Return to Paradise–The 6th Annual Modern Phoenix Home Tour and Expo 2010

For the sixth year in a row ModernPhoenix.net will host its popular annual Modern Home Tour and Expo in collaboration with the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art (SMoCA). The weeklong series of events showcase the region’s legacy of Midcentury Modern architectural design. Recognized for the second time by the Phoenix New Times 2009 “Best of Phoenix” awards — this year as Best Home Tour — this crowd-pleasing event draws architectural pilgrims from across the nation for behind-the-scenes tours of both lovingly restored and greatly modified midcentury homes.

On April 11 the group will Return to Paradise — Paradise Gardens, that is — an early 1960s development that is the only example of tract homes involving the input of nationally acclaimed architect Alfred Newman Beadle. Though the extent of his involvement is hotly contested to this day, his architectural influence is evident throughout the design. In recent years, the neighborhood has become a magnet for creative professionals that modify and improve the homes in the Modernist spirit. One especially anticipated home on the tour repurposes industrial shipping containers to create a new master suite addition. Another features Beadle’s original prototype portico that pivots over both a carport and entertainment area to block out the moving sun.

The free Modern Phoenix Expo on April 10, featuring a bustling floor of locally owned businesses that cater to the Modern aesthetic, is anchored by lively educational seminars and workshops based on the work of midcentury architects. Modern Phoenix founder Alison King will speak on the life’s work of architectural partners Ralph Haver and Jimmie Nunn. Ned Sawyer, a contemporary of Al Beadle, will speak about his apprenticeship under Beadle and his own Modernist architecture ever since. David Tyda of Desert Living magazine will host his annual panel of contemporary architects and designers working in the Modernist spirit, and historian Donna Reiner will share her extensive research and imagery documenting Phoenix’s impressive collection of Modern-era bank architecture

More info: modernphoenix.net