Tucson is a city in and the county seat of Pima County, Arizona, United States, and is home to the University of Arizona. It is the second-largest city in Arizona behind Phoenix, with a population of 542,629 in the 2020 United States census, while the population of the entire Tucson metropolitan statistical area (MSA) is 1,043,433. The Tucson MSA forms part of the larger Tucson-Nogales combined statistical area. Both Tucson and Phoenix anchor the Arizona Sun Corridor. The city is 108 miles (174 km) southeast of Phoenix and 60 mi (97 km) north of the United States–Mexico border. Tucson is the 34th-largest city and the 53rd-largest metropolitan area in the United States (2014).
Casas Adobes is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) located in the northern metropolitan area of Tucson, Arizona. The population was 66,795 at the 2010 census. Casas Adobes is situated south and southwest of the town of Oro Valley, and west of the community of Catalina Foothills.
Casa Grande Ruins National Monument, in Coolidge, Arizona, just north-east of the city of Casa Grande, preserves a group of Hohokam structures dating to the Classic Period (1150–1450 CE).
Louise Blanchard Bethune was the first American woman known to have worked as a professional architect. She was born in Waterloo, New York. Blanchard worked primarily in Buffalo, New York and partnered with her husband at Bethune, Bethune & Fuchs.
Roy Place was a Tucson, Arizona architect.
Henry O. Jaastad (1872–1965) was an influential Tucson, Arizona architect. His firm created over 500 buildings and Jaastad was Mayor of Tucson for 14 years. A number of his works are listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places for their architecture.
Merritt H. Starkweather (1891–1972) was a Tucson, Arizona, architect and civic leader. A native of Oshkosh, Wisconsin, after visiting the Panama-California Exposition (1915), he moved to Tucson and began working in an elegantly simplified Spanish Colonial Revival Style architecture. Several of his works are listed for their architecture on the National Register of Historic Places.
Pima County Courthouse is the former main county courthouse building in downtown Tucson, Arizona. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It was designed by Roy Place in 1928 in Mission Revival and Spanish Colonial Revival style architecture.
The Lowell Ranger Station compound is in the Coronado National Forest of southern Arizona. It is located in Pima County, near Tucson.
Esther Baum Born was an American architect, author and architectural photographer who lived and worked in the San Francisco Bay Area, New York, and Mexico. With her husband, Ernest Born, she wrote The New Architecture in Mexico, which also includes an article on the painting and sculpture by Justino Fernández. She traveled in Mexico for 10 months, photographing and drawing historic and modern buildings, ultimately attracting global attention to the dawn of Mexico's modern architecture. Working mostly behind the scenes, she was integral to the success of the Ernest Born architecture firm.
Demion Clinco is an American politician, historic preservationist, philanthropist, and business leader from the state of Arizona. Clinco's social innovation included reestablishing the Tucson Historic Preservation Foundation in 2008 and launching Tucson Modernism Week in 2012 and work in the higher-education sector. A member of the Democratic Party, Clinco served in the Arizona House of Representatives, as a member for the second district until 2015. In December 2015 Clinco was appointed to the Governing Board of Pima Community College. Clinco was elected in 2016 to serve a full term and in January 2018 was elected chairman of the college's Governing Board. Under Clinco's leadership the college initiated large-scale bond projects focusing on workforce development and career technical education. During this period the college underwent a significant educational and physical transformation with the construction of major buildings including Centers of Excellence in applied technology, advanced manufacturing, automotive, aviation, and allied health. In 2019 Clinco relaunched and led the reorganization of the Arizona Association of Community College Trustees serving as the president. Clinco has served on numerous local, statewide, national and international boards.
Margaret Fulton Spencer (1882–1966) was a painter and early American woman architect who designed and built the architecturally unique dude ranch Las Lomas Estates outside of Tucson, Arizona. She was the second woman to become a member of the American Institute of Architects.
Judith Davidson Chafee (1932–1998) was an American architect known for her work on residential buildings in Arizona and for being a professor of architecture at the University of Arizona. She was a recipient of the National Endowment of the Arts Fellowship to the American Academy in Rome during the middle of her career and was the first woman from Arizona to be named a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects.
Hirsh's Shoes, is a Mid-Century modern store building located in Tucson, Arizona, United States. Designed in 1954 by Jewish-American architect Bernard "Bernie" Friedman for entrepreneur Rose Hirsh, the open plan storefront is an iconic retail standard. Mrs. Rose C. (David) Hirsh hired Friedman to design this building as a free standing shop in what would become an early strip mall. Though now surrounded by other buildings, it was owned and operated by the Hirsh Family from its construction in 1954 until 2016. The opening of the store was featured in the Arizona Daily Star on April 7, 1954 and for 62 years the Hirsh Family maintained the character-defining architectural features of the north facade and unique architectural expression that defined the mid-century era. In 2014 the Hirsh Family restored the roof mounted neon sign.
Ellamae Ellis League, was an American architect, the fourth woman registered architect in Georgia and "one of Georgia and the South's most prominent female architects." She practiced for over 50 years, 41 of them from her own firm. From a family of architects, she was the first woman elected a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects (FAIA) in Georgia and only the eighth woman nationwide. Several buildings she designed are listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP). In 2016 she was posthumously named a Georgia Woman of Achievement.
Tucson Modernism Week is an annual cultural festival and celebration organized by the Tucson Historic Preservation Foundation held in October - November which highlights Southern Arizona's unique and distinct mid-20th century architecture and design heritage. Established in 2012 the programming includes tours, lectures, films, publications, and special events. The event draws national and international speakers and participants. Tucson Modernism Week produces an annual magazine featuring original scholarship and content highlighting the contributions of 20th-century designers, architects, and thought leaders. The events and programming primary focus on Tucson and greater Pima County which is home to a significant collection of mid-twentieth century buildings by noted architects including Judith Chafee, Arthur T. Brown, Bernard J. Friedman, William Kirby Lockard, William Wilde, Sylvia Wilde, Taro Akutagawa, Tom Gist, Bob Swaim, Nicholas Sakellar, and others.
The Ramada House is a 3,800 square-foot residence located in the foothills of the Catalina Foothills in Tucson, Arizona. Designed by architect Judith Chafee in 1973, and completed in 1975, the house combines modernist-inspired design with traditional O'odham shade structures to create a unique living space that exemplifies the tenets of critical regionalism. The property was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2006.
The Blackwell House was a 1,800 square-foot [CONVERT] residence located in the Tucson Mountains west of the City of Tucson, Arizona. Designed by master architect Judith Chafee, FAIA in 1978 the house pioneered passive solar building design including heating and cooling concepts, natural materials that would require minimal maintenance, and a minimized negative impact on the ecosystem surrounding it. Designed for Jerry Blackwell, an openly LGBTQ Old Tucson Studios film executive, the house was immediately recognized as a masterwork. The siting, architectural composition and arrangement of living spaces exemplified the tenets of critical regionalism. The property was purchased in 1987 by Pima County in a plan to expand Tucson Mountain Park. After a decade of county neglect, public controversy and efforts to save the house it was demolished by Pima County in 1998. The demolition is considered one of the county's most significant preservation mistakes and diminished the culture heritage of Southern Arizona and American modern architecture.
The Ball-Paylore House, designed by architect Arthur T. Brown, FAIA, and built in 1952, is an example of post-WWII American architecture in Tucson, Arizona. When built the house was published locally and nationally. Today it is listed in the National Register of Historic Places, in the Arizona Register of Historic Places, and designated a City of Tucson Historic Landmark. The property is owned by the Tucson Historic Preservation Foundation, available for tours and overnight stays.
