Hawai‘i of Tomorrow

In this series, Hawaiian Electric envisions resourceful, sustainable islands that adapt to the challenges of the coming decades, especially climate change. Brilliant collaboration with experts across industries, community groups and local artists manifested stories that imagine what Hawaiʻi’s future might look like in 2050.

In 1947, Hawaiian Electric commissioned a series of advertisements that imagined how Honolulu would emerge from the war years as a thriving, modern city. These pen-and-ink drawings were infused with idealism and creativity, with the artist and author using what today we would call design thinking to sketch a gleaming Honolulu that was just over the horizon.

Seventy-five years later, Hawaiian Electric commissioned Hawaii Business to create a successor that reflects the same kind of optimism and confidence in Hawai‘i’s future as we recover from one of the most disruptive experiences of our lifetime.

Honolulu of Tomorrow described a place where the built environment worked in harmony with Hawai‘i’s natural beauty. We wanted a fresh take on this, a Hawai‘i of Tomorrow that envisions resourceful, sustainable islands that adapt to the challenges of the coming decades, especially climate change.

We talked to people about what they see for the Hawai‘i of 2050, including experts in design, transportation, agriculture and energy. We received ideas from groups like the Center for Tomorrow’s Leaders and the Office of Indigenous Innovation at University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa. While technology is an important element of the future they described, so is the responsible stewardship of our islands’ natural resources.

In this final installment of the series, writer M. Kaulana Ing describes how education hubs provide an immersive learning experience, illustrated by artist Xochitl Cornejo, and imagines a dynamic new Waikīkī that has become an amazing model of climate change adaptation, illustrated by artist Solomon Enos.

I hope you enjoyed this project and that it continues to inspire discussion, as it has at Hawaiian Electric. You can send your comments and ideas to future@hawaiianelectric.com. Our Climate Change Action Plan sees us eliminating carbon emissions from power generation well before 2050 and working closely with our communities to make sure that the clean energy transformation benefits everyone.

With aloha,

Shelee Kimura
President and CEO, Hawaiian Electric

Envisioning a Hawaiʻi of Tomorrow Through Creative Collaboration

Excerpts from Hawaiian Electric’s 1947 publication “Honolulu of Tomorrow”.

Hawaii Business Magazine, in partnership with Hawaiian Electric, summons the optimistic spirit of practical imagination to think about what Hawai‘i would look like in 2050, with special consideration on the challenges of the coming decades. Who better to envision this future than homegrown Hawai‘i artists who create beautiful worlds and futures through imagery. The artists featured in “Hawai‘i of Tomorrow” envision Hawai‘i as a place where people, technology, infrastructure and ‘āina somehow function harmoniously together. Let their visions of the future serve as inspirational and aspirational.

To download the 1947 publication “Honolulu of Tomorrow”, click here!

About the Artists

Kimberlie Clinthorne-Wong

Artist of “The Tranquility of Transportation”

Kimberlie Clinthorne-Wong is an illustrator, designer and ceramicist from Hawai‘i. She received a B.F.A. in Drawing from UH Mānoa and a B.F.A. in Illustration from Art Center of Design. Her diverse range of work includes conceptual editorials to whimsically, surreal and playfully imagined worlds for children’s illustrations. Select clients include 7-Eleven Hawai‘i, Starbucks, The Washington Post and World Vision. She is a co-founder and one of the principal artists of Two Hold Studios, a collaborative ceramic design studio.

Matthew Kawika Ortiz and Roxanne Ortiz

Artist of “Food Powered by ‘Āina”

Matthew Kawika Ortiz and Roxanne Ortiz are a husband-and-wife creative duo who paint under the name Wooden Wave. They draw upon Hawaiian values and concepts to present them in a contemporary context. With conscious attention to detail, their work invites viewers to imagine alternative realities to our current society and environment. They meld elements of the natural world with technology (both, modern and ancestral) to create narratives around mālama ‘āina values. Best known for their large-scale murals depicting sustainable treehouses, Wooden Wave presents a playful perspective that brings hope and joy to those who view their art.

Kate Wadsworth
Artist of “Revitalizing Communities with Streams and Sunlight”

Kate Wadsworth is an illustrator, graphic designer and muralist from Kailua, Hawai‘i. She received her B.F.A. in Communication Arts from Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond. During her time on the East Coast, she strengthened her interest in figurative art and urban sketching. Equally inspired by the natural world, she loves to experiment with bold colors, exaggerated shapes and purposeful line work to tell stories with subtle, deliberate symbolism. Recent clients include the Vans Triple Crown of Surfing and the Sony Open in Hawaii.

Lauren Trangmar
Artist of “A Hub for Hydrogen Innovation”

Lauren Trangmar is an artist, illustrator and graphic designer with roots in Hawai‘i and New Zealand. She specializes in highly detailed illustrations that reference historical, scienti  c illustration with a contemporary, whimsical twist. Her recent work explores themes such as the relationship between storytelling, culture, myths and history, art, science and the study of natural history. Her work is featured in public and private collections throughout the United States and New Zealand including the Honolulu Museum of Art and the Hawai‘i State Foundation of the Arts and Culture.

Solomon Enos

Artist of “Oceania’s Climate Renaissance”

Solomon Robert Nui Enos is a Native Hawaiian artist, illustrator and visionary. He hails from the well-known Enos ‘ohana of Mākaha Valley on O‘ahu and has been making art for over 30 years, exploring a wide variety of media including oil painting, book illustration, murals and game design. A self-described “Possibilist” Solomon’s art expresses an informed, aspirational vision of the world at its best via contemporary and traditional art that leans towards Sci-Fi and Fantasy. His work explores themes of collective-consciousness, ancestry and identity, our relationship with the planet, all through the lens of his experience as a person indigenous to Hawai‘i.

Xochitl Cornejo

Artist of “Observing Innovators in Bloom”

Xochitl Cornejo is a Mexican-American illustrator and 2D animator from Kailua with a passion for bright colors. Inspired by magical realism, Ghibli movies, and the daily life they experienced growing up in Hawai‘i, they like creating fun and whimsical worlds in their art. Their past work includes animated shorts, children’s book illustration, and background art for the animation industry.

Explore the Series: Hawaiʻi of Tomorrow

Hawaii Business Magazine, in partnership with Hawaiian Electric, summons the optimistic spirit of practical imagination to think about what Hawai‘i would look like in 2050, with special consideration on the challenges of the coming decades in this six-part series titled Hawaiʻi of Tomorrow. Click any title below to explore this series!

Part 1: The Tranquility of Transportation

Join Hawaiian Electric in imagining a future when nights are filled only with the sounds of leaves rustled by tradewinds… read more.

Part 2: Food Powered by ʻĀina

Native Hawaiian self-reliance provides a template for imagining a future of innovative stewardship of our natural resources in part two of Hawaiʻi of Tomorrow, a six-part series presented by Hawaiian Electric… read more.

Part 3: Revitalizing Communities with Streams and Sunlight

“Revitalizing Communities with Streams and Sunlight” and local artist Kate Wadsworth pays homage to the restoration of indigenous systems that have existed for generations in Hawaiʻi… read more.

Part 4: A Hub for Hydrogen Innovation

In this part of Hawaiʻi of Tomorrow, the local artist Lauren Trangmar envisions a future where energy production systems feed back into the ʻāina and power our communities… read more.

Part 5: Oceania’s Climate Renaissance

When the sea began to rise, so did our island community, together, in a new era of cooperation. Artist Solomon Enos illustrates how… read more.

Part 6: Observing Innovators in Bloom

The potential of innovation to blossom, like a sprout in a garden pot, is limited by the size of its confines. In 2050, students learn under the infinite sky… read more.