Illuminating the overlooked history of so-called twentieth-century architecture in Hawai‘i, this special preview of A Justice-Advancing Architecture Tour presents two prominent buildings in Honolulu: Hawai‘i State Capitol Building (1960–1969) and ‘Iolani Palace (1879–1883).
The virtual tour confronts the material reality of the United States, where modern architecture hides the illegal US occupation of Hawai‘i (1898–present) in plain sight with a government building built directly adjacent to what it was designed to obscure—the ‘Iolani Palace, an advanced yet overlooked example of indigenous Hawaiian modern architecture that survives.
‘Iolani Palace, the only royal palace within the United States, was designed by elected King Kalākaua (Kānaka ʻŌiwi), and featured electricity before the White House. It was considered the most innovative building of its time. Hawai‘i has been widely ignored within the pedagogy of architecture, until now. We call out the complacent institution and profession of architecture today to remind us that design is never neutral. The film asks, upon whose survival does architecture really thrive?
The film belongs to HNL’s experimental broadcast in progress, and is dedicated to the life and power of Native Hawaiian activist Haunani-Kay Trask (October 3, 1949–July 3, 2021).
