Phoenix Municipal Government Center Design Competition Collection

This collection is divided into three Subgroups: 1) Planning Stage, 2) Design Competition Stage, including oversize design boards (Phase I and Phase II), and 3) Post-Competition Stage.

Subgroup 1 contains a single series, Reports. Included here are: the Proposed Competition Schedule of November 1984; Design Competition Procedures and Prospectus of February and March 1985; and news clippings from the Arizona Republic of April 1985.

Subgroup 2 contains six series. Series 1, Reports, consists of 17 folders and 2 volumes spanning from April 1985 to December 1986. These folders contain such documents as site development programs, building programs, final design proposals, master plans (some of which are oversize) and other design competition process documents submitted by architects who entered the competition.

Series 2, Jury Hearings, is comprised of seven folders containing transcripts of jury meetings and hearings from April, July, and October 1985. Series 3, Miscellany, includes clippings from the Arizona Republic and the New Times, as well as sketches and posters from the period. Series 4, Design Boards, consists of 25 oversize items housed in map case drawers that represent the works submitted for the competition by both semi-finalists and finalists. Series 5, Design Competition Videotapes, consists of 11 VHS cassette tapes that include formal presentations by the four finalists in the design competition. Series 6, Photos/Slides, is comprised of numerous color and black/white photographs of the finalist architects and their designs. A number of slides depicting models, perspective drawings, elevations, etc. are also present.

Subgroup 3 contains three series. Series 1, Reports, includes the post-1985 phase of the Phoenix Municipal Complex planning story in six folders. Folder titles include Book Publication on Design Competition, March 1986; Municipal Center Project Design Agreements, March, 1986; Costs of Alternative Scenarios, February, 1987; Capital Improvement Needs Study, November 1987; Analysis of Phoenix Downtown Development Project, October 1988; and Miscellaneous Documents, 1990. Within this latter folder is a noteworthy summary report on the design competition and Barton Myers' winning design compiled by Charles E. Hill, a donor of material to this collection.

Series 2, Miscellany, contains nine folders of correspondence (including letters of support for the municipal complex idea), clippings, publications, and sketches.

Series 3, UCLA/Wight Art Gallery Exhibit Videotapes, includes 23 3/4" tapes detailing the competition. The tapes were produced in conjunction with the touring exhibition of the U.S., titled Architecture of Democracy, that started at the University of California, Los Angeles in 1987.