Asian overcame barriers in design industry
Ernest Hideo Hara / Pioneering Architect
Ernest Hideo Hara, one of the first Asian architects in Hawaii, overcame racial discrimination in his profession and helped build a bridge between the East and West during his prolific career.
The award-winning architect, who designed dozens of schools, hotels and commercial projects throughout the state, died at the age of 97 at his Honolulu home Nov. 19.
Hara graduated from the University of Southern California in 1935 and became one of the first Asians from Hawaii with a degree in architecture when he landed his first job with Claude Stiehl in Honolulu. In 1941, he went to work for C.W. Dickey and Associates. He initially refused to accept the job for $20 less per week than what "mainland" architects were paid, and then won pay equity.
It was his first experience of discrimination on the salary scale and he resolved never to let that happen in his own office, according to his professional biography. He helped start an Asian-American draftsmen's club even before World War II. Hara opened his own office in 1945, Ernest H. Hara & Associates, and was by then an active member of the American Institute of Architects.
He became a founding member of Central Pacific Bank in 1950, serving on the board of directors from 1954 to 1980. The bank was first envisioned as a means to provide the local Japanese community with better access to banking services.
Throughout Hara's career, he created organizations that acted as bridges between groups. For example, in 1968 he led a group of 68 U.S. architects to meet with the Japan Institute of Architects in Japan, then traveled to Taiwan and Hong Kong. The cross-cultural tours that followed led to Hara being awarded the Order of the Rising Sun, Fourth Class, from Japan in 1984.
As an alumnus of Punahou School, he was appointed a trustee in 1969, once again breaking new ground as the first Asian on the board. He also built a number of facilities at Punahou, one with his son, John Hara, who later built his own formidable reputation.
By 1982, Hara's diversified practice had designed at least 43 major school projects, 36 significant apartment/hotel projects and 32 commercial projects.
His first major school was the Robert Louis Stevenson School in 1950. His hotels included the Waikiki Grand Hotel in 1962, the Queen Kapiolani Hotel in 1968, and the Hilo Hawaiian Hotel in 1976. He built the Waikiki Shopping Plaza in 1975 and the Central Pacific Bank Building in 1981.
Among his several awards, Hara won the Medal of Honor from the American Institute of Architects/Hawaii State Council in 2002. It is awarded to an architect "who has significantly advanced the profession ... (and) has proven an inspiration to fellow practitioners."
He is was married to the former Claire Nishikawa in 1937. Hara is survived by his sons John Masayuki Hara and Michael Takao Hara; daughter Ann Misayo Higashi; brother Nobuo Hara; and five grandchildren.
Services will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday, with visitation from 9 a.m. at Thurston Memorial Chapel. Arrangements have been made by Hosoi Garden Mortuary. The families request no flowers.