Kalanimoku Building

The Kalanimoku Building is identifiable by its dark, mid-century modern facade and the clean, rhythmic vertical lines of its concrete fins. Built in nineteen fifty-eight, this office block served as the primary hub for Hawaii state government agencies following statehood. Its name honors William Pitt Kalanimoku, a powerful nineteenth-century statesman who managed the kingdom's finances and foreign relations. He became known as the Iron Cable of Hawaii, a reputation for stability that state officials clearly hoped to project through these walls.