50 years later, ‘war on ugliness’ still relevant

On Dec. 17, 1964, at a press conference resembling a scene out of the ’60s-genre show, "Mad Men," architect Vladimir Ossipoff declared a "War on Ugliness."

Known for designing gracious kamaaina homes and iconic modern structures such as the IBM Building and the Honolulu International Airport’s ticketing hall, Ossipoff was incoming president of the American Institute of Architects Hawaii Chapter, and his declaration of war wasn’t about razing ugly buildings and replacing them with beautiful ones. Rather, it was a call for community-wide engagement.

"We will use all the resources at our disposal to make the people of Hawaii, and particularly those in our urban areas, more aware of the part every individual and segment of our community can play in making this a more beautiful place to live and work," said Ossipoff.

In the early, booming 1960s, there was the need for land-use rules to guide urban Honolulu’s rapid physical development. Waikiki, in particular, was a concern: The jetliner was transporting unprecedented numbers of tourists here, and landowners were building hotels just about anywhere. Honolulu did not have a robust zoning code, so buildings were going up with little control.

For Ossipoff, it was about creating a modern city of elegance and efficiency, versus one of ugliness. He was not against development, but knew it could be done better.

In a 1965 interview, he stated: "We all tend to decry the explosion of our city … it’s really pointless to decry it. We just need to do the best we can with the fact that it’s here, and try to guide it." For Ossipoff, proper guidance of urban growth had more to do with respecting Hawaii’s unique natural gifts rather than maximizing profit.

Also key to Ossipoff’s war was the raising of public consciousness. The City Council and then-Mayor Neal Blaisdell eventually passed the Comprehensive Zoning Code, the state’s first municipal zoning code, in 1967.

Waikiki’s concrete jungle proved, however, that land-use rules and permitting aren’t enough to prevent ugly. It takes informed, inclusive planning and an engaging process of design review to ensure livable results. Specifically, it involves the design of streets, landscapes and spaces between buildings, infrastructure integration and progressive guidelines for aesthetics.

Cities such as Denver, Portland, Seattle, San Francisco and the revitalized Fort Worth are fine examples of urbane public realms.

Now, 50 years later, the issue of ugliness reemerges and poses similar questions. Kakaako’s redevelopment, rail transit, West Oahu suburban sprawl and the many new high-rises are today’s battlegrounds.

Is the community-wide engagement that Ossipoff called for 50 years ago present today? Now, 50 years later, is our public sufficiently informed? Are key decisions made with adequate participation? Have we compiled metrics of fact and opinion as a sound basis of decision-making? Who is educating and leading our communities? And ultimately, who will benefit from the outcomes? Ideally, our people would gain a better place and future while private-sector industries grow and profit.

Much progress has been made on informing the public of future development plans, but is the War On Ugliness really over?

Again, in Ossipoff’s words from 1965: "I think we can only hope that the public itself will be more discriminating in what it is willing to accept. … Sometimes, unfortunately, the public has had very little choice."

Moving forward, wide-reaching changes are needed to increase our public’s understanding of how inclusive planning followed by an engaged design process can improve Hawaii nei. Elevate the need for good design among all sectors of our population: Our schools and colleges must educate urbane-minded young adults who can demand more of our civil servants and businesses to invest in a better built environment. A foundation must be laid now for a more sustainable, resilient and livable Hawaii.

Our new governor and all elected officials must make this issue a priority, then guide a vision for our public realm — and finally win the War On Ugliness. If not, who will?

Dean Sakamoto, principal of Dean Sakamoto Architects/SHADE group and an instructor at Yale University, curated the 2007-2008 exhibition, "Hawaiian Modern: The Architecture of Vladimir Ossipoff" at the Honolulu Museum of Art; his office is in the Ossipoff-designed IBM Building in Kakaako.