Arizona 2008 Official State Visitor's Guide - (Page 11) © Arizona Biltmore ASU Gammage ©TCVB Arcosanti, Craft III Exterior ©AOT In Tempe, much architectural action happens in and around Arizona State University. On campus, Old Main, built in 1884, serves as a great photo op for visitors, while circular ASU Gammage, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, is the site for touring musicals, plays and more. Nelson Fine Arts Center, designed by Antoine Predock, houses ASU’s art museum, entered through a cooling, subterranean courtyard. Off campus, stroll the shops and restaurants of downtown Tempe’s Mill Avenue District, where some storefronts date back to the late 1800s. Downtown’s newest attraction is the Tempe Center for the Arts, with its distinctive, peaking roofline, designed by Barton Myers Associates of Los Angeles, in conjunction with Architekton of Tempe. There, look for performances by local arts groups. Across town, Glendale boasts its own historically significant downtown district, where you can shop for antiques and vintage clothes, or try one of several cozy eateries. At Sahuaro Ranch Park Historic Area, tour the main house, packing shed and other buildings of this 19th century farm. Glendale’s architectural crown jewel is the silvery sphere known as the University of Phoenix Stadium, opened in 2006 and designed by New Y ork architect Peter Eisenman. Inspired by the shape of a barrel cactus, the stadium is the site of the 2008 Superbowl. Want to spend the night somewhere architecturally significant in metro Phoenix? Try the Arizona Biltmore Resort, the grande dame of area resorts, designed in the late 1920s by Albert Chase McArthur, a student of Frank Lloyd Wright’s. In Scottsdale, the recently preserved and updated Hotel Valley Ho is a way-cool example of mid-century hipster style. PreScoTT and cenTral arizona As you travel north from Phoenix through Central Arizona, the high desert yields several architectural treasures. Montezuma Castle National Monument is one of several sites in the Verde Valley built by the ancient Sinagua people. Walk the monument’s paved trails along the creek to see elaborate, multistory cliff dwellings, built of the local limestone. In Cordes Junction, architect Paolo Soleri’s experimental community, Arcosanti, is meant as an alternative to urban sprawl. Take a tour, or browse the selection of cast-bronze windbells, a signature item. Back in metro Phoenix, you can also visit Soleri’s home base in Paradise Valley, Cosanti, a smaller version of Arcosanti. T a walk through Prescott, which ake is known for its blocks of fanciful Victorian homes and charming cottages, many of which have been lovingly restored. At Sharlot Hall Museum, a few blocks from the courthouse, you meander amidst a collection of period buildings, including an 1864 log cabin. Spend the night in architectural splendor at Prescott’s Hassayampa Inn, designed in 1927 by the El Paso, Texas firm, Trost & Trost. Ponder the “modern” Mission style of the restored hotel, and be sure to admire the hand-painted beams in the elegant lobby. w w w.ari zonaguide.com • 11 http://www.arizonaguide.com
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