Buildings of Hawaii - Book Review

A few months ago I received a special package in the mail from the Society of Architectural Historians. One of the staff members of SAH had read my blog post on the Evolution of the Hawaiian Style Roof and then sent me a copy of a book they had just published called Buildings of Hawaii.



Don J. Hibbard, 2011
334 pgs., 250 illustrations


The Society of Architectural Historians has a long range plan to publish a series of Buildings of the United States (BUS) books documenting the rich diversity of architecture of each state. They currently have five volumes, including:

Buildings of Delware (2008)
Buildings of Massachusetts: Metropolitan Boston (2009)
Buildings of Pennsylvania: Philadelphia & Eastern Pennsylvania(2010)
Buildings of Pennsylvania: Pittsburg & Western Pennsylvania (2010)
Buildings of Hawaii (2011)

I just finished reading the book and now know more than I will ever need to know about architecture on the six major islands in the Hawaiian chain.

The book contains 500 entries and is filled with facts, details and dates for every significant building in Hawaii. It includes a study of masterworks by Hawaiian based architects such as Vladimir Ossipoff, George 'Pete' Wimberely, and C.W. Dickey (along with an essay about Dickey 'Hawaiian Style' Roof) as well as many mainland architects.

It also includes a short section on Waikiki and the mid-century designs that sprung up there in the form of hotels and apartments.

Buildings of Hawaii is a great reference volume and is available on Amazon or the Society of Architectural Historians website.