No. 7: 'Iolani Palace, the US' Only Royal Residence
Hawaii is justly famous for its modern architecture. But what can this symbol of an independent Kingdom of Hawai'i teach us about the history of American empire in the Pacific?
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The most famous examples of Hawaiian architecture are often identified with the somewhat tropical strain of modernism that infected the islands in the postwar boom. This makes a natural degree of sense: after all, statehood and Elvis arrived in the îles Sandwiches at the zenith of the Jet Age, when PanAm established a new tourist mecca in Waikiki and the Rat Pack could be found sipping mai-tais at the bar of the Coco Palms Resort.
On a recent visit, though, I was equally drawn to the fine buildings constructed before annexation. The Bishop Museum’s Hawaiian Hall, built in 1889 by the firm of William F. Smith (about whom the building’s application for status in the National Register of Historic Places says “little is known”), was one of the most striking.