Hawaiʻi 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’re talking to people about what they see for the Hawai‘i of 2050, including experts in design, transportation, agriculture and energy, and receiving 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 describe, 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 Waikiki that has become an amazing model of climate change adaptation, illustrated by artist Solomon Enos.
I hope you enjoy this project and that it inspires 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
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 Makaha 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.
Featured Artists in Hawaiʻi of Tomorrow
 Kate Wadsworth |
 Lauren Trangmar |
 Kimberlie Clinthorne-Wong |
 Wooden Wave |
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!
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 Resistance
Native Hawaiian artist, Solomon Enos creates a dynamic new Waikiki in the year 2050, a place that has become an amazing model of climate change adaptation… read more.
Part 6: Observing Innovators in Bloom
In 2050, students learn under the infinite sky. In each school complex, outdoor education hubs outnumber placid classrooms, each site a star in a constellation of learning spanning mauka to makai. Education hubs provide an immersive learning experience in the final installment of Hawaiʻi of Tomorrow presented by Hawaiian Electric… read more.
