Ancient Architects

The ancient Hohokam Indians were the Sonoran Desert's original architects, having transformed modern-day Scottsdale into a verdant oasis. Explore 1,500-year-old ruins of this lost Indian tribe – named after the modern-day Pima word for “those who have gone” – at the Pueblo Grande Museum and Archaeological Park (www.pueblogrande.com) in Phoenix, including a ceremonial platform mound, an excavated ball court and remnants of these desert farmers' all-important canals. 

Wright Goes West

From the moment he first set eyes upon the Sonoran Desert in the late 1920s as a consulting architect on the Arizona Biltmore Resort in Phoenix, Wright was smitten “by the beauty of the desert, by the dry, clear, sun-drenched air, by the stark geometry of the mountains…” Eventually Wright purchased 640 acres in what was then the distant outskirts of Scottsdale, where he spent more than two decades carving a residence and architecture school out of the rugged McDowell Mountain foothills. Now a National Historic Landmark, Taliesin West (www.franklloydwright.org) attracts more than 150,000 visitors annually.

Explore Wright's singular talent for integrating indoor and outdoor spaces with the Panorama Tour, a guided one-hour stroll across the main grounds. Or delve deeper with the 90-minute Insights Tour, where guests enter Wright's and his wife Olgivanna's private living quarters, which were painstakingly restored to resemble the day he died in 1959. Soak in the scenic desert setting that first drew Wright to Scottsdale on the Desert “Shelter” Tour; or watch this desert gem glow from within on a Night Lights Tour. Serious architecture aficionados, meanwhile, won't want to miss the Behind the Scenes Tour, a peek inside Wright's famed architecture program where apprentices learn by doing, including designing and constructing their own dwellings.

Located in the adjacent town of Tempe, Ariz., Arizona State University's Gammage Auditorium (www.asugammage.com) stands as the final non-residential design Wright started before his death in April 1959. Incorporating elements from an un-built opera house originally designed for Baghdad, Iraq, this sweeping theater hall was completed by Wright's protégés in 1964. Today, the layer cake-like structure hosts everything from touring Broadway productions to artistic performances inside a three-tiered hall featuring some of the nation's finest acoustics.

Modern Icons

Italian-born architect, artist, ceramicist and former student of Wright, the late Paolo Soleri lived and worked at the Cosanti (www.cosanti.com) studio he built nearly 60 years ago. Today, Soleri's legacy lives on through the hand-casted ceramic and bronze wind bells still made at his former home and through monthly architecture seminars on site. In December 2010, the Soleri Bridge and Plaza (www.soleribridge.com) opened across the Arizona Canal to connect the Scottsdale Waterfront with the rest of downtown Scottsdale. The bridge is the first and only of the artist's designs to be built, although Soleri designed bridges for 60 years during his lifetime. Soleri's design evokes his fascination with planetary movement thanks to two, 64-foot-high pylons that form a shaft of light across the bridge during annual solar events such as the equinox and solstice. Framed by a public plaza leading visitors from Scottsdale Road into the downtown area, the bridge is capped by a bell tower housing the world's largest assemblage of Soleri wind bells.

Renowned Arizona modernist, Will Bruder opened his first Arizona studio in 1974, after working and studying under Soleri. He built his stellar reputation on award-winning public shrines such as the Burton Barr Central Library in Phoenix and the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art (www.smoca.org) in downtown Scottsdale. The latter is a minimalist space housing an international collection of modern art, architecture and design, as well as a public “skyspace” by the acclaimed artist James Turrell (one of a handful in the world) where visitors can experience the ever-changing hues of the desert sky.

Famed architect, planner and author, Vernon Swaback originally came to Arizona from his native Chicago to serve as Wright's youngest apprentice. A former student at Taliesin West and former president of the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, Swaback established his own prestigious firm, Swaback Partners, more than 35 years ago. The firm works to further Swaback's crusade for what is now popularly known as smart, green and sustainable design. Soak in Swaback's unique vision at the sumptuous yet sustainably designed Spa Avania at the Hyatt Regency Scottsdale Resort &Spa at Gainey Ranch (www.scottsdale.hyatt.com), which incorporates contemporary architecture, a sun-inspired color palette and natural light throughout.

Formerly the Paradise Valley Racket Club and John Gardiner's Tennis Ranch, Sanctuary on Camelback Mountain Resort and Spa (www.sanctuaryaz.com) is a posh retreat originally designed by Wright protégé Hiram Hudson Benedict. And just across town, the restored mid-century modern landmark, Hotel Valley Ho (www.hotelvalleyho.com) features the intelligent, minimalist design of architect Edward L. Varney, also a former Wright apprentice. Scottsdale's only historically designated property, Hotel Valley Ho was restored to its original 1956 design with a hip, retro feel in 2005 following an $80 million renovation. Varney paid homage to his mentor by incorporating many of Wright's stylistic preferences into the design of the property.

One of Scottsdale's oldest resorts, the Scottsdale Resort & Conference Center, was designed by one of Scottsdale's foremost architects, Benny Gonzales. Gonzales also designed significant buildings in the area including Scottsdale City Hall, Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts and Civic Center Library. The resort is undergoing a $9 million renovation, transforming the 39-year-old independent property into The Scottsdale Resort at McCormick Ranch, A Destination Hotel (www.thescottsdaleresort.com). With a Mexican hacienda-inspired makeover, the renovation introduces new color palette and furnishings, as well as an open-air kitchen in Sangria's Lounge.

Green by Design

Pardon us while we toot our own horn, but the City of Scottsdale has evolved into one of the most eco-friendly communities in the country. We're the nation's first city to adopt a goal that says all new municipal buildings should be certified at the “gold” level by the United States Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED). In 2008, thanks in part to Scottsdale's Green Building Program (www.scottsdaleaz.gov/greenbuilding), one-third of new single-family homes built met “above code” energy and green rating requirements that qualify for Scottsdale's unique “Green Certificate of Occupancy” designation. The city's green initiatives have only become more robust since then with the 2012 passage of energy and green construction codes which address utilizing efficient building materials during build outs. Before green was “in,” residents voted in 1995 to support Scottsdale's McDowell Sonoran Preserve (www.mcdowellsonoran.org). The decision permanently preserved a full one-third of the city as pristine, public open space. Nearby Taliesin West is making major environmental strides, too, most recently installing a 250-kilowatt solar system to produce power. Eventually Taliesin West will become a net-zero facility, meaning it will produce as much as or more power than it uses.

Several of Scottsdale's finest resorts and spas are on the forefront of this green revolution, including the Boulders Resort & Spa (www.theboulders.com), where an on-site organic garden produces a variety of vegetables, herbs and spices for use in the resort's restaurant kitchens and in the spa. Eco-friendly clothing and products made through recycling, including body care products, handbags and custom-blended organic soaps, are sold in the resort boutique.

FireSky Resort & Spa – A Kimpton Hotel (www.fireskyresort.com) is a Green Key certified resort, making it among the top-rated environmentally friendly hotels in the state. Guests can do their part while partaking in their favorite indulgences with the resort's all-organic spa and environmentally friendly wines offered at nightly tastings. Even the hotel's water glasses are made from empty bottles that are cut and reshaped. As part of its company-wide Eco Program, the Fairmont Scottsdale Princess (www.scottsdaleprincess.com) offers energy-efficient lighting and water-conserving showerheads and tap aerators, as well as menus incorporating local, seasonal and organically grown foods whenever possible. And through a partnership with Green Dining Network, the resort collects used cooking oil and converts the grease to biodiesel. The effort helps prevent carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere and provides power to fuel diesel vehicles.

By restoring and not tearing down the aforementioned Hotel Valley Ho, Westroc Hotels & Resorts saved 20,000 tons of landfill waste and debris, while the property's executive chef Charles Wiley uses local food purveyors and local ingredients to save on “food miles,” otherwise known as the distance food has to travel from supplier to destination. Among the first resorts in the country to have an individual solely dedicated to environmental management, the Hyatt Regency Scottsdale Resort & Spa focuses on the areas of energy efficiency and waste minimization, as well as guest environmental education through the resort's Native American Learning Center and Eco-pond.

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