Shangri-La Museum of Islamic Art and Culture (1938) *

Artist/Designer: Islamic Architecture

Project Location: Honolulu, United States

Figure 1: Islamic Architecture Collected by Doris Duke, Shangri-La. Source: ShangriLa Museum, (2018). Digital Image. ( Source | Photographer: Shangri La Museum )

Figure 2: Islamic Architecture Collected by Doris Duke, Shangri-La. Source: ShangriLa Museum, (2018). Digital Image. ( Source | Photographer: Shangri La Museum )

Style/Period(s):
Vernacular, Modern

Primary Material(s):
Wood, Fabric, Color, Textile

Function(s):
Residential Structure, Exhibition

Related Website(s):

(Part of the exhibition Philanthropist, Environmentalist, Collector: Doris Duke and Her Estates, curated by Mary Samouelian and Molly Bragg

(Portal to the Doris Duke archival collections at Duke University.)

” The Door to Shangri La (blog)

Marion Sims Wyeth - Archtiect Information | Accessed : December 3, 2018

Doris Duke's Shangri La | Accessed : December 3, 2018

Doris Duke General Information | Accessed : December 3, 2018

Significant Date(s):
20th Century, 1938, 1936, 2002

Additional Information:
Publications/Texts in Print:

Bier, Carol. “Catching the Light, Catching the Waves: The Suzani Collection of Doris Duke at Shangri La in Honolulu, Hawai‘i.” Paper presented at the Textile Society of America Symposium, Honolulu, HI, September 24–27, 2008.

Daskalakis Mathews, Annie-Christine. “Damascus 18th and 19th Century Houses in the Ablaq-‘Ajamī Style of Decoration: Local and International Significance.” PhD diss., New York University, 2004, see especially pp. 253–258.

Kennedy, Thalia, “Gandhi and Doris Duke: Revitalization of a Crafts Tradition.” Shangri La Working Papers in Islamic Art, no. 3, Shangri La: A Center for Islamic Arts and Cultures, Honolulu, HI, July 2012.

Komaroff, Linda. “Doris Duke and the Islamic Art Collecting Tradition,” in Thomas Mellins and Donald Albrecht, eds., Doris Duke’s Shangri La: A House in Paradise. New York: Skira Rizzoli, 2012.

Littlefield, Sharon. Doris Duke’s Shangri La. With an introduction by Carol Bier. Honolulu: Doris Duke Foundation for Islamic Art, 2002.

Littlefield, Sharon. “Doorways to Paradise: Islamic Art for Doris Duke’s Honolulu Home.” In Power Underestimated: American Women Art Collectors, edited by Inge Reist and Mamoli Zorzi, 211–226. Venice: Marsilio Editori, 2011.

Littlefield, Sharon. “Collecting for Design: Islamic Art at Doris Duke’s Shangri La,” in Thomas Mellins and Donald Albrecht,eds., Doris Duke’s Shangri La: A House in Paradise. New York: Skira Rizzoli, 2012.

Mellins, Thomas, and Donald Albrecht, eds., Doris Duke’s Shangri La: A House in Paradise. New York: Skira Rizzoli, 2012.

Mellins, Thomas, and Donald Albrecht, “Inventive Synthesis: The Architecture and Design of Shangri La,” Thomas Mellins and Donald Albrecht, eds., Doris Duke’s Shangri La: A House in Paradise. New York: Skira Rizzoli, 2012.

Milwright, Marcus, “Doris Duke and the Crafts of Islamic Syria.” Shangri La Working Papers in Islamic Art, no. 2, Shangri La: A Center for Islamic Arts and Cultures, Honolulu, HI, July 2012.

Overton, Keelan, “From Pahlavi Isfahan to Pacific Shangri La: Reviving, Restoring and Reinventing Safavid Aesthetics, ca. 1920–40,” West 86th: A Journal of Decorative Arts, Design History, and Material Culture 19, no. 1 (Spring—Summer 2012): 61–87.

Overton, Keelan, “Commissioning on the Move: The Cromwells’ Travels and Patronage of ‘Living Traditions’ in India, Morocco and Iran,” in Thomas Mellins and Donald Albrecht, eds., Doris Duke’s Shangri La: A House in Paradise. New York: Skira Rizzoli, 2012.

Phillips, Amanda, “Ottoman Silk Furnishing Fabrics in the Doris Duke Foundation for Islamic Art: Fashion and Production, 1600–1750,” Shangri La Working Papers in Islamic Art, no. 4.

Phillips, Amanda, “The historiography of Ottoman velvets, 2011-1572: scholars, craftsmen, consumers,” Journal of Art Historiography, no. 6 (June 2012): 1-26.

Thackston, Wheeler, “Shangri La Highlights in Translation.” Shangri La Working Papers in Islamic Art, no. 1, Shangri La: A Center for Islamic Arts and Cultures, Honolulu, HI, February 2012.

Building Address: 4055 Pāpū Cir, Honolulu, HI 96816

Significant Dates: Construction Dates (1936-1938) as a Residence
Opened as a museum (2002)

Supporting Staff/ Designers:

Doris Duke (Client and Designer)
Marion Sims Wyeth (Architect)

Tags: Islamic Architecture, Islamic Interior, Islamic Textiles, Islamic Patterns, Modern Exhibitions, Renovation

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