Pleasant Environment

The State Farm Insurance Headquarters that I featured yesterday, has gone to a lot of trouble to create a very pleasant environment for workers and visitors alike.  There a lots of green spaces and lots of public art, like this tall and lacy tower in the photo above.  I don't know the artist for this one.

However, you might remember this sculpture that I featured back in May.  It's called Theater of the Wind by Ilan Averbuch.  The photo I featured in May was from a different viewpoint.

There are several water features scattered around the area and they seem to complement the view of Tempe Town Lake that runs along one whole side of the campus.

There are also cactus gardens and seating areas.

And, since the complex sits right under the flight path for Sky Harbor International Airport, employees (and visitors) can watch the planes as they fly over either taking off or landing.  

Here I am, back at those shiny pillars again.  I do like the look of these behemoths.  Their reflective qualities go so well with all that reflective glass.

Insurance Headquarters

I found yesterday's architectural details at the State Farm Insurance Headquarters in Tempe.  It's a series of four modern, glass-clad buildings that are situated in a square forming an open pedestrian area in the center.  You can see a few of those silver pillars I featured yesterday over on lower right of this photo.

All of that reflective glass makes for some very interesting photographs.  

All of the buildings have these little cut-out areas that serve as great patio's that employees can use on breaks and at lunch.  The facility is quite busy, even on weekends.  There are several dining locations on the ground floor, so visitors can come at lunch time and have a bite to eat.  There are also quite a few artworks scattered on the grounds and along the lakefront.  It's a very pleasant place to work.

Shiny Architectural Details

Yesterday, I had some details on a variety of buildings in Tempe.  Today I have one detail of a very large office complex that is also located in Tempe.  Tomorrow I'll show you more photos from here and tell you who resides in the office complex.

Architectural Details in Tempe

Since Tempe is growing by leaps and bounds, there seems to be a lot of interesting architectural details in the buildings around the city.  Above are some of the pretty details around the Grady Gammage Auditorium, the Frank Lloyd Wright masterpiece that is part of Arizona State University.

To the left we see two building structures that almost meet each other. One is an office building and the other is the parking garage.  There are lots of new and modern buildings along the Tempe waterfront, facing the Tempe Town Lake.

Above is a building that houses luxury condominiums.  This one is also on the Tempe Town Lake so residents have views of the lake and all the water activities.  Those top units will also see the Phoenix skyline from up there.

To the left is the minaret on the mosque that has been located in downtown Tempe for many years.  If I happen to be dining in downtown Tempe, I can hear the call to prayer coming from this pretty minaret.

I must have gotten so excited about Theme Day and the color red, that I totally forgot to mention that I have a new post on Sharon's Sojourns.  I'm featuring the throne room of the villa on Isola Bella.  It is bit on the strange side.

Lake Activities

All kinds of water activities happen on Tempe Town Lake, the man-made lake that has been formed in the normally dry Salt River bed.  You will find people canoeing on the water.  This fellow was moving right along.

And you will see a variety of paddle boarders trying their hand (had balance abilities) out on the water.  I find it interesting to watch these people on their boards but, admittedly, I would never try this myself.  For me, balance is hard enough on solid land.

Love the Hat!

A dia de los muertos mural on the side the Barrio Cafe in far north Phoenix.  Barrio Cafe is a locally owned Mexican restaurant with several locations throughout the valley.  They use the dia de los muertos symbols to decorate their restaurants so it fits to have a mural like this one the side of this location.  She looks like she is enjoying that big hat!

Linked to Monday Murals!

Theme Day: Red

I have literally hundreds of photos of red flowers but, I thought that was a little to easy.  So, I went scouring through my photo files to see if I could find something different for today's theme.  I found this photo that I took at the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art for an exhibit of art works by Betty Saar.  This particular piece appealed to me I think because of the color and the wonderful shadow it threw on the red wall.  The piece itself is also red.  So it's red on red!

To see other visions of red, click here.

It All Started Here

Did you know that Steven Spielberg grew up in Phoenix Arizona?

The Phoenix Theatre Company recently added this Steven Spielberg Entrance to the theatre that sits right behind the Phoenix Art Museum.

In 1964 when Spielberg was just 17 years old, he premiered his first feature length film called "Firelight" right here in this theatre.  It was then known as Phoenix Little Theatre where he worked in the properties department.

Spielberg visited Phoenix in 2013. He's pictured here holding a photograph of himself standing by the marquee advertising his film.

What Do you Think?

I've always thought that this was one of our least attractive high-rise buildings in the city of Phoenix.  So I'm asking, what do you think?

It's located on the southwest corner of Central and Thomas Roads and I believe it goes by the name "One Thomas".

I had a picture of this building once before but it was from the back side of the building because of a mural that appears there.  You can see that post here.

Lots of Fake Palm Trees

I finally got a photo of this house when there wasn't a huge truck parked in front of it.  Someone once told me that the owner here creates those colorful fake palm trees.  I've seen them around town, usually adorning a business location.  It's hard to see them all in this yard.  They were everywhere.

Ride & Shine

Our light rail trains carry a vast array of advertising on them these days.  I happened to catch this one with ad for the light rail itself.  Actually, this one happens to be a prize winner for the "design a transit wrapper" contest conducted among high school students in the valley.  They are asked to design a wrapper that promotes the benefits of public transportation.  This one was designed by Lindzi Ramos of Peoria High School.

Front Yard Art

When I'm driving around different neighborhoods looking for interesting things to photograph, I sometimes spot art sculptures in the various front yards.  This one was a mobile that turned in the breeze.

Here's another colorful mobile.  It almost looks like this one might have been created by the same artist as the first one, doesn't it?

This one was a small ornament hanging from a tree but it caught my eye because it was glinting in the morning sunlight.  I saw the glint first and wondered where it was coming from and then I spotted the ornament and zoomed in on it.

Three different ways to add some color to the front yard of a home!

National Dog Day!

Today is National Dog Day so I thought it appropriate to feature man's best friend on my post today.  This is Nikos, my friend David's dog.  He is such a sweetheart and big baby.  I give him a kiss on his forehead every time I see him!

Alone Among the Crowd

I wonder if this lady knows she's being watched!  I snapped this inside the cafe in the lobby of the Renaissance Hotel in downtown Phoenix.  This one wall is covered with this crowd of people doing all sorts of things.  It's an interesting collection of characters.  I could spend some time looking at them all.

P.S. I went to see a movie yesterday called "Where'd You Go, Bernadette" starring Cate Blanchett.  I LOVED it.  Such an interesting story about life's challenges, sacrifice, family, artistic passion and love.  And, it's told with humor and adventure.  I highly recommend it.

I have a new post on Sharon's Sojourns today.  Of all the Italian villas I toured last May, the one I'm featuring stands out as the biggest, most opulent and quirkiest.

Look What I Found!

There were quite a few grackles hanging around the outside tables at a restaurant in Tempe and even though not many people braved the heat to dine outside, this fellow found a tidbit to take away.

It looks like a piece of popcorn to me but it might just be a piece of bread.  He was pretty proud of his find and he pranced around with it for a while before flying away.

Just Because They are Pretty

It is so hot and dry here that I find myself in the mood for something more spring-like and pretty.  So, for today's post I have some flowers from my last walk at the Desert Botanical Garden.  My last walk was back in June when I could still get there early enough to enjoy being outside.  It will be a few more weeks before I can do that again.  Above we have two varieties of Desert Rose.  I love this resilient plant.  They bloom all year and can take our punishing sun.

A big yellow sunflower is always a cheerful sight.

Blooms on the Guayacan plant. The bees love this one.

And, some pretty purple owls clover.  This one can be found growing wild in some areas.

I can't wait to see things bloom again.

To Serve and Protect

I found this bronze statue in Scottsdale in front of a police station.  It's called "To Serve and Protect" and it was created by artist Jeff Carol Davenport.

However, the story doesn't end there.  Although the statue belongs to the City of Scottsdale's Public Art portfolio, the idea for the statue was conceived of by Scottsdale Police Officer Ron Gorski who single handedly raised the funds to have it commissioned.  Nice work Officer Ron!

The Tempe Arizona Foundry donated its foundry services to complete the project.  A true community effort.

Colorful Building Blocks

There was a Lego store inside the Arizona Mills shopping center so of course there was a large display in the mall area of things made from legos.  This display was all about dessert plants.

All kinds of cactus and cactus blooms were featured.

The piece was complete with an owl living inside a cactus, a desert tortoise crawling around and frogs and snakes slithering among the plants.  Not to mention that gorgeous butterfly sitting atop one of the cactus blooms.  It was an impressive display!

I'm glad I visited this mall once again after such a long time away.

Inside the Rainforest

I had no idea that any Rainforest Cafes still existed but the one inside the Arizona Mills shopping center was still there and customers were inside.  I have eaten here before (or maybe it was another one somewhere) but, it was a very long time ago.  It's just an average restaurant that is all about the experience and not so much about the food.

The inside and outside are decorated like a jungle complete with waterfalls and jungle noises.  As I recall, while dining here you will hear all kinds of bird calls, hoots from monkeys and an occasional growl from the large cat family.  It's all recorded sound, of course.

I was quite surprised to find this place still open for business.

I Was Tempted...

The "kid" in me was tempted to hop on this gorgeous carousel horse take the musical ride in that colorful circle.  Since I was on the south side of town last Friday to photograph the unusual architecture house from yesterday, I decided to head east a little and visit the shopping center called Arizona Mills.  I bet I haven't been inside this center for at least 15 years.  With so many shopping centers struggling to survive, I wasn't sure what I would see.

I'm happy to report that this one appears to be doing well.  Arizona Mills is a outlet or discount mall and not only was it open for business but, it was quite busy.

The gorgeous carousel was located in the food hall area and it was a bit quiet there but, it was a Friday and all those fun loving kids were in school.

I'll have some more shots from this interesting place tomorrow.

Unusual Architecture

Front

Back in mid-April one of the issues of The Week magazine, had a picture of a house for sale in Phoenix.  It was part of a weekly article in the magazine called "Best properties on the market" and every week there is a certain theme for the piece.  On that week it was "Unusual Architecture".  I so rarely see a listing from Phoenix so I decided I should locate this one and get a look at it myself.  I found the listing and the address, mapped it out and then tossed the magazine in my car to search it out sometime.  It was pretty far from where I live so it sat in my car for several months until I finally made the trip this weekend.

Side

As you can see, the house is constructed from shipping containers.  Personally, I don't find that very attractive and I can't imagine that it could possibly be very cost effective.  After all, those containers need to be purchased, transported, then insulated and plumbed and placed on a foundation.  And, that doesn't take into consideration the cost of cooling a giant metal house during the Arizona summers.

Back

The photo that was in the magazine and that appears in the listing was taken from this angle and in the evening with the lights glowing from inside.  And, of course those garbage containers were not in the picture.  The for sale is still in the yard so it looks like it hasn't appealed to anyone and at a price tag of $575,000, who can blame them.

I have a new post on Sharon's Sojourns today.  The sea is calling me!

Global Transport

When my plane landed in Phoenix two weeks ago when I returned from California, I saw this huge aircraft parked to one side with a nose cone that lifted up revealing a ramp to drive something into the belly of the plane.  I was curious about it so I zoomed in on the photo to see what was printed on the side.  It reads "Volga-Dneper".  I did a little investigating and found that it is a company based in Ulyanovsk, Russia that specializes in providing air charter services.  It operates a fleet of twelve AN-124 Boeing 747-8F aircraft that are certified for global transport operations.  Now I'm very curious to know what it was doing here.  Was it bringing something big here or is it taking something big away. Who knows!