Hawaiian Architecture

Hawaiian architecture is a distinctive building style developed primarily in the Hawaiian Islands, centered on the hale, a structure built from natural Hawaiian materials using designs that were prevalent through the nineteenth century. Builders typically used rock or wood for the lower frame and grass or leaf thatching for the roof, adapting construction to the islands' climate and available resources. Building sophistication varied by social rank, ranging from simple shelters for commoners to more elaborate thatched homes raised on basalt foundations for the alii, or nobility, and the specific pattern in which dried plants and lumber were fashioned together could identify a builder's caste, skill, trade, profession and wealth. Four classic hale forms are recognized: the open walled hale halawai, the lean to hale kuai, the fully enclosed hale noa, and the A frame hale waa.