With elegance and authority, Buildings of Hawaii presents the architecture of the six major islands in the Hawaii chain. Don J. Hibbard delves into the development of the state's distinct blending of the building traditions of the East and West within a subtropical island context. The first in-depth examination of the architecture of the Islands, Buildings of Hawaii covers structures from the early nineteenth century through the first decade of the new millennium. Included are Japanese temples, Chinese society halls, the only royal palaces in the United States, the earliest known reinforced concrete public buildings in the country, and the only nineteenth-century British-made iron bridge in the nation. Not only are masterworks of such mainland architects as Bertram Goodhue, Julia Morgan, Ralph Adams Cram, Skidmore, Owings and Merril LLP, Edward Killingsworth, and I. M. Pei considered, but vernacular single-wall building traditions of the plantation period abound. In addition, Hibbard's entries examine the various distinct regional designs developed over the course of the twentieth century, and includes brief biographies of Hawaii's major architects. More than 250 illustrations-including photographs, maps, and drawings-give further detail to the more than 400 entries.

A volume in the Buildings of the United States series of the Society of Architectural Historians