Architecture in Scottsdale

Scottsdale is a sophisticated city on the move, with the charm and hospitality of days gone by, a breathtaking landscape and abundant cultural attractions. Artists, architects and visionaries have been attracted to Scottsdale's Sonoran Desert environment since the early 1900s. It is in the desert's bounty that many found their muse, and from this inspiration they've painted the region's built environment with an aesthetic that is quintessentially Scottsdale. From the stone-embedded walls of Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesin West to the rammed-earth walls of the McDowell Sonoran Gateway, architects in this community have explored amazing ways to live, work, play and build in harmony with the Sonoran Desert. Maximizing the light of Arizona's famed sunrises and sunsets, you'll find as much exquisitely captured light at Scottsdale City Hall as you will at artist James Turell's Sky Space public art installation at the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art. We invite you to explore Scottsdale's guide to 30 places of notable architecture and use the resources on this page to plan your exploration of the urban, contemporary side of Scottsdale.