The Spirit of Liliʻuokalani

The statue standing between ʻIolani Palace and the Capitol is called ‘The Spirit of Liliʻuokalani.  In 1975, the Legislature found “that the representation of the monarchy in the state capital will bring to the people of the State, and our many visitors, increased awareness, and a permanent reminder of the people who played important roles in the development of Hawaiʻi".

‘The Spirit of Liliuokalani’ is a 6-foot sculpture by artist Marianna Pineda. It was dedicated April 10, 1982, after being cast in Boston and shipped to Hawaiʻi.  A similar, smaller (4-foot) statue stands in the courtyard of the Queen Liliʻuokalani Children’s Center in Kalihi.

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Halekoa

Theodore C Heuck, a German, arrived in the Islands on the British brigantine “Cheerful” January 20, 1850, after a long voyage from Australia.

Heuch was the first professional architect in Honolulu.  Shortly after arrival, he ran an ad in the local paper directed “To Builders” and offered “his services to the people of Honolulu and respectfully solicits their patronage. Plans for stores, dwelling houses or public buildings, also artificial designs furnished with despatch and on moderate terms. Theo Heuck” (Polynesian, August 17, 1850)

Within a year, Heuck announced a partnership with Hermann von Holt, von Holt & Heuck, for the sale of general merchandise.  “The new establishment, adjoining the Seamens’ Bethel, will be open on Saturday, the 12th instant, with a large assortment of goods, just received from Hamburg, ex brig “Lina” … which will be offered on reasonable terms.”  (Polynesian, July 12, 1851)

It was ten years before Heuck’s first important building was put up in Honolulu. This was the Queen's Hospital, erected at the foot of Punchbowl in 1860 - a two-story stone building with a portico across the front. It was well received.  (Peterson)

“This success of this project is very gratifying. … The new edifice is very imposing and handsome … the whole affair will be highly creditable to the taste of the architect, Mr Heuck”.  (The Friend, December 1, 1860)  Heuck later designed the chapel at Mauna Ala, the Royal Mausoleum (1864.)

In 1866, King Kamehameha V looked to have a separate barracks building for the Royal Guard (prior to that time, they were quartered in Fort Kekūanāoʻa (Fort Honolulu, which used to be at the bottom of ‘Fort” Street.))

Prior to becoming a US territory, Hawaiʻi’s modern army consisted of a royal household guard and militia units.  By the 1860s, the Hawaiian military had been reduced to the Royal Guard, a unit assigned to guard the sovereign.

They were also known as the Household Guard, Household Troops, Queen’s Guard, King’s Own and Queen’s Own - they guarded the king and queen and the treasury and participated in state occasions.

On March 4, 1866, Heuck submitted a drawing and verbal description of the proposed Barracks to Governor Dominis - a romantic betowered building of coral rock in the Victorian military style.  (HHF, Peterson)  In 1870, Heuck was contracted to design and build the barracks for the Royal Guard.

Originally completed in 1871, and looking like a medieval castle, about 4,000-coral blocks were cut from the reefs and another 2,350 were brought over from the Old Printing House to form 18-inch thick walls.  The walls were plastered on the inside and the coral exposed on the exterior. The roof was wood framed and covered with Welsh slate shingles.  (Historic Hawaii Foundation)

Heuck had proposed a building of 70 by 110 feet with an open central court of 30 by 40 feet. These dimensions were increased to 84 by 104 and 35 by 53-feet respectively.  (HHF)  Additions were later made to the original open rectangle.

Heuck’s design included archery parapets on the upper walkways, firing loops in the lower walls and towers, and an inner courtyard for roll call.  The construction ran over budget and behind schedule (original estimate was just over $25,000.)  (Kelley)

The open courtyard was surrounded by rooms once used by the guards as a mess hall, kitchen, dispensary, berth room and lockup.)

Halekoa was designed to berth between 86 to 125 soldiers depending on whether double or triple-tier bunks were used. In practice the size of the Royal Guard did not exceed 80 men at any time in the 1870s, 80s or 90s.  (HHF)

When Heuck left Honolulu for Germany in 1874, he was given a special audience with the King, who conferred on him knighthood of the Order of Kamehameha I.  On September 28 he sailed, never to return.   Three years later he died in Hamburg.  (Peterson)

The Barracks predated ʻIolani Palace (1882.)  When the Place was later built, the Barracks was originally located mauka and Diamond Head of it.

In 1893, the Provisional government disbanded the Guard and used the Barracks for munitions storage. The Territorial government took it over in 1899 and used it for office and storage space. After renovations in 1920, it became a service club for about a decade.

In 1929, following another ‘sprucing-up,’ including a coat of white paint or plaster, various government offices occupied it until 1943 when plans were announced for a military museum.

The museum proposal bore no fruit; the building was repaired and renovated again in 1948 for offices for school administration and other government agencies, including the treasury department office use.  (NPS)

Following Statehood, there were plans for the State’s new capitol building being considered.  Architect John Carl Warnecke, son of a German-born father, was influential in the design and construction of the new capitol.  (Warnecke also designed John F Kennedy's grave site at Arlington National Cemetery, and lots of other things.)

However, Halekoa was in the way; the Barracks was condemned and, in 1962, abandoned.  In 1964-65, to make room for the new capitol building, the coral shell of the old building was removed to a corner of the ʻIolani Palace grounds for eventual reconstruction.

This was accomplished by breaking out large sections of the walls. Then stone masons chipped out the original coral blocks and re-set them.  Many were so badly deteriorated that they were unstable.

However, the stone in the ʻEwa wing (an addition to the original Barracks) was salvageable (they left that part out of the reconstruction, but used the material from it.)  Today’s reconstruction bears only a general resemblance to the original structure.  (NPS)

Several other older buildings in the area, including the large vaulted-roofed Armory and the remnant of the older Central Union Church on Beretania Street, facing the Queen’s former residence at Washington Place, were also demolished to make way for the capitol building.

The image shows the original Halekoa (ʻIolani Barracks and the drill shed next to it.) (HSA)  In addition, I have added other related images in a folder of like name in the Photos section on my Facebook and Google+ pages.

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Hawaiʻi State Capitol

Prior to contact (1778,) Royal Centers served as the rulers’ residence and governing location.  Aliʻi moved between several residences throughout the year; each served as his Royal Center and place of governance.

Typically such Royal Centers contained the ruler’s residence, residences of high chiefs, a major heiau (which became increasing larger in size in the AD 1600s-1700s,) other heiau and often a refuge area (puʻuhonua).

The Royal Centers were selected for their abundance of resources and recreation opportunities, with good surfing and canoe-landing sites being favored.

On August 21, 1959 Hawaiʻi became the 50th state.

Today, we reference the location of the governing seat as the ‘capital’ and official statehouse as its ‘capitol.’

The present Hawaiʻi capitol building opened in 1969.  Prior to that time, from about 1893 to 1969, ʻIolani Palace served as the statehouse.

After the overthrow in 1893, the Provisional Government first established its offices in the Aliʻiolani Hale; after a few months, the governmental offices were transferred to ʻIolani Palace (that later building’s name was temporarily changed to the “Executive Building” - the name “ʻIolani Palace” was restored by the  Legislature in 1935.)  (NPS)

The former throne room had been used for sessions of the Territorial House of Representatives. The state dining room was used as the chamber of the Territorial Senate. The private apartment of Kalākaua and later Liliʻuokalani was used as the Governor’s office.  (NPS)

The location of the present Capitol was selected in 1944. In 1959, an advisory committee was formed.  They selected the Honolulu firm of Belt, Lemmon & Lo and the San Francisco firm of John Carl Warnecke & Associates to design the new state capitol.

Their design was approved by the Legislature in 1961; construction commenced in November 1965.  The building opened on March 16, 1969, replacing the former statehouse, ʻIolani Palace.

To quote from an address given by Governor John A. Burns, "The open sea, the open sky, the open doorway, open arms and open hearts - these are the symbols of our Hawaiian heritage. In this great State Capitol there are no doors at the grand entrances which open toward the mountains and toward the sea. There is no roof or dome to separate its vast inner court from the heavens and from the same eternal stars which guided the first voyagers to the primeval beauty of these shores.”

“It is by means of the striking architecture of this new structure that Hawaii cries out to the nations of the Pacific and of the world, this message: We are a free people......we are an open society......we welcome all visitors to our island home. We invite all to watch our legislative deliberations; to study our administrative affairs; to see the examples of racial brotherhood in our rich cultures; to view our schools, churches, homes, businesses, our people, our children; to share in our burdens and our self-sorrows as well as our delights and our pleasures. We welcome you! E Komo Mai! Come In! The house is yours!"

The building is full of symbolism: the perimeter pool represents the ocean surrounding the islands; the 40-concrete columns are shaped like coconut trees; the conical chambers infer the volcanic origins of the Islands; and the open, airy central ground floor suggests the Islands' open society and acceptance of our natural and cultural environment.

There are eight columns in the front and back of the building; groups of eight mini-columns on the balcony that surrounds the fourth floor; and eight panels on the doors leading to the Governor's and Lieutenant Governor's chambers - all symbolic of the eight main islands.

The Hawaiʻi State Capitol is a five-story building with an open central courtyard. According to the architects, “The center of the building, surrounded by a ring of columns, is a great entrance well open on all sides at ground level and reaching upward through four floors of open galleries to the crown canopy and the open sky. Visitors can walk directly into the spectators’ galleries overlooking the House and Senate chambers situated at ground level, and they can reach any of the upper floors by elevators.”

Caucus rooms, clerks’ and attorneys’ offices, a library, a public hearing room, and suite for the President are at the Chamber level. The three legislative office floors (2-4) are of similar design, with peripheral offices for the legislators.

The suites for the Governor and Lieutenant Governor are on the uppermost floors, overlooking the sea on the outside and the courtyard on the inside. Public circulation on the upper floors is through lanais that overlook the court. Parking is provided in the basement.

The Capitol building is a structure of steel reinforced concrete and structural steel. The building is rectangular with dimensions of 360 feet x 270 feet (although it is often referred to as the “Square Building on Beretania.”)  It is 100-feet high.

The image shows Hawaiʻi's Capitol – lots of info here from NPS.  In addition, I have added other related images in a folder of like name in the Photos section on my Facebook and Google+ pages.

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Look for the Mamo Hidden Under a Rock

Hawaiʻi's capitol - the "Square Building" on Beretania, although it's actually 360-feet x 270-feet - is full of symbolism.

In the words of Governor John A Burns, "The open sea, the open sky, the open doorway, open arms and open hearts - these are the symbols of our Hawaiian heritage  ... there are no doors at the grand entrances ... there is no roof or dome to separate its vast inner court from the heavens ... We welcome you! E Komo Mai! Come In! The house is yours!"

The perimeter pool represents the ocean surrounding the islands; the 40-concrete columns are shaped like coconut trees; the conical House and Senate chambers infer the volcanic origins of the Islands; and the open, airy central ground floor suggests the Islands' open society and acceptance of our natural and cultural environment.

In 1959, an advisory committee was formed.  They selected the Honolulu firm of Belt, Lemmon & Lo and the San Francisco firm of John Carl Warnecke & Associates to design the new state capitol.

Their design was approved by the Legislature in 1961; construction commenced in November 1965.  The building opened on March 16, 1969, replacing the former statehouse, ʻIolani Palace.

A notable capitol feature central on the ground floor is the tiled mosaic "Aquarius."  The tile work is based on a painting of the same name by Tadashi Sato; the mosaic is circular (36-feet in diameter.)

Sato, the eldest of six children of Japanese immigrants who came to work on Maui’s pineapple plantations, was born (1923) and raised on Maui and attended King Kamehameha III School and graduated from Lahainaluna.

He perfected his artistic skills over the next several decades, studying in Japan and New York and eventually became recognized as a member of the abstract expressionist movement and known for his abstract and semi-abstract paintings, mosaics and murals.

He is described as “an artist with a tranquil spirit, at peace with his place in the world, who eloquently used his brush to speak about what is most true and enduring in that world”. (Maui Council)

Tadashi Sato was an artist of international stature whose work has hung in places such as New York’s Museum of Modern Art, the Guggenheim and Whitney, and the Willard Gallery.  Aquarius is still arguably his most famous work of art.

A lot of Sato's work goes back to recollections of the reflection of sky, submerged rocks and sparkling colors in the tide pools and coastline where he fished near Nakalele Point in West Maui.  (Keiko Sato, his sister)

Standing on the upper floors of the capitol, looking down on the Aquarius mosaic, gives a view much like what Sato saw from the coastal cliffs of West Maui looking down on the shoreline and tidepools below.

In 1965, Sato was honored by President Lyndon Johnson at the White House Festival of Arts, alongside Georgia O'Keeffe, Jackson Pollock and other American artists.  In 1984, he was named a Living Treasure of Hawai'i by the Honpa Hongwanji Mission of Hawaiʻi.

Exposure to the elements in the open air of the capitol took its toll on the mosaic.  It has been replaced twice since its initial installation.

In 1988, the mosaic was replaced because it was subject to ponding water and it lacked accommodation for expansion and contraction. These factors lead to cracking, heaving and failure of the tiles and mortar bed.  (SFCA)

Again, in 2005, a new set of the approximate 600,000-tiles replaced the former and a new system of drains, expansion joints, mortar bed and thicker tiles increased the mosaic's durability and improved it significantly.  (SFCA)

Coincidental, but symbolic of the diversity of cultures in Hawaiʻi, in this most recent replacement/repair, a crew of six (Hawaiian, Filipino and Portuguese (from Hawaiʻi,) and German, Polish and Italian (from abroad)) set the new tiles in place.

Fifty-seven different colors of various shades of blue, green and white tiles make up the Aquarius mosaic.

However, it was at this time a new color was added; the Italian added a single red tile to the mosaic.

Several sources incorrectly suggest the tile is representative of the artist’s signature.  These folks also note you should search the mosaic for the single red tile.

However, as noted in the title of this piece, and continuing the symbolism at the capitol, folks at the State Foundation on Culture and the Arts feel Sato would prefer you look for the Mamo hidden under a rock.  (The Mamo is the Hawaiian Sergeant reef fish.)

Today is 'Adjournment Sine Die' - the last day of this session of the legislature; tomorrow it is safe to go back to the capitol.

Take the time to look at Tadashi Sato's design ... and see what you can find.  (Tadashi Sato died in 2005.)

The image shows “Aquarius” at Hawaiʻi's Capitol.  In addition, I have added other related images in a folder of like name in the Photos section on my Facebook and Google+ pages.

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© 2013 Hoʻokuleana LLC