After Holbrook, our travels took us out of Northern Arizona for good and southward into the Phoenix area for some classic Ed and Carrie city slickin’. Leave it us to fit that into this fairly rustic trip!
Actually, the Phoenix area served as one of Frank Lloyd Wright’s two home bases, so there are definitely some architecturally significant things here. Heading south into Phoenix, we stopped off at Arcosanti, a vision of a future community designed by Paolo Soleri, a onetime student of Wright, and under construction since 1970.
It’s supposed to explore alternatives to urban sprawl and minimize impact on its natural surroundings. We didn’t have time to wait until the next scheduled tour (they don’t let you wander the grounds) so we unfortunately didn’t get to see most of it. Too bad, as its 1970’s vision-of-the-future look is intriguing! Here’s the visitor center building and us enjoying a cup of coffee within its circular windows.
Next, it was off to lunch. We drove straight into downtown Phoenix to eat at Cooperstown, Alice Cooper’s sports bar and restaurant. Sports bars aren’t usually where you’ll find us, but as this was Alice Cooper’s sports bar, we had to see – and eat – it for ourselves.
I’d say it’s like Hard Rock Cafe meets ESPN Zone. But the place doesn’t take itself seriously, and this is what makes Cooperstown pretty funny. I mean, check these out!
Afterward, we headed off to nearby Scottsdale to see Taliesin West, Frank Lloyd Wright’s winter home and studio. One of the most influential architects of the last century, Frank Lloyd Wright’s work and principles continue to influence and inspire architecture today. Construction on Taliesin West began in the 1930s, which shows just how visionary Wright was.
The living room was my favorite part of the house:
Imagine working in that studio!
Definitely encapsulates a lot of Wright’s out-of-the-box way of thinking:
This was definitely one the trip’s highs up to that point – we can’t help it, but we love this stuff! The day ended with a first class dinner at Asia de Cuba, the restaurant at the Mondrian hotel. It was for sure quite a contrast with the prior night in Holbrook, to say the least!