(instrumental music)   Today on Spectrum, we take an ambitious tour  of art and architecture in Honolulu's capital   district that will allow us to lean over the  palace banister to catch royal gossip about   priceless treasures, glide down staircases  at Aliʻiōlani Hale and project ourselves into   the future from atop the Honolulu Municipal  Building.

Of Hawaiʻi's earliest architecture,   we have only memories built of grass, shacks and  palaces alike have all gone back to nourish the   earth.

It is obvious our island's first  missionaries weren't carried away by the   structural integrity they found.

They arrived  in the port of Honolulu in April 1820 and by   January 1821 they were back at the docks unloading  materials for this prim and proper frame house.

Every last piece was precision cut in Boston and  ready to erect in Hollowed, New England fashion.

In what was probably our first  building department snag,   King Kamehameha learned of the project and  clamped a restraining order on it.

He was   afraid his royal grass palace was about to  be upstaged.

Fortunately for the newcomers,   he soon relented and at least part of  this clapboard curiosity, with its formal   glass windows, shingled roof and no-nonsense  straight lines, was livable by August 1821.

If a single coral block of the Kawaiahaʻo Church  were damaged here, Reverend Abraham Akaka might   be the first to notice.

While tending his flock  for the past 26 years, he's become intimately   involved with the building's conservation.

Now, if you can imagine this whole area called   Honolulu as a barren plain with a few grass houses  around and a few coconut trees.

The first church,   of course, was grass, and there were  five in a row, bigger and bigger,   until in 1835 the King Kamehameha the third  said, we must have a permanent house.

Reverend Hiram Bingham, who was neither an  architect nor a builder, drew up the plans   from his memory of New England churches.

In a severe storm, the steeple blew down,   but fortunately, the rest of the edifice held  firm, all 14,000 coral blocks of it based on   a foundation 44 inches thick and 12 feet high.

It took seven years to build and armies of men.

Coral blocks had to be hewn out of the reefs from  Waikīkī to the airport.

These blocks weigh about   1,000 pounds each, and they were dragged up from  the beach where Pier Two is.

When I first came to   Kawaiahaʻo in 1957 the church was covered with  cement.

So, you had no idea it was of coral,   except in little patches where the cement  had broken off.

I said to the members that   we ought to really bring out the beauty of  the church by taking all of the cement off.

These are the royal pews.

Kawaiahaʻo Church is  the only church I know of in the United States   that has royal pews.

Now the church, when it was  built, put the pews here.

Before the coming of   the Gospel, the king was the highest authority.

Nobody was over his head.

If his shadow fell on   anyone as he walked by, that person was punished.

Now here is a king sitting under his people,   under the balcony and back of his people.

The chiefs opposed balconies, fearing commoners   would cast their shadows on the aliʻi.

Kamehameha's reply was that he would be   harmed only if the balcony itself fell on him.

While final touches were being put on Kawaiahaʻo   Church in 1842, carpenters were laying the  groundwork for another historic building only a   few blocks away.

American sea captain John Dominis  had ordered a gracious wood frame mansion in Greek   Revival style.

There was no way for him to know it  will be a future governor's mansion.

Shortly after   the house was finished in 1846 Dominis set out  on a voyage and never returned.

He left behind a   widow and a young son, John Owen Dominis.

Young  John was to marry the girl across the street,   Lydia K.P.

Kapaʻakea, Queen Liliʻuokalani.

E kipa mai and welcome to Washington Place.

Washington Place is a very historical home.

This is the oldest domicile in the state of   Hawaiʻi that's been lived in all these years.

The queen lived here until her death in 1917   when she passed away at the age of 79.

And  my husband is the 14th governor of Hawaiʻi,   however, the 10th to reside here.

This is  the reception room.

It is one out of the   17 rooms that were restored from 1975 to 1978.

This is the Blue Room.

We have the Queen's Chinese   furniture that were brought downstairs,  and the carpets, the reupholstering,   the draperies and the wallpaper throughout the  entire house were replaced during the restoration   era.

There are five historical portraits here at  Washington Place.

One of Queen Liliʻuokalani and   the other four are of the H.M.S.

Blonde  and of course, Tetuppa and Karaikapa.

It was the H.M.S.

Blonde that brought home  the bodies of Kamehameha Second and his   favorite wife, Kamāmalu from England,  after they both died of the measles.

On this ship was a young artist  by the name of Robert Dampier.

And   Dampier the Tetuppa and Karaikapa, young  Hawaiian girl and young Hawaiian boy,   which are hanging in the reception room.

This portrait was done in 1892 by William   Cogswell.

It's a life-sized portrait of the  Queen, and it was part of the palace collection.

When I moved here to Washington Place and started  the restoration project, I knew that there were   many local artists who had much talent, and  so I thought here was a perfect setting.

This   is the patio, and this is May Chee's, Yume  Hikoo, a ceramic pot that was done in 1984.

Another piece is Sally Fletcher-Murchison's  Man and Woman, which was done in 1972.

So,   Sally was one of my first instructors, being a  part of myself at the University of Hawaiʻi.

This   is our garden sculpture here at Washington Place.

It's of bronze and copper.

It was done by Satoru   Abe.

It's called Seed Number Two.

It represents  the husk of the seed bursting forth to grow it.

It was to be both palace and government office  building, but the palace was never built.

King   Kamehameha the Fifth chose to consolidate  all territory offices in the area under this   roof of Aliʻiōlani Hale.

Since 1874 this  has been the home of the Hawaiʻi Supreme   Court.

The imagination of New Zealand architect  Thomas Rowe must have soared as he designed the   exterior with its Italian style detailing and  uncommon cement blocks.

Rowe was less artistic   in handling the interior.

It was dark and dreary  and at the time, had only one staircase straight   up the center.

That was in 1874.

When renovation  came in 1911, it virtually gutted the interior   and installed the two gracefully curved  staircases that are a hallmark to this day.

The stained-glass ceiling in the rotunda was  introduced.

Aliʻiōlani Hale was also the scene   for royal balls and other grand ceremonies.

The impressive, gilded monument to Kamehameha   the Great, dominates the front of the building  with his regal stance.

Sculpted by Thomas Gould   of Boston, this statue had a rather international  career before settling into its tranquil spot in   1883.

Gould cast a plaster version in Florence and  sent it to Paris for casting in bronze.

On its way   to Honolulu, the ship carrying the completed  statue sank off the Falkland Islands.

It is   a replica of that casting that now stands here.

Later, the original was dredged from the ocean,   repaired and installed in Kohala, Kamehameha's  birthplace.

Colorful King Kalākaua felt it was   about time Hawaiʻi had a palace for the king.

The  original ʻIolani Palace was not a royal residence,   but a ceremonial Hall.

19 other buildings  clustered around it, housed the aliʻi,   high chiefs and their retainers.

On the perimeter  of the palace grounds are four large gates,   each with its own name and purpose, be it  royal or common.

Landscapers are working to   restore the grounds to their appearance  at the time of the end of the monarchy,   1890-1892.

Royal palms would be planted as they  once were, lining the drives up to the palace   from Richards and King streets, as well as along  the palace walk behind the building.

Of course,   this magnificent banyan tree will stay.

It's  believed to have been planted by Queen Kapiʻolani,   and is listed in the state registry for trees.

Among the eccentricities of the Royal compound is   the curious barracks structure, completed  in 1870 and originally located where the   state capitol now stands.

The Hawaiian aliʻi  housed their guards in this sturdy coral block   structure with its imitation towers and crosses  straight out of Sir Walter Scott.

Another fixture   in the garden is the bandstand, originally a  part of King Kalākaua's coronation pavilion,   and now used by the Royal Hawaiian Band.

King Kalākaua's many faceted character probably   couldn't have been better symbolized than by the  elaborate confection of ʻIolani Palace.

Completed   in 1882, it features Victorian gingerbread and  a delicate shingled roof.

Royalty swept through   these glass doors and into the great hall with  its wide, gleaming staircase.

James Bartels,   curator of ʻIolani Palace, describes some of the  luxuries to be found within the royal residence.

Here in the Grand Hall, we have the  array of wood seen throughout the palace,   primarily imported cedar which came from the then  foreign country of America.

Also koa, as in this   koa staircase, one of the largest constructs  of carefully select koa wood ever made.

It was Kalākaua who ordered this magnificent  portrait collection painted of Hawaiʻi's kings   and queens.

Only the most renowned artists of the  day would do and their work was hung here in 1886.

Unfortunately, the paintings got less  than royal treatment in later years.

All these portraits and their frames required  considerable conservation.

The most notable   example of this was the Queen Emma portrait.

The  frame had been completely over painted with cheap   radiator paint covering all of the original  gold leaf, and the portrait itself had been   touched up over and over again, and finally, at  one point, one restorer actually painted a new   face on it.

So, the Queen Emma portrait that we  knew had a very European appearance and even had   blue eyes.

And it wasn't until the restorer  got beneath this modern change and found a   very lovely Polynesian Queen underneath.

Here in the Blue Room is another portrait   we're particularly pleased with.

This is of  David Kalākaua, builder of ʻIolani Palace.

It's one of a pair painted by William Cogswell,  who was official White House portraitist of the   day.

A companion piece of Queen Liliʻuokalani  presently hangs in Washington Place.

Behind   these koa doors lies the State Dining Room.

This  was the setting for meals as elaborate as those   served in any of the royal palaces of Europe.

And Napoleon the Third presented various kings   of Hawaiʻi with many of the things you see  in this room.

One of the predominant pieces   is this flamboyant clock in Second Empire style,  also the portrait of Napoleon the Third himself,   that hangs over the large sideboard.

The China  was the best Paris porcelain, custom made with   the Royal Hawaiian coat of arms on every piece.

The crystal, also bearing the royal coat of arms,   was made in Bohemia, where the finest glass  of the period was produced.

The silver, again   from France, was a gift from Napoleon the Third.

After 10 years, the restorations at ʻIolani are   still incomplete.

This project, which started  with structural repairs and has worked down   to minute detail of decor, is probably as  ambitious as the original construction.

In 1911, Andrew Carnegie endowed the Hawaiʻi  Library Project with $100,000.

And two years   later, its doors opened.

One of its more gracious  features is the large garden courtyard.

Here in   the Edda Allen room is found a little-known  masterpiece.

Librarians regularly entertain   groups of children with a Hawaiian legend  that the late muralist Juliet May Fraser   painted here between 1933 and 1934 This was  said to have been her favorite project.

Pastel   shades and flowing lines characterize  Fraser's approach to these legendary   figures.

She portrays them as full of life  and gentleness with love, conquering all.

Restoration has been an ongoing project at  Honolulu Hale the City Hall, its unabashed   California Mexican style so popular in the  1920s, fits comfortably into the potpourri   of buildings around it.

Roy Tangi, director and  building superintendent for the city, admits the   stucco structure is one of his favorites.

This is one of the loveliest buildings   in the civic center.

I like its  attention to the various details,   such as the lantern and the bronze doors.

Each of these fortress-like 1,500-pound doors   were crafted from sheets of bronze and accented  by hammered bronze straps.

Their wrought iron   door pulls are stylized replicas of the lei  palaoa, a Hawaiian chief's ornament fashioned   from a sperm whale's tooth and human hair.

The frescoes that you see above were done by   Los Angeles artist Einar Petersen and we have the  similar frescoes in the council chambers up above.

The painting in the mayor's office ceiling is not  a true fresco in as much as the colors were added   to a concrete ceiling, as opposed to being applied  on wet stucco.

We discovered the ceiling when we   had renovation work done in the mayor's office  to remove the asbestos in the suspended ceiling.

We contacted a local artist by the name of Evelyn  Giddings, and she touched up the painted ceiling.

Giddings climbed ladders and mixed pigments for  two months to complete the job.

In the process,   she repaired distinctly Hawaiian symbols,  canoes, poi bowls and fish.

Images different   from the foyer's American Indian designs.

Unquestionably Hawaiʻi's most sculptural building,   the state capitol has an architectural style that  has come home at last.

It draws its inspiration   and symbolism straight from the islands.

Its  one and eight-tenths acres of reflecting pools   represent the Pacific Ocean around our islands.

Planted firmly in the midst of these clear,   sparkling waters, is a building of unequivocal  openness.

Its 40 pillars are styled after the palm   trees of Hawaiʻi.

The twin cone shaped legislative  chambers represent the subterranean depths of the   volcanoes which created these islands.

The roof  design symbolizes the summit of the volcano.

From the top of the balcony is an exceptional  view of Tadashi Sato's, glass mosaic Aquarius.

As I walked in here, I noticed that the building  was surrounded by water.

But as I came into this   center area, there was no sight of water.

Fortunately, the very same time, my work was   involved with the subject matter of submerged rock  and water reflections.

And it was a matter of just   transferring the oil media into a mosaic media for  this particular design.

What you see today here   is just about the right aging process.

When it  rains, it falls, this whole area gets wet.

You get   another dimension, a sensation, visual sensation.

Hi.

How are you?

What are you doing here?

Finishing up, just looking up  repairs, what repairs may be done,   get some new pieces out, areas like that.

It looks wonderful now, you know, yeah,   Vienna born Alfred Preis, is one of Hawaiʻi's  living treasures, an outstanding architect.

He was also the first executive director of  the State Foundation on Culture and the Arts,   and a key member on planning committees for  the Capitol district.

Mr. Preis comments on   how he feels in retrospect about the artworks in  and around the Capitol, such as the hangings by   Ruthadell Anderson.

These woven tapestries are  found in the State Senate and House chambers.

The tapestries, which are gigantic, some of the  largest in this particular manner in the world,   have been shaped in such a way to fit the double  curves of the chamber, and nowhere are there   bulges.

We did not want to be provincial, so  we wanted to participate in the high level of   the arts available anywhere else.

So, the two  chandeliers were done by Otto Piene, a German,   now an American, an outstanding artist.

Piene's Moon in the Senate is made of   polished aluminum and about 630 white  chambered nautilus shells.

His chandelier   of the Sun shines in the House and is  made of gold-plated copper and brass.

The legislature created a Father Damien committee  to commission a work of art on Father Damien, who   was a priest elevated to sainthood just recently  for his work with the lepers.

Marisol Escobar   from Venezuela, came to New York already with a  world reputation.

When she participated in here,   she did what we all considered the very, very  best piece she ever did, her masterpiece.

And the spirit of Liliʻuokalani.

The sculpture is here.

It has been done   by a woman from Boston, Marianna Pineda, a very,  very famous sculptress.

She has the ability to   combine the traditional approach with some harder,  stronger forms and shapes, geometric shapes.

On the mauka side of the capital on  the mountain side, an armed forces   memorial was intended as part of the original  master plan.

Bumpei Akaji has been selected,   and he did a piece which there's an internal flame  in it, and it's a high point in that area also.

Mr. Akaji says he based his eternal flame on a  tiki in its most organic form.

The copper base   with its abstract, fluid shape, was derived from  studying the lines of old black lava rock.

The   master plan for the civic center called for a  new attitude in determining the placement of   buildings and the surrounding landscape.

We wanted to have as a dominant theme,   from the ocean up to the mountain, one continued  forest or a park where you walked out of the   canopies of trees, open space is larger and more  dominant and more important than the buildings   themselves.

All buildings here are kept below a  level of 65 feet.

The capital is 65 feet.

Nothing   is supposed to be taller than the capital, with  the exception of a municipal tower at that end.

One of the prime considerations in designing the  Honolulu Municipal Building was to leave the view,   the mauka-makai view, intact, so that one can see  from King Street the mauka view of Punchbowl.

The   unique feature of this building is, as you can  observe, it's column free between the two end   walls.

Actually, what supports the all the floors  are the spandrels that are supported at each end.

The building from the second floor, tapers  on upward, so as you go to the upper floors,   the floor gets wider than the lower floor.

The sculpture you see between the Honolulu   Municipal Building and the Mission  Memorial Buildings was designed by   the internationally known artist Isamu  Noguchi.

Noguchi envisioned this sculpture   as a unifying element in the civic  center.

And if you walk around Skygate,   you will then begin to see the  vista's framed by the three elements.

Shelter the essence of architecture in all  its forms in and around the Capitol building,   comprising many grand designs, comes home in this  sculpture, Skygate, with its minimal shelter,   a principle so integral to those grass houses that  are now only a romantic memory of Hawaiʻi's past.

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