This year we're co-hosting tours with the Docomomo US National Symposium. The grand finale of our event is the Modern Phoenix Home Tour in Paradise Gardens on April 2. That tour has sold out, but smaller tours are held all week long before the big event!
The one ticket to get!
Become a Docomomo US National Symposium VIP and unlock many of the events shown below! The only national event dedicated to all aspects of Modern design preservation offers two days of lectures and workshops, two evening receptions and tours, two lunches, plus a special VIP event at an exclusive location. Bus transportation included with many events. Continuing education credits available. Some tours ticketed separately.
BUY TICKETS NOWBook signing with Julia Buckingham
Kick off our week with cocktails and meet the interior designer behind last year's home tour smash Casa Lantana as she debuts her brand new book Modernique. At 7 pm, Julia will talk about how to blend vintage and modern style to create environments that are truly Modernique! The book, published by Abrams, will be hot off the press and sold for the first time at this special signing event.
FREE WITH RSVPResearch Your Midcentury Home Workshop
John Jacquemart and Donna Reiner guide a small group through researching a midcentury home or neighborhood using local resources and online databases with our pop-up library of magazines, brochures, newspapers, maps and other materials. Presentation at 10 am, open expert-guided research time from 11 am onward. Hands-on, bring a friend and a camera!
JOIN WAITLISTUltimate Tour of the Valley Ho
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 and Associates, Hotel Valley Ho is known for its “Flintstones meets Jetsons” style. Tour meets at the Valley Ho. Free parking is available on 69th Street and along Main, or use valet at the Ho and get validated for a special $5 (+gratuity) day rate.
JOIN WAITLISTWith Roger Tomalty
Join us for a tour of Paolo Soleri's 1956 Cosanti complex led by his special assistant, now Director of Paolo Soleri Studios, Roger Tomalty. Limited to 35 participants. 20% discount on all books and publications about or by Paolo Soleri purchased by participants on day of tour. Wheelchair accessible. Meet in the gallery area at 9 am.
RSVP VIA EMAILNational Register Dedication
Join the Beadle Family, residents of Executive Towers, The Postwar Architecture Task Force of Greater Phoenix, and For the People at a public celebration of the listing of Executive Towers on the National Register of Historic Places. Large scale steel sculpture by Al Beadle will be staged for sale on the grounds. Roger Brevoort, who wrote the nomination with Donna Reiner's assistance, will give a brief talk at 4:45 pm. Refreshments will be served.
FREE WITH RSVPLFA For(u)m + AIA
Between hotels, residences, restaurants, and retail shops, the impact of the Valley's middle-century is recentralizing around the style's inherent sustainability and sleek design, allowing a new crop of visionaries to highlight these practices and enhance them. This panel discussion features architects, builders, developers, and real-estate representatives behind such acclaimed rehabs as Hotel Valley Ho, multiple Al Beadle projects, Postino, and more.
BUY TICKETSWill Bruder FAIA
Join Copenhagen Imports at their vintage Ralph Haver-designed showroom for food, wine and music before Will Bruder speaks at 7pm. Bruder has been a student of the Sonoran desert since arriving at Paolo Soleri’s Cosanti in the summer of 1967. His architectural interventions include civic/cultural buildings, offices, private residences and mixed use multiples. Bruder believes that the most sustainable architecture is architecture that is loved by its users and appropriate to its place. RSVP the number in your party below or at 602-266-8060.
FREE WITH RSVPEvening reception
Join us for cocktails and apps at sunset at the Docomomo US Modernism in America award-winning Phoenix Financial Center Rotunda by W.A. Sarmiento, recently restored by Shepley Bulfinch.
BUY TICKETSDay 1: Modernism and Climate
Phoenix College, a WPA era campus that experienced a huge modern expansion in the late 60s by the architecture firm Haver, Nunn & Jensen, will host the first full day of lectures a national and local scope on the topic of modernism and climate. Architect, founder and Honorary President of Docomomo International Hubert-Jan Henket will give the morning keynote address tentatively titled: WHERE NEW AND OLD MEET: A plea for sustainable modernity. Become a VIP to bundle this event with others.
BUY TICKETSSuperlite Block Factory Tour
In the 1950s Phoenix became the concrete block capital of the world, all due to a new product called Superlite. Efficient, lightweight and inexpensive, CMU made with Besser Block machines was used by local architects from Wright to Haver and Beadle. Join Wendell Burnette FAIA for a tour the plant where it all started and see how this material is manufactured and has changed over the years. Bus meets at northeast side of south parking lot at Phoenix College.
JOIN WAITLISTTour and sunset reception
Mingle with the Docomomo US Symposium attendees at an evening lecture and tour of Frank Lloyd Wright's winter home Taliesin West. Architect and Docomomo US founding member, Gunny Harboe FAIA will provide guests with an overview of Taliesin West's recent preservation master plan and the evening will conclude with a very special sunset cocktail reception. Become a VIP to bundle this event with others.
BUY TICKETSWendell Burnette FAIA
Burnette will discuss his life, work and how modernism has informed his design approach. Burnette opened his practice in 1996 after years of self-study, training at the Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture and extensive global travel. His practice is concerned with space and light, context and place, and with the environment and landscapes in which we live. Refreshments will be served.
FREE WITH RSVPDay 2: Modernism and Climate
Co-president Jeff Stein and others will lead guests thorough tours, lectures and discussions exploring the legacy and future of Paolo Soleri's Arcosanti, what it is like to live and work there and their vision for the future. In the afternoon, Docomomo US will offer three half-day workshops, with in-depth sessions on how to lead successful advocacy campaigns, conduct historic resource surveys and a hands-on examination of concrete technologies. Transportation from midtown symposium hotel district is provided. Locals are welcome to drive themselves and meet the group at 9:30. Become a VIP to bundle this event with others.
BUY TICKETSMesa's Neon by Night Bus Tour
Join Marshall Shore the Hip Historian and Vic Linoff of the Mesa Preservation Foundation on a guided bus tour of Mesa's main drag. View and photograph the monumental and iconic signs. A portion of the proceeds will benefit the Arizona Vintage Sign Coalition and restoration of the Watson's Flower Shop sign.
JOIN WAITLISTMidcentury Midtown Bike Tour
Use Phoenix's GRID bikeshare program to explore midcentury modern architecture with two experts from the Postwar Architecture Task Force of Greater Phoenix with Greg Kilroy. We'll get you orientied to the smartphone-friendly bikeshare rental then take an 8 mile flat and casual ride through Phoenix's midtown midcentury marvels. Bring your camera! Host Derek Horn will also sign copies of his book Midtown Phoenix. Reserve your spot now, pay on day of tour.
JOIN WAITLISTBus tour with Roger Tomalty
Tour Paolo Soleri's 1956 Cosanti arcology, led by Director of Paolo Soleri Studios Roger Tomalty. Then board the bus to Cave Creek for an intimate and exclusive tour of The Dome House, the subterranean home that Soleri and Mills built in the 1950s. 20% discount on all publications about or by Paolo Soleri purchased on day of tour. Transportation from midtown symposium hotel district is provided. Locals wishing to drive themselves may meet the tour group at Cosanti at 10:30 instead of boarding bus at midtown.
BUY TICKETSBus tour with Donna Reiner
Join Phoenix's expert on midcentury banks for a tour of four former and active midcentury banks by Pereira & Luckman, Weaver & Drover, Al Beadle, and Frank Henry. See how an aggressive design-focused program of growth at midcentury resulted in spectacular examples of organic architecture and regional modernism. A light lunch will be provided by Postino Highland. Transportation from midtown symposium hotel district is provided.
BUY TICKETSFounding Fathers of Modern Phoenix Tour
Discover Phoenix's regional modern masters Ralph Haver, Fred Guirey, Frank Lloyd Wright and Mel Ensign on this bus tour guided by founder of Modern Phoenix, Alison King. Coffee and light fare will be provided by our host at Ralph Haver's Copenhagen in the morning, then we'll conclude with local farmer's market nosh at the Guirey House. Transportation from midtown symposium hotel district is provided.
JOIN WAITLISTBus Tour with Doug Sydnor FAIA
Explore magnificently modern churches by Frank Lloyd Wright, Harold Wagoner, Wendell Rossman and T.S. Montgomery in Phoenix, Scottsdale and Paradise Valley. Styles range from organic architecture to concrete expressionism and space age. You'll also experience the artistry of spectacular faceted glass by Glassart Studio and famed NASA space concept artist Robert McCall. Transportation from midtown symposium hotel district is provided.
BUY TICKETSBest of the Beadle Boxes Tour
Al Beadle is best known for his Beadle Boxes, which are made of deceptively simple modular forms. Tour two of his iconic private homes, Executive Towers and The Triad, whis is the only Arts and Architecture Case Study home to be built outside of California (Case Study Apartments #1). Transportation from midtown symposium hotel district is provided.
JOIN WAITLISTModern Phoenix Home Tour
Features full access to a dozen modern homes in Paradise Gardens, Arizona, many of which were designed by Alfred Newman Beadle in the 1960s. Now 50 years old, the neighborhood is experiencing another surge of development. The tour is park-and-walk with most homes clustered within walking distance of each other. A map will be provided at check-in on tour day. Rain or shine, terms and conditions apply. Join the general admission waitlist or become a DOCOMOMO VIP to unlock a password to purchase the last available home tour tickets.
JOIN WAITLIST
Questions? 602-363-6158
Please note that many events are independently ticketed by partner agencies and many are RSVP. Check each description for details above.
