Hart Wood: Architectural Regionalism in Hawaii

6. Wood Leads the Hawaiian Regional Architecture Movement

98 During the years 1924–1926, Wood continued to combine a variety of design elements in an effort to formulate the guiding principles for a regional architecture appropriate to Hawaii. The directions he had explored in the Albert Wilcox Memorial Library, Wilcox Memorial Parish Hall, First Church of Christ Scientist, and the residences of Francis Ii Brown and Rudolph Bukeley were perpetuated and further developed in five residential commissions of this period. The houses built for attorney and later territorial governor Ingram M. Stainback and for Doctors Van Poole, Morgan, Reppun, and Faus represent the work of a mature designer combining traditional elements in new ways that teeter on the cutting edge of a new architectural conceptualization of Hawaii. Each of these houses eclectically embodies a variety of forms, in an attempt to create a new architecture appropriate for the Islands. They vividly reflect Hart Wood’s thoughts of the moment: Weoftenhear,thatHawaiishouldhaveadistinctivestyleofarchitecture for her homes, but those who make the statement seldom realize that the development of an architectural style is not a matter of accomplishment by one generation. It takes hundreds of years to establish an 6 WOOD LEADS THE HAWAIIAN REGIONAL ARCHITECTURE MOVEMENT 99 Wood Leads the Hawaiian Regional Architecture Movement FIGURE 70. Morgan residence, Honolulu. Exterior in 1920s. accepted “style”—and then it will be, in all probability, a combination of several other “styles,” molded to the especial requirements of a local condition.1 Five completely different design concepts, these residences disclose the variety of avenues pursued by Wood once the thought of Hawaiian Regionalism crystallized in his mind. Distinct statements unto themselves , each house stands as an initial step, the foundation stone on which the architect and others might build more mature designs. The most elaborate of the houses, the Dr. James A. Morgan residence , dwells primarily within the stylistic lines of the Mediterranean Revival with its tile roof, round arched openings, and lava rock walls covered with plaster (figs. 70–72). Built in “the rambling Spanish style,”2 100 C H A P T E R S I X 100 101 Wood Leads the Hawaiian Regional Architecture Movement the residence’s sprawling plan maximizes the opportunities for crossventilation and provides multiple vistas of its verdant grounds. A glorification of its lush, temperate setting, the house well reflects Wood’s heightened awareness of Hawaii’s beneficent climate and resonates with the architect’s love of quality detail (figs. 73–80). An open secondfloor passageway provides the only connection between the bedroom wing and stairway to the first floor, requiring the residents to regularly encounter the outdoors on their daily sojourns between bedroom and the world. Similarly, the dining room opens, through sliding doors, onto lanai on two sides and a paved courtyard on the third. FIGURE 71. Opposite. Morgan residence, Honolulu. (David Franzen, 1981.) FIGURE 72. Morgan residence, Honolulu. (David Franzen, 1981.) 102 C H A P T E R S I X 102 FIGURE 73. Opposite. Morgan residence, Honolulu. Living room. (David Franzen, 1981.) FIGURE 74. Above. Morgan residence, Honolulu. Dining room. (David Franzen, 1981.) FIGURE 75. Left. Morgan residence, Honolulu. Water feature sculpture seen from dining room. (David Franzen, 1981.) FIGURE 76. Morgan residence, Honolulu. Interior column detail, the work of Mario Valdestri. (David Franzen, 1981.) FIGURE 77. Morgan residence, Honolulu. Lanai details. (David Franzen, 1981.) FIGURE 78. Opposite. Morgan residence, Honolulu. Main stairway. (David Franzen, 1981.) FIGURE 79. Opposite. Morgan residence, Honolulu. Second floor hallway detail. (David Franzen, 1981.) FIGURE 80. Morgan residence, Honolulu. Chapel. (David Franzen, 1981.) The Dr. Gideon M. Van Poole residence stands as an uneasy dialogue interlaced with Colonial and Mediterranean Revival quotations (figs. 81–88). Sited above Nuuanu Stream on a beautifully landscaped lot, this house further explores the possibilities of recombining traditional architectural forms to create a new three-dimensional statement on Hawaii’s heritage and climate. The gable-roofed second story stirs Colonial associations , while the stuccoed first story and its cloister walk with vaulted ceilings and round-arched openings bespeak a Mediterranean and Renaissance influence. An amazingly adroit essay in juxtaposition, the dwelling’s formal living room and large, more casual, enclosed lanai at the rear of the house open on each other and a Classically inspired terrace, overlooking the less formally planted, more tropical Nuuanu Stream. Like the Morgan residence and so much of Hart Wood’s work, this substantial house, which cost approximately $25,000 to build in 1924, is...