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Imiloa Astronomy Center of Hawaii

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2005, Durrant Media Five, design architect Mel Choy with Oda/McCarty. 600 Imiloa Pl.

The three titanium cones of the astronomy center provide a dramatic entrance to the science and technology park. The cones, representing the peaks Mauna Kea, Mauna Loa, and Hualalai, house the center's main entrance, along with a planetarium and a restaurant. The forty-thousand-square-foot building also includes a twelve-thousand-square-foot exhibition hall and conference facilities. Surrounding gardens designed by Randall Monaghan feature native plants. Funded primarily by NASA, the center's exhibits interpret both modern astronomy and Hawaiian cultural traditions, and their relationships. The Voyage of the Navigator, the glass mosaic on the lobby floor by Clayton Young, depicts the discovery of the Islands by Polynesians. It was fabricated by Bisazza of Italy.

Mel Choy graduated from the University of Oklahoma in 1965. Media Five was formed in 1972 and merged with Durrant in 2001.

Writing Credits

Author: 
Don J. Hibbard
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Data

What's Nearby

University of Hawaii at Hilo Science and Technology Park
Joint Astronomy Centre
Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory Submillimeter Array
Subaru Telescope National Observatory of Japan
Institute for Astronomy, “Kukahauua”

Citation

Don J. Hibbard, "Imiloa Astronomy Center of Hawaii", [Hilo, Hawaii], SAH Archipedia, eds. Gabrielle Esperdy and Karen Kingsley, Charlottesville: UVaP, 2012—, http://sah-archipedia.org/buildings/HI-01-HA46.1.

Print Source

Cover: Buildings of Hawaii

Buildings of Hawaii, Don J. Hibbard. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2011, 269-269.

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