Gothic
The first experiment of Gothic architecture in Hawaiʻi was undertaken by the Hawaiʻi Catholic Church. Discontent with the earliest designs of the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace in 1910, Bishop Libert H. Boeynaems began an ambitious project to transform the Hawaiian mission cathedral into a unique cathedral in what was to be called Hawaiian Gothic architecture. The first phase of Boeynaemes' project was the construction of an elaborate porch over the cathedral entrance. By the time it was completed, he had exhausted his financing. Such an elaborate architectural style proved too costly. His successor, Bishop Stephen Alencastre, stripped the cathedral facade of its Gothic style and financed his own renovation project. The addition of Doric columns transformed the cathedral into a simple but elegant classical building.
A more successful rendering of the Hawaiian Gothic style came as Kamehameha IV assumed the throne and established the Anglican Church of Hawaiʻi — the present-day Episcopal Diocese of Hawaiʻi. With the advice and consent of his bishop Lord Thomas Nettleship Staley, Kamehameha IV oversaw the drafting of plans for the Cathedral Church of Saint Andrew. Unfortunately, the king died and his brother Kamehameha V was left to lay the cornerstone. Completed in 1867, the Cathedral Church of Saint Andrew was the first instance of the use of vaulting in Hawaiʻi. Also, while the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace was the first to employ stained glass, the royal cathedral installed larger panes as allowed by vaulting.
Other notable buildings constructed in the Hawaiian Gothic style are the Royal Mausoleum and the Aloha Tower. Hawaiian Gothic architecture was not as widespread for the reasons Bishop Boeynaems and Bishop Alencastre found in their experiments with the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace. The elaborate treatments were too expensive and were deemed unsuitable against the backdrop of the Hawaiian environment. People believed that any Gothic building in Hawaiʻi would look out of place.
Read more about this topic: Hawaiian Architecture
Famous quotes containing the word gothic:
“It is perhaps the principal admirableness of the Gothic schools of architecture, that they receive the results of the labour of inferior minds; and out of fragments full of imperfection ... raise up a stately and unaccusable whole.”
—John Ruskin (1819–1900)
“A Gothic cathedral affirms that it was done by us and not done by us.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“The Gothic cathedral is a blossoming in stone subdued by the insatiable demand of harmony in man.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)