HAWAIIANS have long been accustomed to rubbernecking tourists.
Last week, however, it was the islanders themselves who flocked to downtown Honolulu to gawk at their state's newest wonder, a $26.6 million capitol.
The building handsomely demonstrates what can happen when an imaginative private architect designs a major U.S. government building. By any measure, it was a personal triumph for an architectural team headed by San Francisco's celebrated John Carl Warnecke, 50. His design for the building, which took more than three years to construct, blends beauty, symbolism and enough conveniences to satisfy any bureaucrat.
The edifice occupies an eight-acre site, separated by a magnificent...
