25 must-see buildings and public spaces in Hawaii

Bishop Museum's Hawaiian Hall Complex in Honolulu, a rare example of late-Victorian museum design, was built in three phases from 1888 to 1903 to house the collection of Hawaiian artifacts and royal heirlooms bequeathed to Charles Reed Bishop by his wife Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop. A recent restortion by Mason Architects highlighted the historic integrity of the buildings while elevating the contemporary museum standards by resolving issues of climate control, lighting, access, and fire protection. https://www.bishopmuseum.org/

The Honolulu Museum of Art is the largest of its kind in the state, and was founded in 1922 by Anna Rice Cooke. The museum has one of the largest single collections of Asian and Pan-Pacific art in the United States, and since its official opening on April 8, 1927, its collections have grown to more than 50,000 works of art. Cooke hired New York architect Bertram Goodhue to design the plans for the museum, but he died before the project was completed. Goodhue’s colleague, Hardie Phillip finished the job. The museum's revival mission style has been imitated in many buildings throughout the state. https://honolulumuseum.org/

Shangri La is the name of an Islamic-style mansion built by heiress Doris Duke near Diamond Head. Completed in 1938, Shangri La is now a museum for learning about the global culture of Islamic art and design through exhibitions, digital and educational initiatives, public tours and programs, and community partnerships. Architect Marion Sims Wyeth and supervising architect H. Drewry Baker were the primary designers of the 4.9-acre property and its three buildings. http://www.shangrilahawaii.org/

The Aloha Tower at the edge of Honolulu Harbor, is a lighthouse which has and continues to be a guiding beacon welcoming vessels to the City and County of Honolulu since 1926. At 10 stories and 184 feet of height topped with 40 feet of flag mast, for four decades the Aloha Tower was the tallest structure in Hawaiʻi. It was built in the Hawaiian Gothic architectural style and designed by architect Arthur L. Reynolds.

Located in downtown Honolulu, the Hawaii State Capitol was commissioned and dedicated by John A. Burns, second Governor of Hawaii. Opened on March 15, 1969, the building is an American adaptation of the Hakonya style termed "Hawaiian international architecture". It was designed by a partnership between the firms of Belt, Lemon and Lo (AHL), and John Carl Warnecke and Associates. Unlike other state capitols modeled after the United States Capitol, the Hawaii State Capitol's distinct architectural features symbolize various natural aspects of Hawaiʻi.

Located in downtown Honolulu, the Hawaii State Capitol was commissioned and dedicated by John A. Burns, second Governor of Hawaii. Opened on March 15, 1969, the building is an American adaptation of the Hakonya style termed "Hawaiian international architecture". It was designed by a partnership between the firms of Belt, Lemon and Lo (AHL), and John Carl Warnecke and Associates. Unlike other state capitols modeled after the United States Capitol, the Hawaii State Capitol's distinct architectural features symbolize various natural aspects of Hawaiʻi.

The ʻIolani Palace in Honolulu features a unique style known as American Florentine. The ʻIolani Palace was the royal residence of the rulers of the Kingdom of Hawaii. Completed in 1882 the palace was the work of architects, Thomas J. Baker, Charles J. Wall, and Isaac Moore. It is now a National Historic Landmark listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The palace was restored and opened to the public as a museum in 1978.

The National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific (informally known as Punchbowl Cemetery) is a national cemetery located at Punchbowl Crater in Honolulu. It serves as a memorial to honor those men and women who served in the United States Armed Forces, and those who have given their lives in doing so. It is administered by the National Cemetery Administration of the United States Department of Veterans Affairs and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Ki Concepts and Architects Hawaii, Ltd. designed a new two-story hillside public information center that includes the cemetery’s offices and Honor Guard Room.

The USS Arizona Memorial, at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu marks the resting place of 1,102 of the 1,177 sailors and Marines killed on USS Arizona during the Japanese surprise attack at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 and commemorates the events of that day. The memorial, built in 1962, is visited by more than two million people annually. Accessible only by boat, it straddles the sunken hull of the battleship without touching it. The national memorial was designed by Honolulu architects Alfred Preis and Vladimar Ossipoff and engineer Alfred A. Yee.

Designed by architect Vladimir Ossipoff for the IBM corporation in Honolulu in 1962, this iconic structure now houses the Howard Hughes Hawai'i offices, a Ward Village Master Plan Information Center as well as showrooms for future Ward Village projects. With its unique cement facade—known architecturally as a brise-soleil — which is used to minimize an onslaught of sunlight from entering the space and deter nesting birds, the building is an homage to IBM's rich technological achievements and was built to resemble a computer punched card.

The McCoy Pavilion in Ala Moana Park in Honolulu was completed in 1975, and designed by Charles J. W. Chamberlain. The pavilion was named after the Honolulu Park Board's first Chairman, Charles Lester McCoy, who greatly influenced the design of Honolulu parks in the 1930's.

Built in the late 19th century as the first hotel in Waikiki, the Moana Hotel opened in 1901 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Designed by architect Oliver G. Traphagen, the Moana's architecture was influenced by European styles popular at the time, with Ionic columns and intricate woodwork and plaster detailing throughout the building. Design features of the original structure that survive to this day include extra-wide hallways, high ceilings, and cross-ventilation windows (to cool the rooms prior to air conditioning). The building is currently part of the resort complex known as Moana Surfrider, A Westin Resort & Spa.

The YWCA Building in Honolulu, officially named Laniākea, was designed by San Francisco architect Julia Morgan, first female recipient of the AIA’s Gold Medal. The building, designed in the Beaux-Arts style, was opened in 1927 and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1978 as a contributing property within the Hawaii Capital Historic District.

Completed in 1958 and featuring one of the earliest and most artful uses of sunscreens in Hawaiʻi, the Honolulu Board of Water Supply Building smoothly blends a multiethnic architectural vocabulary with a modern grammar. Designed by Hart Wood, of the firm Wood, Weed and Kubota, but not built until several years later, it stands as one of Honolulu's finest modernist buildings. The Chinese fret-work of the sunscreens melds effortlessly with the Japanese portico and the Hawaiian motto, “Uwē ka lani, ola ka honua” (“When the heavens weep, the earth lives”), a celebration of Hawaii's multicultural society.

Honolulu architects Walter Emory and Marshall Webb employed elements of Neoclassical architecture for the exterior of the Hawaii Theater—with Byzantine, Corinthian, and Moorish ornamentation—and a rich panoply of Beaux-Arts architecture inside—Corinthian columns, a gilded dome, marble statuary, an art gallery, plush carpets, silk hangings, and a Lionel Walden mural above the proscenium. Built in 1922, the theatre originally had a simple exterior canopy with a small reader board listing the attractions, and a vertical sign lit by light bulbs. In 1938, a large, new marquee was installed with the largest neon display in the islands.

Hānaiakamalama or Queen Emma Summer Palace, served as a retreat for Queen Emma of Hawaiʻi. The frame of the home was built in Boston, in 1848, and shipped to Hawaiʻi via Cape Horn. It was then assembled on a property purchased by John Lewis from the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi. It is a now a historic landmark, museum, and tourist site outside of downtown Honolulu. The museum is open daily from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., and is maintained with entrance fees, revenue from the gift shop, and other funds raised by the Daughters of Hawaiʻi.

Puʻuhonua o Hōnaunau National Historical Park is a United States National Historical Park located on the west coast of the island of Hawaiʻi. The historical park preserves the site where, up until the early 19th century, Hawaiians who broke a kapu (one of the ancient laws) could avoid certain death by fleeing to this place of refuge or puʻuhonua. The park includes the puʻuhonua and a complex of archeological sites including: temple platforms, royal fishponds, sledding tracks, and some coastal village sites. The Hale o Keawe temple and several thatched structures have been reconstructed.

Saint Benedict's Roman Catholic Church, or The Painted Church as it is commonly known, was built between 1899-1902 under the direction of the Belgian Catholic missionary Father John Velghe, who then painted frescoes along the interior ceiling and walls. St. Benedict's continues to be an active Roman Catholic church in the Diocese of Honolulu, vicariate of West Hawaii, holding five masses per week. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and is open to the public for viewing seven days a week.

Hulihe’e Palace was originally built out of lava rock by John Adams Kuakini (governor of the island of Hawaiʻi) in 1838 during the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi and served as the vacation home of Hawaiian royalty. In 1927 the Daughters of Hawaiʻi, a group dedicated to preserving the cultural legacy of the Hawaiian Islands, restored Huliheʻe Palace and turned it into a museum. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places listings on the island of Hawaiʻi in 1973.

Mokuaikaua Church, located on the "Big Island" of Hawaiʻi, is the oldest Christian church in the Hawaiian Islands. The congregation dates to 1820 and the building was completed in 1837. After several fires, the present stone structure was constructed, partially from stones recycled from a nearby Heiau (ancient temple of the Hawaiian religion), from about 1835 to 1837. The interior is decorated with Koa wood.

The firm of Skidmore Owings Merrill and architect Edward Charles Bassett designed The Mauna Kea Beach Hotel in the modern style featuring an open-air design that allows natural ventilation from the trade winds. Opened in 1965, the hotel was named Mauna Kea Beach Hotel for the mountain Mauna Kea which is visible above the bay when not obscured by clouds. The American Institute of Architects (AIA) awarded the hotel an Honor Award in 1967 citing its "restrained detailing and fine spatial sequences." In 2007, the hotel received honors again from the AIA as it made the top 150 of its "America's Favorite Architecture" list.

Designed by John Hara & Associates, the Maui Arts & Cultural Center opened in 1994 as the culmination of a long-standing dream of Maui’s residents to build a world-class gathering place for the arts. Familiarly known as "The MACC," this center has been described by The Maui News as “the artistic and educational heart of an entire community” and “Maui’s entertainment and arts crown jewel.” The complex houses a 1,200 seat theater, 300-seat theater, museum-quality art galleries, a restaurant, performance courtyard, classrooms, offices, shops, and rehearsal spaces for children's and community theatre groups.

Designed by John Hara & Associates, the Maui Arts & Cultural Center opened in 1994 as the culmination of a long-standing dream of Maui’s residents to build a world-class gathering place for the arts. Familiarly known as "The MACC," this center has been described by The Maui News as “the artistic and educational heart of an entire community” and “Maui’s entertainment and arts crown jewel.” The complex houses a 1,200 seat theater, 300-seat theater, museum-quality art galleries, a restaurant, performance courtyard, classrooms, offices, shops, and rehearsal spaces for children's and community theatre groups.

Architect John Rattenbury designed the King Kamehameha Golf Course Clubhouse based on unbuilt and unused Frank Lloyd Wright designs adapted for a golf clubhouse. Completed in 1993, the building is split into three levels with two-thirds of the structure underground, with a total area of 74,778 square feet. Copper fascia surrounds the domed roofs of the building which fits into the landscape of the West Maui Mountains behind it and the golf course bunkers in front.

In 1864, George Norton Wilcox took over the lease for Grove Farms and became its sole owner. As the plantation expanded, he built and furnished the group of structures which faced a large yard enclosed by stone walls: the plantation office, sleeping quarters, a guest cottage, a more spacious addition to the main house, and a camp for plantation workers. The homestead was the heart of day-to-day plantation operations until the early 1930's. The one-story portion of the G.N. Wilcox family home was constructed in 1854 by architect Charles William Dickey for one of the founders of the adjacent Lihue Plantation. Its hipped roof, building materials, and lanais express an architectural marriage of traditional Hawaiian house forms and western building tradition. The two-story Colonial Revival portion added by Wilcox in 1915 was designed by noted Honolulu architect Clinton B. Ripley.