Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts

Herberger Center for Design Research
Phoenix Urban Research Laboratory
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Downtown Phoenix Model
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DOWNTOWN PHOENIX MODEL

Our administrative offices occupy a penthouse addition commissioned in the mid-fifties by Phoenix banker Walter Bimson, one of the drivers of the city’s extraordinary postwar boom. Our studio and conference spaces occupy a large and lofty space with tall windows and painted plasterwork that was once—back in the Roaring Twenties—a ballroom. Today the dance floor has made way for a design resource: a large model of downtown Phoenix. Fabricated in the college model shop and updated often as projects are announced, the 1/32-inch model functions as an explanatory and exploratory tool and has become a potent attraction for planners, developers, architects, and researchers.