Archive for the ‘architecture’ Category

Tweet Last week, I asked how we can make historic preservation a more lucrative option.  Today, Aaron Kimberlin tells us about one way to do just that – Tax Increment Financing: ___________________________________________________________________________________________ Nationally, Tax Increment Financing (“TIF”) is the foremost tool used to stimulate downtown redevelopment and economically jumpstart blighted areas.  Arizona is the only state in the U.S. that does not promote this redevelopment tool.  Let me repeat that… ARIZONA IS THE ONLY STATE IN THE U.S. THAT DOES NOT PROMOTE THIS REDEVELOPMENT TOOL. That doesn’t necessarily mean that the City of Phoenix should follow in the State of…

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Tweet “I think most buildings that are being built are very much focused on managing cost…So you tend to see less creativity in that environment, less exciting designs, less upscale materials being used in them.” Kermit Baker, the CFO of the American Institute of Architects (AIA), says in today’s CNN article, ‘Masterpieces’ on hold, waiting for better times. Once again, the American Insititute of Architects has missed the mark. Just because there isn’t room for fancy new skyscrapers in the American budget doesn’t mean that there is less creative, less exciting design on the horizon.  In fact, I contend that…

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Tweet As Jim McPherson mentioned yesterday, there’s already a criteria in place to evaluate whether a building is worth saving or not, and that is the Phoenix Historic Property Register.  There is also the National Register which is essentially the same but slightly different.  Here’s a look at what they require… The Phoenix Historic Property Register Criteria: The Phoenix Historic Preservation Commission shall evaluate each parcel of property within an area that is included in the application for a demonstrated quality of significance in local, regional, state, or national history, architecture, archaeology, engineering or culture, according to the following criteria:…

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Tweet As I mentioned yesterday, there was some strong disagreement in the historic preservation community about my post Why Not All Buildings Should be Saved.  It’s important to hear all points of view on this subject and have a constructive discussion about it.  Below is Jim McPherson’s point of view about the Leighton Knipe house and historic preservation in Phoenix.  Jim is a respected leader in the community.  He serves on the board of the Arizona Preservation Foundation and is the winner of the 28th Annual Governor’s Heritage Preservation Grand Award.  He reminds us that we already have a strong…

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Tweet Last week I posted my point of view about why not all old buildings should be saved.  I used the Leighton Knipe house as an example of an old building that isn’t necessarily worth fighting for.  But a few people in the historic preservation community disagreed with me.  One of the people who’s spoken out about the Leighton Knipe house is Bob Graham, a local architect doing important work in historic preservation and other urban projects. I interviewed Bob to get his point of view about why he thinks this building is important and why it should be saved:…

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May 31, 2010

Why not All Old Buildings Should be Saved

by: Taz Loomans

Tweet This weekend, the Phoenix Historic Neighborhood Coalition (PHNC) released the Most enDangered Dozen.  It’s a list of local historic buildings in danger of being torn down, some because they are in blighted neighborhoods, some because they themselves are in terrible condition and some because their owners have foreclosed.  In other words, these properties are on the verge of being sold to some very enterprising but potentially culturally insensitive people that will likely tear these buildings down. The buildings that made this list elicited different reactions from me.  With some of them like the Art Deco Professional Building and Al…

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Tweet Green building is all about solar panels, smart thermostats and fancy gray water plumbing right? Well, not really.  Those things are components of green building, but they’re not the entire story.  Far from it. The most effective green building happens when ancient wisdom is combined with new technology.  Unfortunately, this ancient wisdom is not as sexy as new technology can be and hence it rarely gets much press. Some examples of ancient wisdom are orienting your building for passive solar design, using the least amount of materials to build, using local materials, and reusing what is usable. Today I…

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May 25, 2010

The BIG delusion in Phoenix

by: Taz Loomans

Tweet Paul and I live in a 920sf unit with 3 cats.  Does this seem small to you?  No that’s not our place in the photo.  That’s a luxury home in Queen Creek. Here’s what’s making me think that size does matter.  Yesterday I wrote about the Awakening the Dreamer Symposium which highlighted the environmental, spiritual and social issues of our world today.  One of the exercises of this event was to question our assumptions. The assumption I want to challenge today is about size.  Here are some variations of the basic assumption that bigger is better: bigger = more…

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Tweet In my previous post, What is the Arizona School, I mentioned that Frank Lloyd Wright was the father of the Arizona School, a term coined by Reed Kroloff for the style of architecture unique to this Place – the desert.  Yesterday, I had the pleasure of taking a tour of Taliesin, Wright’s farm, residence and school complex in Spring Green, WI. Farm building at Taliesin – now used as residence space for students This tour gave me a deeper perspective on what Wright was working on before he made Scottsdale his winter home and embarked on a new style…

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Tweet This week I’m traveling in Milwaukee, WI visiting family.  One of the best parts of traveling is that it gives you a fresh perspective on what’s back home. The prevailing trend is that people from the midwest move to sunny Arizona because of the weather and the promise of a new start.  But that doesn’t mean that there isn’t a whole lot that’s right in the midwest that Arizona could learn from. So during my stay in Milwaukee, I’ve been thinking about what Phoenix can learn from this city.  One of the big differences I’ve seen is in the…

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