Hawaiian Modern

Book excerpt: At the forefront of the postwar phenomenon known as tropical modernism, Vladimir Ossipoff (1907-1998) won recognition as the "master of Hawaiian architecture.” Although he practiced at a time of rapid growth and social change in Hawaii, Ossipoff criticized large-scale development and advocated environmentally sensitive designs, developing a distinctive form of architecture appropriate to the lush topography, light, and microclimates of the Hawaiian islands. This book is the first to focus on Ossipoff’s career, presenting significant new material on the architect and situating him within the tropical modernist movement and the cultural context of the Pacific region. The authors discuss how Ossipoff synthesized Eastern and Western influences, including Japanese building techniques and modern architectural principles. In particular, they demonstrate that he drew inspiration from the interplay of indoor and outdoor space as advocated by such architects as Frank Lloyd Wright, applying these to the concerns and vernacular traditions of the tropics. The result was a vibrant and glamorous architectural style, captured vividly in archival images and new photography. As the corporate projects and private residences that Ossipoff created for such clients as IBM, Punahou School, Linus Pauling, Jr., and Clare Boothe Luce surpass their fiftieth anniversaries, critical assessment of these structures, offered here by distinguished scholars in the field, will illuminate Ossipoff’s contribution to the universal challenge of making architecture that is delightfully particular to its place and durable over time.