Hawaii’s answer to the vertical garden city espoused by Le Corbusier, this three-tower complex provides 587 residential units on an 8.3-acre city block. Placed parallel to the prevailing trade winds, all the buildings channel these winds through their double-loaded corridors. As one of Honolulu’s earliest high-rise apartment complexes, Queen Emma Gardens set a positive solution to urban dwelling. Featuring a simple, direct design, the buildings’ vertical emphasis is balanced by the steady horizontal rhythms articulated with each floor. The delicate tracery of the inset lanai’s aluminum railings, coupled with the graceful curvature of the concrete sunshades and the deeply recessed, narrow aluminum windows give the structures texture and relief.