Posts Tagged ‘historic preservation’

July 26, 2010

Feasting on Phoenix: Creating Community over Food and Place

by: Taz Loomans

Tweet There’s something special about sitting down over a meal and how it brings people together and forms a special bond between them. This is what happens at the Places, Spaces and Faces Community Dinner (PSF) every month. This event started about 6 months ago by some dedicated Phoenix residents who were craving community, Yuri Artibise, Kathleen Bartolomei, Jim McPherson, Marshall Shore and myself. The first one happened in February at the historic mid-century modern building of 407 W. Osborn in midtown Phoenix. Every month since, it’s evolved and grown, attracting many of the same people back and at the…

July 21, 2010

Kevin Kellogg on Preservation and What Phoenix Could Learn from Boston and San Francisco

by: Taz Loomans

Tweet Yesterday, I posted part I of my conversation with Phoenix’s Urban Laureate for 2010, Kevin Kellogg. Make sure to check it out if you missed it. Today, let’s continue with part II: Kevin on why historic preservation is important: Obviously I think we should be preserving our historic buildings. It’s a travesty what’s happened so far. It just never ends. Something’s older than 10 years old and we just tear it down. It really makes it hard to be unique. We just don’t have the mentality, it’s a throw-away society. If we’re going to save buildings it’s because we…

June 15, 2010

Despite AIA Concerns, There’s Plenty of Important Work Ahead for Architects

by: Taz Loomans

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…

June 09, 2010

How Can We Make Historic Preservation a Lucrative Option?

by: Taz Loomans

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:…

June 08, 2010

Jim McPherson – ‘Demolition Should Be the Last Resort’

by: Jim McPherson

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…

June 07, 2010

Bob Graham on Why the Leighton Knipe is Worth Saving

by: Taz Loomans

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:…

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…

May 26, 2010

The Environmental Imperative for Historic Preservation

by: Taz Loomans

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…

May 17, 2010

Why Phoenix Could Learn from Milwaukee’s Neighborhoods

by: Taz Loomans

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…