Category Archives: Commentary

Reflections on the importance of acknowledging and understanding our forgotten history.

Building Community Cinema hosts free screening of “Citizen Architect” on July 28

Today’s guest post is by Reid Butler, president of Butler Housing Company and developer of Roosevelt Commons, an award winning housing project that combined historic preservation, new construction, and urban infill in Phoenix’s Roosevelt neighborhood.  Citizen Architect, described below, is … Continue reading

Posted in Adaptive Reuse, Commentary, Neighborhoods, Still Standing | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Canalscape: A Sustainable Urban Desert for Metro Phoenix

Today’s guest post is written by Diane Brossart, president of Valley Forward Association, a top-notch organization (in our humble opinion) that brings business and civic leaders together for thoughtful dialogue on regional issues, like the environment and livability of metro … Continue reading

Posted in Arts & Culture, Commentary, Neighborhoods, Still Standing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Downtown Voices hosts downtown Phoenix-centric mayoral forum, June 9

Today’s guest post is written by Steve Weiss, secretary of the Downtown Voices Coalition Steering Committee and member of its Phoenix Mayoral Forum Planning Committee. You can contact Steve at 602-265-9524 or by email. The Downtown Voices Coalition will host … Continue reading

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Michael Levine to Michael Crow – A Question About Tearing Down Buildings

Today at the ULI (Urban Land Institute) Spring Real Estate Summit, at the end of ASU President Michael Crow’s speech, Michael Levine, a local developer of historic buildings, asked this question: “Can you tell me about the disconnect between ASU’s … Continue reading

Posted in Commentary, Lost Buildings | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

Perrona Megastore on Calle 16, Why This Building is Cool

Today’s post is a little different take on my series of “Why This Building is Cool.” Today’s building doesn’t really focus on the building itself, but the way the business inside the building uses its parking lot.  It’s a very … Continue reading

Posted in Arts & Culture, Commentary, Still Standing | 3 Comments

Vanishing Tucson: Valley National Bank Operations Center Threatened with Demolition

We interrupt this (Vanishing Phoenix) program to bring you a special broadcast (from Arizona’s second largest city, Tucson).  Today’s guest post is written by Chris Evans, an architect by profession and board president of the Modern Architecture Preservation Project (MAPP) in … Continue reading

Posted in Commentary, Endangered Structures | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

“Born Modern: The Next Preservation Generation,” An Overview

A couple of weeks ago, I heard Christine French from the National Trust for Historic Preservation speak about Recent Past Preservation at the Modern Phoenix Expo. Christine’s talk, titled “Born Modern: The Next Preservation Generation,” was particularly important to Phoenix … Continue reading

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Learning from Boston: Placemaking and Identity

Will Novak is an urbanist, stand-up comedian from Central Phoenix, and today’s Vanishing Phoenix guest blogger. He moved to Boston to chase his comedy dreams (and a girl). You can follow him on Twitter at @RealWillNovak, or watch video of … Continue reading

Posted in Commentary, Neighborhoods, Still Standing | Tagged , , , , , , | 9 Comments

Historic Preservation Policies Arcane and Mysterious?

On Wednesday I interviewed Bob Frankeberger and Eric Vondy at the Arizona State Historic Preservation Office about “The Gap” that I mentioned in last week’s post. Bob Frankeberger is a formerly practicing architect who now works for SHPO.  I had … Continue reading

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The Gap Between Historic Preservation Architects and Regular Architects

In the past few months, “The Gap” has come to my purview. I have 18 years of experience and education combined in architecture but just recently I’ve been dabbling my fingers in the world of historic preservation. You would think … Continue reading

Posted in Commentary, Still Standing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments