Posts Tagged ‘mid-century modern’

February 21, 2011

Don Ryden on Writing Midcentury Marvels and Why He Does NOT Consider the St. Francis Remodel Historic Preservation

by: Taz Loomans

Tweet Two weeks ago I had the pleasure of sitting down with historic preservation architect Don Ryden in his office to talk about his fabulous new book, Midcentury Marvels. In talking with Don, I also wanted to clear up some haziness around what historic preservation really is. In today’s post which is only the first part of our conversation, Don talks about why Midcentury Marvels is hopefully only the beginning of a movement, and then he talks candidly about why he would never consider Wendell Burnette’s remodel of St.Francis as historic preservation. Below is part I of our conversation… Blooming…

October 27, 2010

A Design Review of Lola on Central

by: Taz Loomans

Tweet Have you been to Lola Coffee on Central? I usually go there for meetings because it’s quieter than a lot of other coffee shops. The design of the space has never struck me as very special because there is a certain intimacy that’s missing from it. But today, when I took a closer look, I discovered that there are some cool design elements in the coffee shop. Just as a clarification, there is a Lola in Downtown, on Roosevelt and 4th Ave. Now that Lola has achieved the intimacy and richness that Lola on Central is missing, but I…

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…

April 13, 2010

Phoenix Mid-Century Modern Banks: Treasures in our Everyday Environment

by: Donna Reiner

Tweet Today’s guest post is written by Donna Reiner, PhD and Bank Maven. Donna spoke at last weekend’s Modern Phoenix Expo about Mid-Century Modern Banks in Phoenix. Some of the banks Donna highlighted are buildings you might drive by all the time and not give a second thought to. They are a part of our everyday fabric and we may not notice them, but on closer inspection, they are fantastic examples of mid-century modern Phoenix architecture. Donna’s work with banks is important because it helps raise awareness of these historic structures so they don’t fall into disrepair or worse, get…

March 22, 2010

Why We Are Surrounded by Crappy Buildings

by: Taz Loomans

Tweet This weekend a client was driving me to a house to show me the style she’d like for some renovations at her house. I half expected to be shown a run-of-the mill stucco cookie-cutter home with little personality but that somehow seems luxurious to people. This isn’t a reflection on my client but on most people I’ve run into who aren’t designers themselves. I was shocked and relieved that she showed me this beautiful ultra-modern renovation of a mid-century modern home: The owner of this house directed us a few blocks north of him telling us that there was…