 Hello, everybody, and welcome to CINSEC Hawaii. This is the Doko Momo Hawaii Show. What's Doko Momo? Doko Momo is an international organization that is interested in the preservation and the study of mid-century architecture. I'm the host of this particular program. My name is Dakota Brown. I work at the CINSEC Museum. And today, I'm going to be talking about and showing you pictures of Honolulu as a high-rise hell, as some people have liked to say. I don't consider it to be a high-rise hell, but Honolulu is a city that contains many, many hundreds of high-rises and, in fact, ranked in the United States of cities with the most high-rise buildings. And that is defined as a building of 12 or more stories. Honolulu used to be, if you can believe it, the fourth highest number of high-rises in the country. Now we're at number six. But it shows you that within this small confined space that Honolulu is located in, it's necessary for us to build multi-story buildings. So the picture that you see behind me is like what many of us are from Honolulu being, meaning a lot of high-rises in which we work, in which we play, in which people stay in hotels, and in which people live. So let's go to our first picture. And historically, we're going to be talking about the beginnings of high-rises right here. Now these are not very high-rise buildings, I agree. There are only six stories and four stories tall, but they are the predecessors of all the modern high-rises that we see today. These are the Stangenwald building, which is the taller of the two, and the Judd building, which is right in the center of the picture. They were built in 1899 and 1901. And even though they're quite small, they're important because they are the forerunners of how we build buildings today. One of these buildings has a steel interior skeleton, and that was a technique developed in the United States right about this time, which enabled really big buildings to be built that didn't have to rely on just the strength of the masonry that their exterior walls were made of. But instead, you've got this framework inside that takes the load. These two buildings also were modern in that they had passenger elevators. One of them had a male chute. And again, as modest as they appear to be, they are really the same thing that we live with today. These buildings, by the way, are still standing right here in downtown Honolulu, right across the street from where I'm speaking to you right now. The Judd building looks a little different because it has an additional story up on the top. Basically, they're both still there. It's quite amazing considering how much has changed in Honolulu. Next slide. Another building which followed shortly after those two that I just showed you, that was pretty similar, although considerably larger and bulkier is this building. This is the Alexander Young Hotel located on Bishop Street. You can see that we're looking up Bishop Street here from King Street. This is a view of the Alexander Young Hotel in the 1940s during World War II. It opened in 1903. And again, the predecessor of the buildings that we are familiar with today, interior steel skeleton passenger elevators. This started as a hotel, but as Honolulu changed, it gradually shifted into being a building of offices, businesses, and a lot of doctors' offices. And throughout my childhood in the 1960s, I went to both the dentist and the orthodontist in this building, which was demolished in 1980 or 81, not surprisingly, for a high-rise. Next picture. Well, the first really tall building that was just a tall building by itself was this one. This is Aloha Tower. It opened in 1926. And in this photograph on the left side, you see the entrance to Pier 8. And then we're looking across Irwin Park at Aloha Tower. Now, Aloha Tower was ten stories tall. It was the tallest building in the territory of Hawaii. Why was it built? It was built right next to Honolulu Harbor to serve as a place like a lighthouse almost, in which there were lights to give directions to incoming and outgoing ships. It was also a vantage point for somebody to look out over Honolulu Harbor, kind of as a traffic policeman to direct traffic to a degree. But it also was intentionally built to be a beacon or a symbol of Honolulu, because in those days, before people arrived by airplane, they all came in by ship. And so this tower was specifically called Aloha Tower, and you can see the name Aloha is on it, to serve as, again, an icon or a symbol that people would see when they were coming or going to remind them of Honolulu and to be a symbol of the city and of the entire territory of Hawaii, which it was. Next picture. Now, it may be amazing and unbelievable. There was a time when you could look across Honolulu and see Diamond Head very clearly, and you could see Punch Bowl very clearly, because there weren't any buildings in the way. This picture from 1930 or thereabouts shows you that from Waikiki, from Ala Moana, or not Ala Moana, but from Ala Wai Boulevard, there's Diamond Head right there, because there aren't any buildings in the way yet. Well, what we've seen so far is bigger buildings being constructed in downtown Honolulu, which is economically where the action was at that time. But gradually that was going to shift to Waikiki. And next picture we can see in, what is this, 1934. This is the entire skyline of Waikiki in 1934. It's the Royal Hawaiian Hotel on the left and the Moana Hotel on the right. Now, I said that Aloha Tower, at 10 stories, was the tallest building in town and, in fact, the entire Hawaiian Islands for a good many years, and it was. And the reason no other taller buildings got built was because, first, the depression occurred and economically there was no reason in the 1930s to build bigger buildings, followed immediately by World War II, in which it wasn't possible to put up big buildings and pardon me for that offensive noise. That's my telephone making a funny noise. There, I cut it off. Pardon me. Next we will see that what's starting to happen after World War II is that buildings begin to be built because economically things are growing. Let's go to the next photograph. Okay. This is an aerial picture of Waikiki in 1955. The building that's labeled number two is the surf rider wing of the Moana Hotel. It was the first modern building built right directly on Waikiki Beach, opened in 1951. It is physically connected to the Moana Hotel, although, of course, it's a very different and more modern structure. That was the beginning of Waikiki's growth and what we're going to see now, from now on, is that Waikiki, instead of downtown Honolulu, becomes the center of growth and it's becoming the place where the first high-rises are being built. That's because, economically, that's where the action is now. Hotels to accommodate more and more tourists. In this photograph, the building labeled number one is the Biltmore Hotel. The building labeled number four is the Princess Paiulani Hotel and the building labeled number seven is the Reef Hotel. All three of those hotels opened in 1954-55 and suddenly, Waikiki had a bunch of ten-story buildings which seemed unimaginably large. Let's go to the next picture. Okay. From Kalakawa Avenue, 1955-56, suddenly, as I said, there were buildings to look at where there hadn't been any big buildings before. All the buildings along Kalakawa, right on the street, were all just one or two stories tall. Now, suddenly, we have in this picture in the distance is the Princess Paiulani Hotel which is right above that truck. Closer to us is the Biltmore Hotel and then closest to us is a separate four-story building called the Waikiki Halle that was just a commercial building. Now, as I said, there's a skyline. Next picture. So, of those three buildings, we just saw the Biltmore. Now we have the Princess Paiulani. When it was opened, it was just one structure, ten-story structure. There's a black and white picture on the left. And then on the right, you can see that Princess Paiulani over the years grew. There was the first building, a second building of the same height and bulk as the first one from 1960. And then from 1970, things had grown so much in Waikiki that now there's a 27-story building that's attached or part of that complex. Just recently, it's been announced that this entire complex was slated to be demolished, including the tall building, the 27-story building. And for an entirely new hotel on that site, we will see how that develops, when it develops, and so forth, because it's very easy to announce a building construction, but it doesn't always come to pass even after it's been demolished. Next picture. The third of these three new hotels was this one, the Reef Hotel built right on Waikiki Beach, as you can see. This was the biggest and most modern hotel of what was beginning to be a hotel scene, which initially was the Reef Hotel, was the centerpiece. In the 1960s, the Outrigger Hotel became the main grant of that group of hotels, run by a couple named Roy and Estelle Kelly. Roy Kelly was an architect who had come to Waikiki in the late 1920s with his wife, and they first built and developed small apartment buildings in Waikiki. They built their first post-war hotel called The Islander in 1947. Then they built the Edgewater, then they built this one, the Reef, and from there on, the chain grew tremendously. So, again, another pivotal time in Waikiki. Well, in addition to the hotels that I just have described, the Reef, and the Reef, also at the same time, we saw this building open in 1955. This is the Rosalie apartment. This is the first large apartment building in Honolulu. It's the first residential high-rise in Honolulu. And as such, again, historically speaking, from the viewpoint of somebody who studies history, you look back and say how important this is. You see that the Alawai canal is in the foreground of this picture. The Rosalie is still standing in Waikiki as well, which again is unusual, because we're going to be seeing that not all of these early high-rises are still standing as the economy has changed. Next picture. Okay. This picture is from 1960 or 61, and in the distance we can see on the right, there's a steel skeleton of the Waikiki door's hotel being built next to the Reef. And then in the far distance, difficult to see because it doesn't look too important is Foster Tower. Foster Tower was going to be really iconic for a time, because it would be the most tall building in Waikiki for a while, very long. But more important in this picture is the foreground, because this is the Hawaiian Village Hotel. The Hawaiian Village opened in 1955. It was developed by a man named Henry J. Kaiser, who was incredibly wealthy, industrialist from the mainland. And he just wanted to, he was regularly interested in new business. Already very well established, decided to come here, open a hotel, purchase and lease land that had partly been an existing hotel, but then partly was residential to build this one. Did this immense dredging project create the lagoon that you see in the foreground, the beach, which is called Dukahonamoku Beach. But Kaiser also just wanted stuff done constantly and regularly, and he was there overseeing stuff and saying, I want another building, I want another building. So the Hawaiian Village property got a bunch of high rises built upon it within a period of about five years. And in the late 1950s to 55 to 60, that was a lot. Let's go to the next picture. Here are two of those early 1950s high rises on the ground of the Hawaiian Village hotel. The one in the upper left is the Ocean Tower. The one in the center, I have now forgotten the name, I apologize for that. But again, this is indicative of how quickly the hotel was growing at that time. And it's also indicative of how quickly tourism was getting at that time. Because the increasing numbers of tourists needed increasing numbers of hotels to stay in. That's why Waikiki began to develop into what it is. Let's go to the next picture. Here is another one of those early high rises at the Hawaiian Village Hotel. This is the Village Tower. It opened in 1957. But as you can see, it's not here anymore because it was exploded and demolished in 1979. So it only lasted 22 years. That's not a very long time for a substantial structure. This is the time for me to also point out that one of the buildings I showed you previously, the Biltmore Hotel only lasted for 19 years. It was demolished. It was the first large building in Hawaii to be dynamited, to be imploded. And that happened in 1974. And it was a spectacular event attended by hundreds if not thousands of people watching it, one of whom was me. I wanted to watch this historic thing. Well, that's why the Biltmore is no longer with us. And that's why this particular tower is connected with the Hawaiian Village. And in the next picture, we see what happened to that site. And as you can see, it's the site of a much larger Tapa Tower with an entire structure at its base as well. This picture is already old. I mean, it doesn't look like the mountains have changed potentially even since this picture was taken. And here's where I can tell you why this is going on. I've mentioned this earlier. But as tourism increased, as the economy grew, land values will also go up. Land values go up because land is more desirable. The taxes on land will go up. If you are a land owner and your taxes keep going up, then you need to get more money in return to pay your taxes. What is desirable for you as a land owner to not have a one-story building but have a 20-story building or a 30- or a 40-story building because then you're going to be making more money. You do have a tremendous amount of initial investment costs but ultimately it may end up being to your advantage. And so this is why high-rises have occurred in Honolulu, which has a very small land area that can be developed. Next, photographs. Now, looking from the Hawaiian Village of Doge, in the distance here in this picture, which is taken in 1962, we can begin to see some of the other things that are happening. And the far distance on the left, you can just see the First National Bank Building being built downtown. In the center you can see the Alamoana Building at the Alamoana Center. Closer to us and just a little bit to the side of that is the Kaiser Hospital in 1958. The first high-rise hospital in Hawaii which is quite unusual. The Tradewinds Apartment Building and right in the foreground you'll see the development of something is getting started just on the other side of that parking lot. Well, in our next picture this is what was getting started. This is the Ilikai Hotel which opened in 1964. A three-winged massive structure. I mean it still looks big today compared to other buildings. But it was a combination apartment building and hotel. It was developed through various sort of permutations of people not being able to develop it, turning it over to somebody else, etc. But basically it went from a flat open area which had formerly had maybe a handful of one-story buildings. They bulldozed all those and then this is what was created. That's when the last Honolulu was growing in the 1960s. The next picture. I just mentioned the Alamoana Hotel not the Alamoana Hotel. The Alamoana Building part of the Alamoana Shopping Center which opened in 1959. Again in a formerly completely flat undeveloped piece of property it went to Alamoana Center and then this 20-some-story building as an adjunct to and part of the center. The building in the United States at that time to build a shopping center with a high-rise building attached to it. I've talked about this. My friend Martin Despang and I thought it was a great deal. We won't get into all this great deal but I just will say when this building was built it was way out in the middle of an open space. There weren't any high-rises yet around it. Downtown Honolulu is this one. This is the First National Bank Building which was built in 1961 and the First National Bank is today's First Hawaiian Bank. This building I believe was 18 stories. By this time, as I just showed you, Waikiki already had multiple high-rise buildings. Downtown Honolulu didn't have any until this one and it was notable at the time having its name in large blue plastic letters on the side of the building which were deemed to be too large according to sign laws and as I remember they had to be either removed or made smaller. This is yet another one of the early high-rises which is not here anymore. It's got dynamited to build the current First Hawaiian Bank tower which is currently on this site on King Street between Alakea Street and Bishop Street. Next picture. Downtown Honolulu then went through a period in starting in in 1968-69 in which a number of the established corporations demolished their existing buildings from the 1920s usually and went high-rise. This building is or this complex is the financial plaza of the Pacific in 1968-1970 construction opening very notable because it's three buildings on this one big block which formerly had a whole amalgamation of different buildings all one cohesive brutalist style unit but also important because it's got open space around it. They intentionally left places for people to walk, lounge, sit instead of building all the way directly out to the sidewalk which had been traditional up until that time and again we now see Downtown Honolulu beginning to have high-rise buildings in the next picture. Here is the Marco Polo condominium under construction an aerial view of it taken from a helicopter in the early 1970s say 1970-71 and the Marco Polo has a very distinctive wavy look to it and there are some buildings like that as high-rise began to be very commonplace some of them break away from the standard rectangle or the rectangular or square rectangle picks up high this one is one of those it has this distinctive wave or curved shape and if you look beyond you can see the Alawai canal kind of in the foreground and then that is Waikiki well Waikiki has already got a bunch of high-rises this is important because we're looking at a high-rise condo a high-rise apartment building up until as I was saying earlier well 1955 but for a while there really weren't a lot of all apartment buildings and by about 1960 apartment buildings high-rise apartments become what increasing numbers of people are living in and that's certainly true now for Honolulu Honolulu 1950 nobody lived in a high-rise apartment Honolulu 1960 and 70 increasing numbers of people did a major shift in how we live our daily lives next picture there's something very important about the Marco Polo in particular but this applies to living in a high-rise in general in 2017 there was a catastrophic fire in the Marco Polo building and these two pictures show the result of that fire day or two after it occurred four people died in this fire and this brings up the important point of fire safety or other attributes of high-rise living the Marco Polo was built before fire sprinklers were required in buildings fire sprinklers were subsequently they were not initially required until I think in the 1980s all commercial buildings had to be retrofitted so all the hotels now have sprinklers but not all the condos do and that was one of the reasons this fire was such a disaster these apartments not all of these are still thick it's two years later you can still see from the ground but they're not in depth the problem with high-rise living is that one you require a lot more electricity you require fossil fuel in order to live in them because you can't walk to the top of a 40-story building every time you want to go up or down you've got to take an elevator if you lose electricity like this you have no water you have no air movement because you probably are using the air conditioning and once you run out of water and once you have no power for your lights or your refrigerator or anything else you can't live there so living in a high-rise is a very kind of a tenuous existence that depends upon all these factors and depends upon safety for you to be able to continue to exist and there is no alternative to living in high-rise it's kind of congested urban area like Honolulu but it is something to keep in mind and it is something that didn't exist before high-rise well I mentioned Foster Tower earlier and this is Foster Tower that you see in the rendering on the left and in the picture on the right we see an aerial view of Waikiki in the 1916 when high-rise construction really boom this specifically occurred because jets began traveling to Hawaii in 1959 and each jet came here much faster than a propeller plane did it carried a lot more passengers than a propeller plane did and because of that the seats were cheaper and so once that happened then travel to Hawaii boomed because it became much more inexpensive and a lot more people were able to do it Waikiki therefore booms into the high-rise forest that it is today and I said earlier Foster Tower was the first really tall building right in its section directly across from Kuhio Beach on Kalakawa Avenue and so for a time for a few years it was really there by itself and it really looked substantial within not that many years certainly 10 years it was surrounded or lined Kalakawa with buildings of the same size so it no longer stands out and Waikiki looks the way it does today next picture something that started to happen at this time was the construction of high-rises that began to block the view of Diamond Head and this cluster of high-rises as you see in this picture here about 1959 58-59 these got started people began to get worried that high-rises were going to block the view of Diamond Head which is very iconic and very important for Waikiki and there were some developers who during that time period just came right out and said it doesn't matter if we block Diamond Head this is all open land we need to use it fortunately more thoughtful people prevailed and zoning was changed so that no more high-rises can be built in this place nor can high-rises be built right around the base of Diamond Head to block it however in the next picture this was not done for Punchbowl and in this picture of Punchbowl which is from the late 1970s with the elevated H13 way in the foreground you can see that even then this is many years ago by now Punchbowl is completely obscured it formerly was a very important part of the view of Honolulu we don't see it at all anymore because it's completely covered up by building and it's something to keep in mind as high-rise construction continues what's the view because that's an aesthetic part of our being and part of our existence that we need to be aware of okay next picture well the other part of the growth of Honolulu into high-rises is that we've lost a bunch of buildings and ironically as I said we've lost some of those early high-rises but we've also lost other important buildings which again economically couldn't be sustained as land values rose necessary to earn more money and it was necessary to accommodate more people and more businesses so in this photograph in the early 70s, 71, 1970 let's say in the foreground the historic American Factors building it was built in 1900 very beautiful bows art building with a lot of ornate stone carvings on its facade in order to build another high-rise and there are on this site today two high-rises like the one you see in the background and the Amfact building is completely gone except for some of the stone pieces which still are on the grounds of Bishop Museum and were saved at the time of demolition next picture so this is Honolulu today a forest of high-rises now what I want to ask you is looking at the picture that's next to me how old do you think this picture is was this taken last year it was taken two years ago you will be surprised I bet to know that this picture was taken I think almost 14 years ago that's how long Honolulu's been a city filled with high-rises and that's how long it's been that this high-rise boom has been going on so when people talk about the good old days and oh it used to be so wonderful all those buildings there are not a lot of people left who actually remember it without a lot of building and I'm one of them and I'm getting pretty old there well, regardless of that thank you for joining me today on Doko Momo Hawai'i and I'm Disoto Brown as I said I will be back in the future doing more Doko Momo shows as well as more shows for human-humane architecture both here on ThinkTek Hawai'i thank you for joining me see you again next time all right