Arizona Architecture from the Archives

Architect Blaine Drake (1911-1993) was one of Frank Lloyd Wright's original apprentices at Taliesin, Wisconsin, in 1933, and went on to establish his Arizona practice in 1945. He designed approximately two hundred projects during his long career, nearly two-thirds of which were built. Most of his work was in the Phoenix area and focused on residential architecture, though he also designed office, medical, and apartment buildings and churches. One of the few Wright apprentices to pursue a successful independent practice, Drake was an advocate of energy-efficient design in the desert. He received national and international recognition for his work. Blaine Drake retired from architectural practice in 1985.

Blaine Drake designed the Eldean Residence in Scottsdale in 1950. The site had been a citrus grove and Drake incorporated many of the citrus trees into the planning and construction of the house and landscaping on the lot. Drake chose lightweight concrete masonry for the walls due to its durability in the desert climate. The 1953 book Practical Houses for Contemporary Living by Jean Graf included a feature on the house.

The Washburn Residence was completed in 1953. It is a good example of Drake's consideration of light, shade, and sun angles in designing for a desert climate. 

Architectural apprentices at Frank Lloyd Wright’s studio at Taliesin West designed and built their own living quarters. This rendering shows the desert cabana that served as is Drake’s home at Taliesin West in 1939.

Collection holdings include a wide variety of drawings as well as job files containing materials such as correspondence, specifications, financial and legal documents, miscellaneous printed materials, and photographs. Oversize materials are generally organized by project sets (arranged sequentially by project number) that may include perspectives, floor plans, site plans, elevations, sections, and detail drawings. Original drawings on tracing paper and presentation drawings comprise the bulk of oversize materials.

See the collection finding aid (pdf) for more information.

Drake, Blaine. Blaine Drake: 40 years of architecture in Arizona. Tempe, AZ: Arizona State University, 1992. Print. NA737.D69 A4x 1992, Design and the Arts Library Stacks and Special Collections

Ford, Katherine Morrow. The American house today; 85 notable examples selected and evaluated by Katherine Morrow Ford and Thomas H. Creighton.  New York: Reinhold Pub. Corp., 1951. Print. NA7127 .F58, Design and the Arts Library Stacks and Special Collections

Graf, Jean. Practical houses for contemporary living. New York: F.W. Dodge Corp., 1953. Print. NA7127 .G65, Design and the Arts Library Stacks

Harold Housley
Archivist, Design and the Arts Special Collections

Harold.Housley@asu.edu 
(480) 965-6370