The metro Phoenix has a rich history of architects and architecture — despite its tendency to tear things down.
Call it a living laboratory or an ephemeral mirage, Phoenix is an ever-changing city, and preservationists have faced long and difficult battles to save residences and commercial structures by Frank Lloyd Wright, Ralph Haver, Bennie Gonzales, or Al Beadle. (Listen to host Mark Brodie’s conversation this week with architect Taz Khatri about pieces of a Beadle house that will be saved from demolition.)
To build something new, it can help to take note of what has come before. See something interesting? Not sure what you’re looking at?
Here’s a quick cheat sheet to spot some iconic designs (before they disappear).
Al Beadle
Beadle was a prolific and leading architect in the Southwest from the late 1950s through the mid-1980s. His homes and commercial buildings dot the Valley and are known for their flat roofs, steel frames, and open-air car ports. The rectangular signature of the homes he designed was so recognizable that homes he designed were often called “Beadle Boxes.”
Wendell Burnette
A student of several of the architects above, Burnette is a contemporary architect still designing buildings throughout the valley. His work is site-specific and modern and often uses natural light and landscape to create functional space. See: Palo Verde Library in Phoenix and Amangiri Resort in Utah.
Will Bruder
After studying under Paolo Soleri, Bruder spent decades designing some of the Valley’s most well-known buildings from 1974 through 2019, when he moved his studio to Portland. He describes his style as "functional fine art based on site and user needs." Spot his work by its signature concrete blocks and sheet metals, as well as its careful positioning in relation to the sun. (Hello, Burton Barr and SMoCA.)
Mary Jane Colter
Colter was the primary architect for the Fred Harvey company from 1902 through 1948, where she designed hotels, rest areas and shopping centers along major railways from Kansas through Arizona, earning her a reputation for a "National Park Service Rustic" style. She designed the Lookout Studio, Desert View Watchtower and Hermits Rest in Grand Canyon National park and was dedicated to regionally appropriate, site-specific architecture that integrated indigenous construction techniques and elements.
Judith Chafee
Chafee’s work can be seen mostly in Tucson, where she lived and taught architecture at University of Arizona. Her designs often categorized as “Desert Modernism” were celebrated for their forward thinking and innovation (a departure from the pueblo revival-style that were popular in Tucson in the 1950s through the 1980s), and their equal attention to indoor and outdoor spaces. Her work has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places, including Viewpoint, the Ramada House, and the Jacobson House, which she designed in the 1970s.
Bennie Gonzales
Gonzales is the creative mind behind several Scottsdale municipal buildings, including city hall, the main library, and its art complex, which he built in the 1960s and 1970s. He also designed the Heard Museum, Cotton Hotel and hundreds of single-family homes throughout the Valley (and around the world). His designs are notable for their absence of right angles, which he often opened up to widen interior and communal spaces. He was also dedicated to incorporating Southwestern and Arizona cultural elements, inspired by Navajo designs.
Ralph Haver
Haver was a beloved architect and creator of the modest and (then-) affordable tract housing developments called Haver Homes, which he built from 1942 through the mid-1980s in Phoenix. His style was contemporary and modern, and his homes can be spotted by their low-sloped roofs, wide carport and window walls, wide overhangs, high ceilings and open floorplans that promoted “cheerful good living.” In addition to houses, Haver designed several prominent buildings, including the the Kon Tiki Motor Hotel and First Federal Savings and Loan (both demolished).
Frank Lloyd Wright
If you’re unfamiliar with Frank Lloyd Wright's design hallmarks, just look for curved facades, open floor plans, low rooflines, geometric stained glass, built-in furniture, and designs that seem to communicate with the surrounding nature. Or head to Taliesin West. Wright designed buildings around the world, but made contributions to the Valley, including Gammage Auditorium, Arizona Biltmore Hotel and the First Christian Church.
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