Modern Phoenix specializes in the primary source documentation of midcentury modern design in Phoenix. We also cover contemporary architecture and rehabilitations of old structures of the Modern era. We often acquire reprints of articles written and published elsewhere (sometimes long ago) with the author's consent.
This page features our articles with substantial interviews and commentary by text, or in-depth photo essays.
If you can't find what you're looking for here, try our Architects or Neighborhoods page for less text-heavy material, deeper links and external resources.
Superlite Concrete Masonry Units helped shape Phoenix into the concrete block capital of the world. The architecture that happened along the way is distinctly Phoenician, and modern by virtue of its cost and form.
The Shaffer residence by Ard Hoyt in Clearwater Hills is another home in danger of being scraped for something better. Help us find it a new owner.
The Van Ess House from 1964 receives a landmark dedication in Arizona
There's a reason why exterior lighting looks so funky in Phoenix. Meet James Salter AIA, lighting design virtuoso of the 60s.
Our Midcentury Marvels Map complements the new book out by the City of Phoenix and Ryden Architects. It's the only comprehensive survey of midcentury commercial architecture in Phoenix, placed in a national and international context. Order the Midcentury Marvels book here.
Watch as the façcade to Beadle's 341 building on Camelback gets scraped for something better.
Architect DK Taylor settled down in Scottsdale and built a beautiful home in Paradise Valley. He even designed the Sandra Day O'Connor house, a work so distinctive it was disassembled brick by brick and rebuilt in Papago Park! Find out more about this obscure architect and his desert modern homes.
Modern Phoenix Week 2010gave participants an interactive view into restored midcentury modern homes in Paradise Gardens, Paradise Valley and Uptown Phoenix. Our speaking engagements, gallery show and other Modern Phoenix Week events are extensively covered in over 500 images.
Beef Eaters Restaurant has been vacant for years. What could the future hold for this unique postmodern property?
Farewell, Mountain Bell. On September 27, 2009, Phoenix witnessed the demolition of Al Beadle's Mountain Bell Building. Our 360º coverage of the event includes historic photos, interviews with preservation specialists and the design community, a talk with Nancy Beadle and high-quality video of that fateful day.
The Stewart Motor Company aka Circles Records by W.Z. Smith is the latest postwar modern masterpiece on the market in Downtown Phoenix.
Piecing Together Paradise Gardens on its 50th Birthday. Al Beadle didn't want to be cited as the architect behind Paradise Gardens in North Phoenix, so why is he still getting credit 50 years later? David Tyda ventures out to set the record straight, and finds it's still kinda crooked.
Fred Guirey, FAIA, designed some of the most unique homes in the Phoenix area, and much of the roadside architecture we drive by every day. And we just love it! Includes original photos from the 1940s, a roster of his built projects and an interactive map of his architecture in the Valley.
Calvin C. Straub, FAIA inspired thousands of students in who attended his World Architecture lectures at Arizona Sate University. An accomplished architect in his own right, this "father of California post-and-beam architecture" fused the arts and crafts tradition with modernism and brought his special blend of design to Phoenix in the 1960s.
The professional portfolios of Haver, Nunn & Jensen. And Nelson. And Collamer. And Associates. According to his staff it was still "Haver, Nunn-the-less". View over 27 of the firm's award-winning projects in Arizona (many of them long gone) including the Cine Capri theater, the Koko Club, First Federal Savings and Loan, Barrow's, The City of Phoenix Municpal Complex and Coronado High School.
Charles and Arthur Schreiber: Modern for the Market Walt Lockley's latest research into the work of the Schreiber brothers, architects of familiar tract homes of Village Grove, HIdden Village and Vilage Meadows. Includes printable souvenir PDF.
Al Beadle's Executive Towers. in 1962 Alfred Newman Beadle designed the tallest highrise residental structure ever in uptown Phoenix. Join us for an insider's tour of this seminal work in Beadle's career.
Jazz Standard: The Lorna House. See Shawn Kaffer's transformation of a Haver Home in Starlite Vista. The latest in our series of articles published in partnership with Desert Living. Includes 28 minutes of audio!
Save-a-Haver! What happens when a savvy MoPho acquires Ralph Haver's own family home without the sellers knowing it? Pure ModPhx Magic.
The professional portfolios of Haver, Nunn & Jensen. And Nelson. And Collamer. And Associates. According to his staff it was still "Haver, Nunn-the-less". View over 27 of the firm's award-winning projects in Arizona (many of them long gone) including the Cine Capri theater, the Koko Club, First Federal Savings and Loan, Barrow's, The City of Phoenix Municpal Complex and Coronado High School.
NEW!Modern Phoenix Week 2011 focused on the Sunnyslope nieghborhood with a home tour, Epxo and events all week long from April 9 - 17 2011.
Modern Phoenix Week 2010 gave participants an interactive view into restored midcentury modern homes in Paradise Gardens, Paradise Valley and Uptown Phoenix. Our speaking engagements, gallery show and other Modern Phoenix Week events are extensively covered in over 500 images.
The 5th Annual Founding Fathers of Modern Phoenix home tour in 2009 gave participants an interactive view into restored midcentury modern homes in the Uptown Phoenix and Arcadia neighborhoods including homes designed by Ralph Haver, Al Beadle, Blaine Drake, Calvin Straub, Ned Sawyer, Harold Ekman and Don Woldridge.
A Survey of Multifamily Condos and Apartments in Central and Uptown Phoenix, featuring great design by familiar architects. Produced using resources compiled by the Historic Preservation Office of the City of Phoenix.
VINTAGE ARTICLES
The Phoenix Municipal Building put out a neat little brochure about their Haver and Varney-designed building to help educate the public.
Aerial Phoenix as seen through vintage postcards including the Phoenix Municipal Building by Ed Varney and Associates, and the Phoenix Financial Center by W.A. Sarmiento
Save our Soleri! Help the students and alumni of Santa Fe Indian School voice concern over the announced demolition of the Paolo Soleri Amphitheater in Santa Fe.
Not sure what the forums are all about? We've created this primer of essential reading on our message boards that illustrate the kind of in-the-trenches community activism that the ModPhx community embodies. Education, urban planning, architecture, neighborhood associations, real estate, historic preservation, DIY and gentrification are all addressed here with a healthy sense of humor. And pigeons. Boy, do we have pigeons.
Save-a-Haver! What happens when a savvy buyer acquires Ralph Haver's own family home without the sellers knowing it? Pure ModPhx Magic.
Reinventing the The Lorna House. Ongoing discussion since 2004 about the role of the architect, whether architecture is supposed to be transcendent, and why Haver Homes are so darn neat.
The Battle for 44th and Camelback
It's been a long and tough battle, but we finally made an impact in preservation of Frank Henry's Valley National Bank design. The new condo proposal is DENIED by City Council. Read all about it here.
The MoPho SinkHo
Find out what happens when a 60 year old cesspit septic system collapses in your backyard. Laugh out loud hilarious.
Be Careful what you Wish For
Longtime ModPhx members Michael and Stacy boldly go from bad to worse on their master bedroom renovation.
Washburn Piano Building Slated to be Demolished
Watch the story of Washburn unfold from the first mention of its threatened status in 2005 until the building's demolition in March of 2007. Includes gory photos of the demo at the end.
Second Story Addition on a Haver Home (April Fools)
We had everyone including our neighbor across the street believing this hoax. It caused quite a stir in the preservation community for the 24 hours it circulated. And yes IT IS A JOKE!
I'm Having Pigeon Issues
Some humane and not so humane ways of dealing with those pesky modern pigeons that like to crap on our perky modern homes.
The Modern Phoenix Dictionary. Crackerbox? Valeian? SoSco? Walrus? Get all the neighborhood vocabulary answers you need here.
The House for Me? Unearthing public opinion about neighborhoods and the role of the realtor.
The Notorious Animal House of Windemere Debate. One of our best conversations when the market was at its peak and declining in 2005. It goes to prove that just because it is a Haver doesn't mean you can push the market.
Haver in the 'Hood for Sale Putting the 'Hood back in Haverhood. Conversations and humor about a decidedly transitional neighborhood about to pop -- Rancho Ventura. No matter what you call the neighborhood, it certainly elicits a strong reaction.
