Abstract
This paper concerns one monumental architectural structure that defined Honolulu’s business economy and approaches to urban planning in the Central Business District (CBD) during the 1960s – the Financial Plaza of the Pacific. As indicated from its moniker, the design and construction of the edifice highlighted Hawai‘i’s physical location as a global crossroads. The international vision of this “commercial condominium”, and by extension Honolulu, addressed the effects of urban blight and suburban flight that plagued the CBD in the years leading up to, and following, U.S. statehood. The merger of three corporate enterprises (Castle & Cooke, Bank of Hawaii, and American Savings and Loan) at the Financial Plaza of the Pacific functioned as means to display corporate reinvestment in the district. The architects of the project, Leo S. Wou & Associates and Victor Gruen Associates, desired to create a spatially unified environment with outdoor public space and art projects as loci for human interaction. Ultimately, the Financial Plaza of the Pacific reveals the ways in which Honolulu operated – and continues to operate – as a living city spurred by enterprise and revitalization.
Highlights
This paper concerns one monumental architectural structure that defined Honolulu’s business economy and approaches to urban planning in the Central Business District (CBD) during the 1960s – the Financial Plaza of the Pacific
The architectural history of the structure unveils a narrative about Honolulu as a living city of the Pacific – one in which its urban inhabitants contend with the complicated negotiations between indigeneity, U.S citizenship, public space, and modern architecture
Promoting Hawai‘i’s economic viability through monumental architectural design at the Financial Plaza of the Pacific was important for a post-statehood era in which the tourism industry and military initiatives dictated much of the new construction in Honolulu
Summary
As the United States experienced post-WWII economic prosperity, Hawai‘i – a U.S territory in the Pacific – found itself on the cusp of statehood. Joseph Farrington, Hawai‘i’s Congressional Delegate, appears next to a 49-star American flag; Hiram Fong, Hawai‘i’s Speaker of the House and graduate of Harvard Law, poses on his lanai overlooking Nu‘uanu Valley; and, Sakae Takahashi, an ex-U.S Army Major and member of Hawai‘i’s Cabinet, sits next to his wife and their two children In another group of images, a new four-lane highway funded by the territorial and U.S federal government traverses the mountains of O‘ahu; and television commercial stills for washing machines and Tide detergent are shown as evidence of the 90% of commodity goods that were imported to Hawai‘i from the U.S mainland. The fundamental values espoused by statehood supporters in Hawai‘i emphasised that “civilization” had taken root in the islands as a result of their ability to make American capitalism, systems of government, and architectural modernity available in a Pacific Island environment
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