Left of Central Logo

Go Left of Central for
Modern Phoenix Week April 12 - 21

We bet you're here for the tour!
Our 9th Annual home tour features Phoenix's fabulous West Side neighborhoods such as Starlite Vista, SunView Estates, North Central Avenue and the Midtown Garden Apartment district. This self-guided tour will take visitors through vintage modern homes by Ralph Haver, Charles Polacek and Robert Starkovich as well as contemporary remodels by The Ranch Mine, Mod Architecture + Planning, JNL Homes, JoBuilt Construction and Modern Design Environments LLC. Contractors, homeowners and architects will hang out on site to interact in a casual and fun setting!

Modern Phoenix Week Highlights
Modern Phoenix Week is so much more than a tour, it's full of entertaining and educational events held by the Valley's design community for the public. Most events are free, check schedule below for ticketing or RSVPs on:
  • Seminars, workshops, gallery openings, tours, films & slide shows on modern design and preservation.
  • Design Expo featuring fine art, modern furniture, real estate, jewelry, vintage fashion, green design, interior design, custom contemporary furniture, design preservation & education
  • Advice on the research, restoration and preservation of midcentury architecture
  • Door prize drawings

Home Tour SOLD OUT!

Ticketholders may join us April 21 from 1 to 6 pm and discover the midcentury architecture of Phoenix's fabulous West Side! Tickets and map to the check-in station will be emailed in April.

Are there any tickets left? Attend the Modern Phoenix Expo on April 20th to enter to win the last remaining pair of home tour tickets at 3:30. Must be present to win.

Read on to see other ticketed tours, films, and FREE events for Modern Phoenix Week.

Get on board next year with our newsletter

Sign up for our mailing list to receive advance notice of Modern Phoenix events, special offers, tours, preservation news and midcentury modern design updates. There's still plenty to do during Modern Phoenix Week, and we're adding more events as Modern Phoenix Week approaches!

Email:

Modern Phoenix Week Events

We schedule several events leading up to Home Tour and Expo Weekend. Many are free, some are ticketed online, check for details. If you have an event you'd like to host, contact alison@modernphoenix.net for consideration. We are particularly open to events on the West Side!

FRI APRIL 12 \\\ 7 - 10 PM \\\ FREE
Drawings by Kelsey Dake
At Phoenix Metro Retro in Central Phoenix
+ SHOW MORE
Join us for a reception and meet the artist Kelsey Dake, one of Print Magazine's Top 20 under 30. She'll have drawings of vintage neon signage available for purchase. Location: Phoenix Metro Retro 708 West Hazelwood Phoenix, AZ 85013 Phone: 602.279.0702

Kelsey Drake Illustration

SAT APRIL 13 \\\ 11 - 11:45 AM \\\ FREE WITH RSVP
Private Tour of Paolo Soleri's Cosanti Foundation with Roger Tomalty
At Cosanti in Paradise Valley.
+ SHOW MORE
Join us for a tour of Paolo Soleri's 1959 Cosanti complex led by his special assistant Roger Tomalty. 10% discount on all Soleri windbells and books purchased by RSVPed participants on day of tour. Wheelchair accessible. Meet in the gift shop area at 11 am.

Event is free with RSVP at 928-632-6225.
Address: 6433 Doubletree Road (east of Invergordon.) Scottsdale 85253

cosanti


SAT APRIL 13 \\\ 1 - 2:30 PM
Ultimate Tour of the Hotel Valley Ho
TICKETS $19.56 \\\ 480-499-8587
At the Valley Ho in Scottsdale
+ SHOW MORE
Explore the architecture and past of this mid-century-modern landmark, a Hollywood hideaway since 1956 and host to stars like Janet Leigh, Bing Crosby, and Natalie Wood. Designed by architect Edward Varney, Hotel Valley Ho is known for its “Flintstones meets Jetsons” style. Tour meets at the Valley Ho. Valet Parking available. Questions? Call (480) 634-6850. Tickets are $19.56 at 480-499-TKTS [8587] or purchase tickets online here.

valley ho
MON APRIL 15 \\\ 7 - 8:30 PM \\\ FREE
"People in Glass Houses"
A Film about Joseph Eichler

At Design Within Reach in Scottsdale
+ SHOW MORE
Midcentury Modern enthusiasts will delight in this film celebrating the passion of homeowners, architects and fans of the homes built by Joseph Eichler in California between 1949 and 1974. People in Glass Houses is the first film to explore the legacy of the Eichler phenomenon and seeks to discover what makes these homes so compelling. Featuring interviews with seven Eichler owners in the San Francisco Bay area, as well as conversations with Ned Eichler, son of Joseph Eichler, and Paul Adamson, noted author, Eichler historian and architect.

eichler
View Trailer on Youtube. Cocktails at 6:30, film starts at 7. Address: 4821 North Scottsdale Road, Scottsdale, 85251. T: 480-970-8800

TUESDAY APRIL 16 \\\ 7 pm \\\ FREE
Architecture “Slide Slam” Presentation In collaboration with AIA Arizona
+ SHOW MORE
See Valley architects present their work. Includes Page Repp, AIA, Repp Design & Construction; James Richärd, AIA, Richärd + Bauer; Mark Ryan, AIA, Mark Ryan Studio; and Matthew and Maria Salenger, AIA, CoLAB. Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts, Stage 2 Theater.

slide slam
Flynn Redux 2012 project by CoLAB

FRI APRIL 19 \\\ 9:30 - 11 AM \\\ TICKETS TBA
Tour the Superlite Block Factory with Tazmine Loomans
At 42nd Ave & West Highland Ave.
+ SHOW MORE
Discover how Phoenix became the Block Capital of the World on this guided tour of the Superlite block factory on Phoenix's west side. Learn about the materials being used to restore the David and Gladys Wright house in Arcadia, and see actual Superlite blocks being made with architectural critic and writer Tazmine Loomans. Tickets will be announced here, via newsletter and social media when ready. Do not call the SMOCA box office.

superlite globe
Expo

Modern Phoenix Expo April 20

Free workshops, slide shows, ticketed tours, exhibitors and a movie make this a day full of learning and fun. Home tour ticket holders may enjoy free admission to SMoCA all day long!

Our Modern Marketplace on the light-flooded floor of the Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts atrium on Expo Day is the ideal venue to find new products or services related to Modernism, architecture, interior design, literature and home renovation. Vintage fashion, jewelry, furniture, lighting and accessory dealers are encouraged to exhibit. Contemporary interior designers, landscapers, furniture designers, green builders and architects are also welcome to apply. Contact alison@modernphoenix.net to apply for an exhibition space. Spaces are $250 and $400.

9 - 9:45 AM \\\ FREE WITH RSVP
Private Tour of Paolo Soleri's Cosanti Foundation
With Roger Tomalty
Meets at Cosanti in Paradise Valley
+ SHOW MORE
Join us for a tour of Paolo Soleri's 1959 Cosanti complex led by his special assistant Roger Tomalty. 10% discount on all Soleri windbells and books purchased by RSVPed participants on day of tour. Wheelchair accessible. Meet in the gift shop area at 9 am.

RSVP at 928-632-6225
Address: 6433 Doubletree Road (east of Invergordon.) Scottsdale 85253.

cosanti

10-11:30 AM \\\ TICKETS $19.56
Ultimate Tour of the Hotel Valley Ho
With Ace Bailey of Ultimate Art Tours
+ SHOW MORE
Explore the architecture and past of this mid-century-modern landmark, a Hollywood hideaway since 1956 and host to stars like Janet Leigh, Bing Crosby, and Natalie Wood. Designed by architect Edward Varney, Hotel Valley Ho is known for its “Flintstones meets Jetsons” style. Tour meets at the Valley Ho. Valet Parking available. Questions? Call (480) 634-6850. Tickets are $19.56 at 480-499-TKTS [8587] or purchase tickets online here.

valley ho

11 AM - 12 PM \\\ FREE
Research your Midcentury Modern Home Using Primary Sources
With Donna Reiner and John Jacquemart
+ SHOW MORE
John and Donna guide a small group through researching a midcentury home or neighborhood using local resources and online databases. Workshop features access to the Modern Phoenix archives of vintage magazines and newspapers from the 50s and 60s, and John's personal collection of primary sources.

research

12 - 1 PM \\\ FREE
Phoenix's Street of Dreams: The Visual Extravaganza That Was Van Buren
With Douglas Towne
+ SHOW MORE
In the age before interstate highways, roadside strips dominated by "gas, food and lodging" enterprises attracted customers with their exotic names and animated neon signs. Van Buren Street was Phoenix's main strip where four major cross-country highways coalesced into one thoroughfare. Called the "Funset Strip" by locals, Van Buren's signage and whimsical architecture was set to follow the pattern of Las Vegas, but now scant evidence remains of this glamorous era. Retro-journalist Douglas Towne will illuminate Van Buren's dazzling history and share contemporary preservation strategies being used to save roadside strips and signage.

van buren
1 - 2 PM \\\ FREE
A Modern Castle in the Sky: The David & Gladys Wright Residence
By Frank Henry
Studio Master Emeritus, Taliesin West
+ SHOW MORE
Arizonans and the international community were in suspense for months as the fate of the David & Gladys Wright House by Frank Lloyd Wright hung in the balance -- real estate developers threatened to level the iconic architectural masterpiece in Arcadia last year, testing the mettle of Arizona law Proposition 207. Using vintage photography, blueprints and Taliesin lore, Mr. Henry will illustrate the building's history and construction and relay the effort of several alliances that worked to preserve the vintage modern home in its darkest hour.

david wright

2 - 3 PM \\\ 3- 3:30 BREAKOUT SESSION \\\ FREE
Creating Places of Peace in Modern Environments
With Troy Bankord
+ SHOW MORE
As an organic landscape & interior designer, Troy Bankord's Midcentury home & garden designs have been featured in publications, on architectural tours and on television for over 25 years. Join Sunset Magazine’s King of Concrete Block & Phoenix Home and Garden Magazine’s Master of the Southwest for an exploration of how his principles of indoor-outdoor connectivity, layering, circular energy and balance invite the warmth of peace into the orderly tenets of our modern homes and lifestyles.

bankord

3:30 - 4 PM \\\ FREE
Door Prize Drawings
+ SHOW MORE
Check out all the amazing door prize contributors listed in the section below! Visit the Expo and enter to win original and locally-crafted design. Must be present at time of drawing to win! Contact alison@modernphoenix.net to become a door prize contributor and have your business permanently linked to on this page.

4 - 5:30 pm \\\ FREE
Paolo Soleri: Beyond Form
Arizona Premiere of Documentary About Paolo Soleri
+ SHOW MORE
This cinéma vérité style documentary presents a fresh look at the legendary and multi talented man Paolo Soleri, known as an artist, craftsman, architect, urban theorist, and philosopher. He known by most as an architect engaged in prototyping an alternative to suburban sprawl, known as Arcosanti. Now nearly 94 years old, you'll see why Paolo Soleri was green before “green” and “sustainable” ever entered the world lexicon. The film will be followed by a Q-and-A session with director Aimee Madsen and a guided tour of SMoCA's Soleri exhibition featuring Cosanti Foundations’ Tomiaki Tamura and Roger Tomalty with SMoCA Assistant Curator Claire C. Carter.


Preview the trailer here. Held at Stage 2 of Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts. Seating is limited. Tickets are $7 and may be ordered online here or by calling 480-499-TKTS [8587]. Address: 7380 E. Second Street, Scottsdale, 85251 and Parking Information

Exhibitors & Door Prizes

Our Modern Marketplace on the light-flooded floor of the Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts atrium is the ideal venue to find new products or services related to Modernism, architecture, interior design, literature and home renovation. Vintage fashion, jewelry, furniture, lighting and accessory dealers are encouraged to exhibit. Contemporary interior designers, landscapers, furniture designers, green builders and architects are also welcome to apply. Contact alison@modernphoenix.net to apply for an exhibition space. Spaces are $250 and $400.
Expo

Door Prizes

Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art
Modern Phoenix
Noble Beast

Add your company's contribution here!

Apply

Contact alison@modernphoenix.net to apply for an exhibition space.

10X10 = $250

10X20 = $400

Download PDF application here

All first time vendors must be pre-screened by Alison before payment can be accepted.