Arizona Architecture from the Archives

The administrative complex for the Local 640 Chapter of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers is located on North 7th Street in Phoenix. The Central Arizona Chapter of the American Institute of Architects recognized the design and Beadle with an Award of Merit in 1968.

The North Central Towers is an example of Beadle’s interpretation of the International Style. Beadle designed the development at Central Avenue and Camelback Road in Phoenix in 1968.

Blaine Drake designed three different residences in the Phoenix area for the Eldean family. Shown here is an elevation drawing for the first of those three, designed in 1948.

A dental office and residence located on North 15th Avenue in Phoenix, this Blaine Drake design incorporates a textile block construction system similar to the one employed in the Arizona Biltmore Hotel by Albert Chase McArthur. The building, completed in 1951, also reflects the influence of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Usonian style through a grid pattern of masonry.

In 1959 the Phoenix Unitarian Church purchased ten acres of property for construction of a new building. Arthur Olsen, the congregation’s minister, had discussions with Frank Lloyd Wright about designing the building but Wright died that same year before producing any plans. The church’s building committee then hired Blaine Drake to design the building, featuring a curvilinear plan that represents a departure from most of Drake’s designs.

Harold Housley
Archivist, Design and the Arts Special Collections

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