniences which we now take for granted were absent. And yet the nostalgic call which most of us feel is for a certain something that is not without substance. Well, and I think that's still valid. Yes. And of course, people are talking about, oh, but my God, Honolulu today. Well, as you just pointed out, in 1938 he's talking about being nostalgic. Right. There are people now who are nostalgic for 20 years ago. Exactly. Yeah. Yeah. And he goes on and you'll say, in fact, this nostalgia is of the utmost value for it represents the essence of life in the islands that which embodies the charm, friendliness, simplicity and comfort of Hawaii, which is the lure that calls and recalls countless thousands to its shores that causes unnumbered hosts to sing its praises. And that binds us. It's favored inhabitants with invisible and insoluble bonds to this Aloha land. Such things may be elusive. They may be intangible, but they can be expressed in buildings. They should be expressed in some measure in all island buildings. Yes. And it is one of the architect's civic obligations to the community to see that they are in the glittering glamour of movie land architecture. We're apt to forget that we do your things of real life. It is up to the architects of the islands to steer a straight course to keep our heads to keep a breast of progress, but not to forget the rich heritage of the past. In other words, to consciously strive to retain in our work the charm, friendliness, and simplicity that is Hawaii. Now, you're going to show us that he managed to do that? Let's see. Let's see. We'll see what he did. Let's see what he did do. Okay, next. And so this church, I think, is what he tries to embody. He looks back to the parish hall next door. You can see the swooping roof, the lanai again, the simplicity of the lava rock. Yes. But now he has a modern steeple. Next slide. Yeah, next. Which is totally distinctive and unique, his own design. And all churches have to have a vertical element. This is the one. And it's a new handling of the genre. Next. I agree. But at the same time, he keeps the lanai with the big columns. Now you have acid stained floors. Yeah, there we go. And again, the doors are now simpler than the other doors were all panel doors. Now they're flush, flat, but still functioning the same way, opening it up. Right. Next. He has stained glass windows inside, but now he's handling them in a modern way, which you would not see before. Right. And you'll notice though, there's a window. Yes. He's going back to his earlier. So he's melding the past with the presence. He's trying to bring the tradition into the modern era, but keep them both going. Right. And so I think he's done a very nice job with this building. Right. And next. And I was going to say, well, yeah, we'll keep going. We'll keep going. And there's the building. Yes. And so it's very handsome. It's modern, but traditional at the same time. In a very unusual shape. Yes. Because of the skewed hip. Right. And the asymmetry of it. Yes. Yes. Very true. And then the wing in the back is where it has all the offices, where in the Christian Science Church, actually, you'll have another wing on the other side that has, one side has the line, the other side has the church offices. Right. Correct. Correct. But it's symmetrical. Yes. Right. Next. Yeah. Oh, okay. I certainly recognize that. Yes. And this is probably what's considered his best work after the war. He, again, is working with Fred Ort and the Board of Water Supply. This building is actually on the drawing boards in 1948 and 49. And it doesn't get dedicated till after wood dies in 1957. Wow. So it shows you how long government takes sometimes. But it was by far, again, a very modern looking building. Yes. And at this time, modernism was very much opposed to ornamentation. That's right. And, but wood manages to be very subtle and work very nicely with the building. Correct. The Brise Soleil was, you and Martin did a whole show on that. Yes. And again, very forward accommodating, addressing the climate, addressing the sun. Yes. And next. Yeah. And it, but it has the detailing of the ornate. It's kind of an ornate screen. Oh, yes. In that it's open, but it's got the detailing on it that is, separates it from just plain smooth. Correct. I'll show you. Yeah. Actually, believe it or not, this is metal, the screen. I was going to just say, what is it made of? Because I was never clear. I was shocked. I was taking the pictures the other day and I said, oh, it's not even attached to the building or to the wall. Right. So the screen is on the left of this picture and the facade of the building is on the right. Yes. All the windows for the offices and stuff to the right, which is shielding. And I hit it. Oh, it's not concrete. The building is, but this is metal. This is metal. Yeah. Yeah. So I thought that was very interesting. Next, please. And here it is. Yeah. And you can see the sunscreen is working in two ways. He has the horizontal sunscreen. Yes. Yes. And he also has the vertical fins. That's right. But mostly vertical fins are used solid, but wood breaks it up. Correct. And he starts to put it into a Chinese sort of brick bracket pattern. Exactly. Yes. And next. There's another Asian theme. Right. Yes, exactly. And here you can see that. You can see where he's connecting the pieces. It's all very definitely Asian inspired. Yes, it is. Yes, it is. So he's starting to, he's still trying to tell people, yes, we are a multicultural society. That's right. This is Hawaii. You're not going to find this anywhere else. Exactly. And so while we are going into the modern age, we're using nice metal here, concrete, but we're also reminding ourselves of our heritage. Exactly. Next. And bravo to him. And here's the front, which is another very masterful part, where he has the water fountain in front. Yes. He has the board of water supply motto in Hawaiian. Yes. And then also the entry, the portico is very much a Japanese style roof. I was just going to say, and it also has that beautiful slick marble facade to the left. Right. On which it says board of water supply. And it's got sort of these vertical striations of green that go with the green of the building. Exactly. And actually too, you'll notice the steps and everything else has the green to be reminiscent of the board of water supply. Right. And next. Yeah, that's our distinctive color. Yeah. And here you can see again, and you can see he could have opted for two columns, but no, he's making an Asian motif here. And it's not out of wood, but it's out of metal. And so he's using new things and he's actually, it's not quite the design you would use in wood, but it's close and it's reminiscent. It'll remind you very much. Yes, right. And it's got the contrast of the white painted concrete and the wood like color of the metal. Right. That contrast is also what you'd see in a Japanese building of a white plaster with the contrasting dark wood. Correct. And what I really like about this building along the Eve line set back in the fascia there. Next. I see a little detail like, oh, wow, look at that. Yes, he has a little yin yang. Yeah. And that obviously is not something that's necessary. No. And probably some strict modernists would shun it, but it's there and it's a nice little feature. And it's also an indication of the level of detail that goes into some of the buildings, which appear to be very plain and austere, which you are not likely, I think, today to see because of the expense. Right. Exactly. And so this is something that we're probably not going to repeat very frequently, particularly on buildings that are mostly utilitarian, because it costs money. Right. And we can't afford it. But again, how much, when you're having, well, now it's a lot more, but this was probably a million dollar building or so. Yeah. What's this percentage? Exactly. Yeah. But it's a nice little detail. It's beautiful. And so next. Then he also connected the 1939 Border Water Supply building with the 1950s Border Water Supply with this very beautiful curving walkway, which is supported by two pylons, which very nicely have, again, a Chinese, Japanese element at the top. Yes. Right. The capital is very much like an elbow bracket. And I always, as a little kid, thought that that was the coolest thing in the world. And I wished I could walk on it. Oh, I've done it once. I was very happy. There was a sequence in Hawaii 5.0 about, I don't know, seven, eight years ago in which there was a tracking shot of Dano and McGarrett walking on this. Oh, wow. And it was like it was supposed to be to the moor or something. Okay. Yes. Oh, okay. Yeah. And you'll also notice on the top, that's pretty much just simple CMU block, but he's made it again to appear like a Chinese rickrack. Like on the front of the building. Yes, exactly. So it's very good. And yeah, yeah, you can't just go out on it. The doors are locked. Oh, I'm sure it's, yeah, no, no. This is only for the elite. And they say they use it sometimes, but it's very few people that get to walk on it. Right. I know. But it's a very nice touch, very, very modern. But still, oh, yes, reminders that, you know, we are part of our past. And it's also part of the whole complex. Right. Exactly. And because of the element of that upper railing tying it to the building, it isn't tacked on. Right. It's very much a part of it. Yes. Next. Yes. Here's the marble you were talking about with the Board of Works. And this green marble, I'm sorry, I took these pictures on Sunday and the doors were locked and I didn't have a chance to go yesterday. But the green marble will follow around the corner and go inside the lobby. But it won't go far. But it's there to remind you. And that's very much a modernist thing to do. Yes. And it's to have that inside, outside continuity. Which is also very much a Hawaii thing to connect the inside and outside. Because we live inside and outside very comfortably. Correct. Right. Then the interior also has a fair amount of koa and also a Julia May Fraser mural which shows the history of water in Hawaii on the walls. So it's a very, very nice celebration of water and the role it plays in our society. Correct. And beautifully done. Yes. Next. This will be the last little picture we have. Yeah. This is the back of the building which nobody ever talks about or ever sees. Right. But I parked back there. It was Sunday. And but I thought this is handled rather well too. It's handled very nicely. And in fact, it's got the same brise soleil consciousness because when the sun is coming towards the back of the building in the morning, those vertical fins shade the interior just the way the other facade is shaded in the afternoon. And that shows a real understanding of the placement of the building within its environment, which is really remarkable and I think really admirable. Yes. And I had the same experience last year when I went to take pictures of this building and looked at the back carefully for the first time and said, this is a lot less ornate, but it's really beautifully done. And again, I think you can see it is concrete. The fins on the back, but you can see he didn't just give you a slab. No. He did. They're vertical lines in it. Corrigate it more or less. Yeah, that's right. That's right. And so it has some character. It's going to have light and shadow playing off it. Correct. And so it's a very, very well done building. So those are the two main things I wanted to show you when we're talking about mid-century architecture and modernism. Here is the man who is transitioning to that. That's exactly right. I was just going to say, he started out in a different mode, in a different style, transitioned into the modern style as time passed. And it's also remarkable. He was an old man when he designed this building, the board of water supply, and yet he was very much in the idiom of what was going on. Yes, exactly. Okay. So thank you very much, Don Hibbert. Thank you very much, everybody, for watching Think Tech Hawaii this week. We will be back again next week with a Dokomomo, or no, it's going to be me next week. It's going to be me next week with a really special presentation, and I hope that you will be tuning in to watch that. So until next time, everybody, thanks for watching, and I'll see you again next time on Think Tech Hawaii. Bye.