One Great Trip to Phoenix, Arizona
Urban designer and architecture fanatic Lindsey Scannapieco makes a pilgrimage to see iconic spaces, hike at sunrise, and uncover mid-century treasures.
Welcome back to One Great Trip, where a cool and curious traveler shares a recent stand-out adventure — including some of the best things they ate, drank, and did — to help inspire your own travels.
Lindsey Scannapieco has been admiring architecture since she was a kid, when her dad, a developer, used to quiz her on different styles. After graduating from the London School of Economics, Lindsey founded Scout in 2011, an urban design and development firm specializing in reviving neglected public spaces. In 2014, Scout bought one of those spaces — Philadelphia’s Bok Building, a former vocational school that dates back to the Roosevelt Era — and transformed it into workspaces for makers and small businesses. Lace in the Moon crochet artist, Second Daughter Baking Co. (do not visit Philly without trying their brownie), Smith & Diction design studio (these geniuses designed Saltete), and Steve Boyle Photography (stay tuned for his One Great Trip!) are just a handful of the some 200 tenants that have made Bok the city’s de facto creative hub.
Lindsey is a bona fide visionary when it comes to seeing the potential in disused urban spaces, and also just has an exquisite eye for design. I love following her adventures and seeing anything from her perspective. (As in, I’ve looked at something a dozen times, but she shares a photo and with the angle, the light, the detail she notices, it suddenly belongs in an art gallery.)
Last spring, Lindsey and her husband met friends in Phoenix, Arizona to see architectural icons like Arcosanti and Frank Lloyd Wright’s winter home, Taliesin West. Below, she shares her best tips for visiting the capital city, including the Mid-Century vintage furniture shop where she found her Dream Lamp, the restaurant with an outstanding soft pretzel, and all the spots where she was mesmerized by inspiring architecture. (Plus, she tells us about the true crime podcast that made a riveting soundtrack for the adventure!)
Where: Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix, Arizona! My husband surprised me with this trip as he knew I always dreamed of going to Arcosanti. The whole trip surprised me in all the right ways and ended up being an architecture delight.
Arrived by: Flight, from Philadelphia directly to Phoenix
Only regret was the red-eye back. Turns out a 4-hour flight is not sufficient for the amount of sleep I need to function the next day. Pro Tip: do not book the red-eye!
Stayed: Rise Uptown
It was cute and easy. On the weekend the pool scene became a very bachelorette-party vibe, but loved it during the weekday.
Ate:
Valentine: Located within Modern Manor (see below) it was exceptional. Truly cannot stop thinking about the white Sonoran wheat pretzel, guinea hen butter and honeycomb. No wonder the NYTimes named it a top dish of 2022. We went here twice on our visit (once for drinks + snacks at the bar and another time for brunch) - only regret is not going here for another meal. It was that special!
Lom Wong: Located in Central Phoenix (you can take the rail nearly right there from Rise Uptown in under 30 minutes) this incredible Thai restaurant was a James Beard semi-finalist in 2023. Helmed by female chef Yotaka Martin and her husband, the flavors were incredible and the wines exceptional.
The Beach House: Queue up for casual, generous-sized tacos. We had a lovely lunch here of fish tacos galore.
Tee Pee Mexican Food: Old school diner meets casual Mexican vibes. Unlimited chips and salsa and generous portions stuffed us right up.
Adventured:
Arcosanti: For me, this was THE impetus for the trip. An experimental town in the middle of the desert (it was a 1 hour drive from our hotel in Phoenix), Arcosanti is a counterpoint to mass consumerism, urban sprawl, unchecked consumption of natural resources, and social isolation — and it’s just an incredible architectural site to behold. The iconic structures look like they’re from outer space (in the best of ways) and throughout its 50-year history, close to 8,000 volunteers have participated in constructing Arcosanti through intensive six-week-long workshops. It took my breath away.
Taliesin West: Frank Lloyd Wright’s iconic winter home and studio (a majority of his office made the seasonal pilgrimage) is worth the visit. We did the audio tour.
The thing that made Taliesin West even better for us was that driving around Arizona over our visit we listened to the entire Svetlana Svetlana podcast and this True Crime podcast about the Taliesin Murder. (Which happened at Taliesin East, in Wisconsin.)
Did you know that Frank Lloyd Wright’s protege married Stalin’s daughter and that his studio was essentially a cult that tried to take her wealth? Or that an angry groundskeeper once burnt down his “love cottage” and murdered Frank’s mistress Mamah and her two young children alongside two members of his studio staff. Oh and that he met said mistress Mamah after being commissioned by her husband to design a house for them and left his six children and wife to be with her.
All to say, I’m here for the messy gossip and weird goings on of Frank Lloyd Wright and it made me appreciate walking through the grounds and imagining the wild parties of Taliesin West that much more. Warning: very problematic white male architect.
Camelback Mountain: We took a sunrise hike at Camelback Mountain to see the most incredible view over all of Phoenix. We set up when it was dark and it was magical. It gets really busy (even at sunrise), but a great way to start the day. Do this hike every time I’ve ever been to Arizona and it always takes my breath away (at points literally!)
Modern Manor: THE mid-century vintage furniture dream. Literally I found my dream lamp here. It was exceptional!
David and Gladys Wright House: Creeped on the David and Gladys Wright House literally through a fence like the architecture creep that I am. Dreamed of pretending to be a qualified buyer to tour the Norman Lykes house which is currently for rent / sale.
Knight Rise: The James Turrell SkyScape piece at the Scottsdale Museum of Art was magical. There was no one else there the day that we went and so I was able to sit in the space and just think. It is meditative and moving in a way that only James Turrell seems to capture. Next trip to Arizona though I’m dreaming of seeing progress on the Roden Crater which he has been working on since 1977 which is on my ‘do before I die’ list.
Hiked Piestewa Peak Trailhead: Another great trailhead - we did two different routes from here and they were both great for sweaty views to start the day.