THE LIFE AND JOURNEY OF RENOWNED ARCHITECT
Alfred Preis
Laupahoehoe Elementary and High School (now Laupahoehoe Charter School) , Photo Robert Wenkam, courtesy of the Wenkam Family Archive and Preis Family Archive.
A traveling exhibition celebrating the life and work of the renowned Austrian architect Alfred Preis (1911-1994) will open in late May at the Pearl Harbor National Memorial.
T
ropical Modern: Alfred Preis Displaced, will focus on the Austrian émigré, advocate and architect of the USS Arizona Memorial. The exhibit is timed to open when the iconic war memorial known worldwide turns 60 years old. The exhibition focuses on the rediscovery of the vast architectural body of Preis’s work. Preis gained international recognition and accolades for the 1962 USS Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor, a project that he advocated and fought for throughout most of his architectural career. This is particularly remarkable,
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REMEMBRANCE SPRING 2022
considering that he was an escapee of Nazi prosecution and ended up in US internment after the attack on Pearl Harbor, suspected to be an enemy alien. Undeterred, after his release, he forged a path of persistent advocacy for the greater good, promoting the arts and the preservation of the cultural heritage of his chosen new home, Hawai‘i. After an arduous escape with his wife, the young Preis gained experience through working in the architecture firm of Dahl and Conrad. Later he pursued a career as an independent and collaborating architect, becoming
