Punahou’s Middle Field

Posted: April 20, 2019 | Author: | Filed under: USkO | Tags: , , | Leave a comment

April 2019 was our fourth year of collaborating with AIA during Architecture Month, and today’s event (at Punahou School’s Middle Field) was as enjoyable as before. Observing the weather earlier in the day, we were wondering if we would get washed away, but the skies cleared in time. AIA representative and long-time USkO sketcher Mayumi started us off with a brief overview of the history and architecture visible from our venue – also passing around an old map of campus – before we dispersed to sketch. Dillingham Hall (where hundreds of student dancers performed in elaborate costumes this morning), Castle Hall (scheduled to be demolished soon), a lively softball game (Punahou played Kamehameha), and several other sights on campus made appearances in our sketches. Show and tell was a great opportunity to get to know our fellow sketchers, whose styles were as wonderfully diverse as their backgrounds (including architects, planners, writers, editors, and scientists), and several of whom shared their personal connections to and memories of Punahou.

We ended the event with a giveaway of sketch supplies kindly and generously provided by
Hawaiian Graphics and AIA.

As always, don’t forget to check out our sketches on Flickr and upload your own!

See you at our next event on May 4!

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AIA and USkO team up again!

Posted: April 10, 2019 | Author: | Filed under: USkO | Tags: , , , | Leave a comment

Architecture month has arrived – we hope you will join us for our aptly-themed sketch event at Punahou on April 20!

Don’t forget to register for the campus architecture tour ($15) by April 12 (this Friday) – contact Camilla (camilla@aiahonolulu.org) to secure a spot!

On a related note, I recently had the opportunity to be interviewed with AIA representative Jacy Youn about Architecture Month on Hawaii News Now. Below is a photo of me sitting on the set of the Sunrise show just after our segment. As you can see, I am still in shock from being on TV with
Guy Hagi!

Art-itectural Sketching

Posted: April 21, 2018 | Author: | Filed under: USkO | Tags: , , , | Leave a comment

For the third year in a row, USk Oʻahu joined forces today with Honolulu’s AIA chapter to celebrate Architecture Month. After a friendly welcome by Mayumi (and little Mari), sketchers radiated from the AIA Honolulu Center for Architecture. Buildings along Fort Street Mall (including the popular C. Brewer building) were documented along with urban scenes, including the delivery of a fresh batch of biki bikes. The diversity of motivations and media invited lively discussion at our show-and-tell session, as well as browsing of sketch books in search of scenes captured last year from the same vantage point. Adding to the architectural theme of the event, Purnima treated us to an insightful overview of the history and architectural provenance of buildings in the area, before we wrapped up the morning with a raffle of sketching paraphernalia.

As always, don’t forget to check out our sketches on Flickr and upload your own!

See you at our next event on May 6!

 

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Artitecture Month!

Posted: April 14, 2018 | Author: | Filed under: USkO | Tags: , | Leave a comment
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Don’t miss it – it’s artitecture month again!

Wrapping Up Architecture Month

Posted: April 29, 2017 | Author: | Filed under: USkO | Tags: , , | Leave a comment

The venue for our second April event was one of downtown Honolulu’s historic landmarks, the Dillingham Transportation Building. Undoubtedly as the result of a flash flood warning just an hour prior, turnout was on the low side. Those who attended were treated to perfectly dry conditions though, in a lovely setting. We sketched the surrounding high-rises (of which there was no shortage), searched (under Mayumi’s guidance) for nautical elements and other architectural Easter eggs in the Dillingham Transportation Building, shared our sketches (some exhibiting new approaches and tools), and chatted into the evening.

Thanks to Mayumi and AIA Honolulu for including us in their April calendar of events! We hope to be part of Architecture Month again next year!

As always, don’t forget to check out our sketches on Flickr and upload your own!

See you at our next event on May 6 at the Hawaiʻi Book and Music Festival!

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Architecture Month!

Posted: April 9, 2017 | Author: | Filed under: USkO | Tags: , | Leave a comment

Using the AIA Center for Architecture as our base, 30 sketchers (our biggest turnout so far) fanned out to explore the neighboring streets of downtown Honolulu. The view of picturesque Aloha Tower proved too much to resist for many of us, but the intricate details of building facades, gates, and doors, as well as the many shrubs, trees, and planters in the area all received due attention too. And who knew there was a cannon nearby!

To add an educational element to the sensory experience, Mayumi treated us to an overview of the architecture and history of some of the prominent buildings on and around Fort Street Mall. Hands up: who knew about the Russian fort (and later prison) that lends Fort St. Mall its name?

Show-and-tell was stunning in the wonderful setting of the AIA Honolulu headquarters, which also provided a great environment to mingle afterwards and talk about upcoming opportunities and events during Architecture Month.

We closed out the day with a raffle and our usual celebratory group photo (fitting everyone in the frame proved challenging).

As always, don’t forget to check out our sketches on Flickr and upload your own!

See you at our next event on April 28 at the Dillingham Transportation Building!

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AIA Central

Posted: April 17, 2016 | Author: | Filed under: USkO | Tags: , | Leave a comment

Positioning ourselves at AIA’s headquarters on Fort Street Mall not only made for a fitting end to our participation in Architecture Month but also offered varied views, from Aloha Tower to modern skyscrapers downtown. Our home base was fully equipped, sheltered, and lit, all courtesy of the AIA Honolulu Center for Architecture. Nice!

We were joined by many newcomers, including professional architects and students of the trade (the latter after an extensive courtship), which allowed us to form an almost perfect oval around a square desk during show-and-tell. Lloyd shared with us his philosophy of documenting his travels exclusively through sketches, rather than photos, as well as some of his work from trips to Malaysia, Nepal, and Bhutan. A professional architect by day, Lloyd uses HB pencil and a mini ruler to quickly position his sketches and keep those straight lines straight. Eyes were also drawn to Purnima’s full-size pastel painting which stood out among the (mostly) pen and pencil sketches.

Homemade mochi and a raffle closed out our day. Although this was our final sketch event for Architecture Month, AIA Honolulu has many more activities planned for April. Mahalo nui to Mayumi for suggesting and helping set up this fitting collaboration – we hope to do it again in 2017!

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Don’t forget to check out the day’s sketches on the USkO Flickr page.

See you at the next event on May 7!

Next Architecture Month Event!

Posted: April 9, 2016 | Author: | Filed under: USkO | Tags: , | Leave a comment

Straight Lines, Slanted

Posted: April 8, 2016 | Author: | Filed under: USkO | Tags: , , | Leave a comment

Yesterday’s evening event at the King Kalākaua Building offered the kind of challenges and opportunities we had envisaged for Architecture Month. Tight spaces, columns, arches, domed ceilings, tall buildings, ornate details, and – as a non-architectural bonus – quickly fading daylight.

A good turnout, which included several architects, made show-and-tell particularly lively and enlightening. Mayumi, representing AIA, the co-sponsor of our two architecture-themed events this month, treated us to a short introduction to the historical and architectural aspects of the building (the stylized hibiscus flowers in the Corinthian column capitals featured prominently in several sketches). A common theme during our conversation was the struggle to maintain perspective in our depictions of soaring buildings from up close. Jon’s sketch of the space between office buildings (and the narrative he provided with it) provided perspective in more than an architectural sense. Wide-angle views complemented sketches of particularly attractive details (oh, those Corinthian capitals!), some of which became the focus of our sketches unintentionally as the rest of the scene fell off the page, lost to our misjudgment of perspective.

Finally, as cookies made the rounds, we raffled off a few sketching-related items that were well received by the winning parties. Architecture Month continues with our second event downtown on April 16 – see you there!

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Don’t forget to check out Thursday’s sketches on the USkO Flickr page.

AIA Architecture Walking Tour

Posted: April 28, 2015 | Author: | Filed under: USkO | Tags: , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Last Saturday we (AJ, Harald, and I) attended the American Institute of Architect’s (AIA) Architecture Walking Tour “Downtown Honolulu – 20th Century Architectural Styles”. Although AIA regularly offers tours throughout the year this one was only offered once in 2015 as part of Architecture Month.

For two hours I learned about the history and styles of buildings in the business district – a place I have spent little time in and have not cared for much before. By the end of the tour I no longer saw downtown as just a jumble of high-rises. Each building has its own story. For example, the No.1 Capitol District Building was originally the site of the first Royal Hawaiian Hotel commissioned under King Kamehameha V and opened in 1872 to host foreign dignitaries and friends of the royal family. The hotel was then converted to a YMCA in 1917 and used by the military in World War I and II. In 1926, while in military use, the hotel was demolished and a Spanish mission revival style building was erected which has housed the Hawaii State Art Museum since 2000.  An art museum in Honolulu that I was aware of, but had not been to. Will have to pay it a visit soon… It is located on the aptly-named South Hotel Street.

The final historically significant structure we visited was the Aloha Tower. Built in 1926 it originally served as a lighthouse but was decommissioned in the late 1960s and is now being revitalized by Hawaii Pacific University. The view from the observation deck is outstanding. In order not to be in the way (and view) of other visitors to the deck, we decided to sketch the tower and its surroundings from the marketplace.