Walking tour spotlights UH architecture, history

A two-hour walking tour will cover a mile and more than a century of the University of Hawaii at Manoa’s fascinating history. Offered by the American Institute of Architects Honolulu as part of its Architecture Month observance throughout April, the tour will spotlight notable structures and spaces on the university’s flagship campus, which is marking its 110th anniversary this year.

“Participants will see buildings in a variety of styles,” said Purnima McCutcheon, project architect at Group 70 Design and co-chairwoman of the tour committee. “Given time and distance limitations, we will see as many architectural gems on campus as possible.”

Here are highlights.

Hawaii Hall

Built: 1912

Design architect: Clinton Ripley; preliminary drawings were created in 1909 by John Mason Young, a professor of engineering

Style: Neoclassical

McCutcheon: “The Neoclassical style was popular in America from the mid-19th century to early 20th century. The buildings in this style are simple, elegant, rule-bound, symmetrical and typically massive and awe-inspiring, often with free-standing columns. Neoclassical is essentially the revival of classical Greek and Roman architecture and first emerged as a reaction to the excessive ornamentation of the Baroque and Rococo styles that preceded it.”

Significance: Hawaii Hall was the first permanent building on campus and the first building in the Quadrangle (now known simply as the Quad), which includes five other Neoclassical buildings constructed between 1922 and 1995. Originally the hub of campus activities, Hawaii Hall housed classrooms, administrative offices, the library, an art studio, an animal husbandry laboratory and an athletic locker room.

Bachman Hall

Built: 1949

Design architect: Vladimir Ossipoff

Style: Hawaiian Modern

McCutcheon: “This unpretentious two-story building is almost 70 years old, yet it still feels fresh and relevant today. It addresses functional needs while harvesting breezes, offering protection from the sun and rain, and honoring the cultural context; for example, there’s a stone ahu, or Hawaiian shrine, in the center of the courtyard. I love the sophisticated anthropometric sensitivity that Ossipoff displays in breaking up the courtyard from larger to smaller spaces and providing access to it through ground-floor walkways and two-story loggias. This prompts visitors to slow down and take a few minutes for introspection and to experience the spirituality of the place.”

Significance: Bachman Hall was named after Paul Bachman, UH Manoa’s fifth president. It made front-page news in 1968 when students held a 10-day sit-in there to protest the Vietnam War and denial of tenure for Oliver Lee, an assistant professor of political science who was advising an anti-war students group.

This building was Ossipoff’s first collaboration with the acclaimed artist Jean Charlot, who created frescoes on the lobby walls on the ground and second floors. Titled “The Relationship of Man and Nature in Old Hawaii,” the ground-floor mural, completed in 1949, was a gift to the university from the graduating classes of 1949, 1950, 1951 and 1952. An anonymous donor commissioned Charlot to paint “Commencement” on the second floor in 1953.

Jefferson Hall

Built: 1963

Design architect: I.M. Pei (he designed the glass pyramid at the Louvre)

Style: International, modern movement

McCutcheon: “In architecture, modernism emphasizes balance, strength and structure rather than ornament. It also makes practical, efficient use of space and materials — steel, glass and concrete here. Among the East-West Center’s first buildings, Jefferson Hall and Kennedy Theatre are modern in style. Both are minimalist and sculptural. Form and functionality are well integrated, and there’s nothing superfluous about their girders and I-beams.”

Significance: Named after Thomas Jefferson, the third U.S. president, this building features striking murals by Jean Charlot, Affandi of Indonesia and David Barker of New Zealand. The garden behind it, funded by Japanese businessmen and designed by esteemed Japanese landscape architect Kenzo Ogata, is a beautiful, peaceful example of living art.

Elements include a teahouse, a concrete lantern and pagoda, stone paths, waterfalls and a koi-filled pond. Juniper, azalea, bamboo and black pine are among the abundant greenery. Then-Princess Michiko of Japan (now the reigning empress) planted a pink shower tree there in May 1964.

John F. Kennedy Theatre

Built: 1962

Design architect: I.M. Pei

Style: International, modern movement

McCutcheon: “’Placemaking’ refers to designs that are people-centric rather than vehicle-centric. Jefferson Hall and Kennedy Theatre are all about placemaking. They face each other with a wide swath of pavement in between, which serves as a connecting walkway as well as part of the street. This piazza is deliberate in its attempt to slow down traffic and create a visual pause. The buildings ‘borrow’ this space from the street to enlarge and connect the space fronting them — their paved terrace — and encourage activities there such as yoga, dance, potlucks and martial arts.”

Significance: President John F. Kennedy was assassinated a few days before the theater formally opened in November 1963, so it was named in his honor. It and Jefferson Hall were among the first buildings that made up the East-West Center.

Born and raised in Honolulu, UH-Manoa student Bette Midler was cast in the theater’s production of the Gershwin musical “Of Thee I Sing” in 1964. She relocated to New York the following summer and went on to earn national prominence.

Cheryl Chee Tsutsumi is a Honolulu-based freelance writer whose travel features for the Star-Advertiser have won several Society of American Travel Writers awards.