The Phoenix Financial Center consists of a high-rise office building and two adjacent rotunda buildings located along Central Avenue in the Midtown district of

Phoenix Phoenix most often refers to: * Phoenix (mythology), a legendary bird from ancient Greek folklore * Phoenix, Arizona, a city in the United States Phoenix may also refer to: Mythology Greek mythological figures * Phoenix (son of Amyntor), a ...

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. They were built in 1963 by the Financial Corporation of Arizona. Ground was broken for the facility in September 1963, and the complex was dedicated for opening on September 28, 1964. The tower fronts Osborn Avenue and is commonly referred to locally as the "Punchcard Building," due to aesthetic similarities between the building's southeastern facade and a computer

punch card A punched card (also punch card or punched-card) is a piece of stiff paper that holds digital data represented by the presence or absence of holes in predefined positions. Punched cards were once common in data processing applications or to di ...

. Originally, the main tower consisted only of 10 stories; the extra nine were added in 1972. The design included provisions for erecting a second tower that was a mirror image of the first on the north side of the property, but was never built (this area is currently a visitor parking lot). At that time, the building became the headquarters for

Western Savings and Loan Western Savings and Loan was an American financial institution founded by the Driggs family. The Driggs family came to Arizona in 1921 after trading everything they owned—a bank, drugstore, hotel, and wheat farm in Driggs, Idaho—for ...

FLWright Phoenix Financial Center PHX AZ USA 20557

The two rotundas front Central Avenue and are mirror images of each other. They consist of two stories and a basement, and utilize glass around most of the circumference. Each has a stained glass star at the top of the dome of slightly different designs. The Phoenix Financial Center is an example of International style architecture, featuring many elements of

Googie Googie architecture ( ) is a type of futurist architecture influenced by car culture, jets, the Atomic Age and the Space Age. It originated in Southern California from the Streamline Moderne architecture of the 1930s, and was popular in the ...

design. The architect of the building is Wenceslaus Sarmiento. The building is said to be the site of a "

fallout Nuclear fallout is the residual radioactive material propelled into the upper atmosphere following a nuclear blast, so called because it "falls out" of the sky after the explosion and the shock wave has passed. It commonly refers to the radioac ...

-proof"

time capsule A time capsule is a historic cache of goods or information, usually intended as a deliberate method of communication with future people, and to help future archaeologists, anthropologists, or historians. The preservation of holy relics dates ...

which was set to be opened in 2012, but the capsule has never been found. The complex is located close to the Park Central station of METRO Light Rail, which contains displays detailing the history of the Phoenix Financial Center as well as other buildings in the area. Phoenix Financial Center served as a filming location for the movie What Planet Are You From? which was released in 2000 and directed by Mike Nichols. The film was co-written by, and starred Garry Shandling who grew up in Tucson. The film also featured Ben Kingsley, Annette Bening, John Goodman and Greg Kinnear. Phoenix Financial Center is used as the building where the main character is employed and is featured prominently in many scenes of the film. Phoenix Financial Center can also be seen briefly in the opening flyover scene of 2016's Bad Santa 2, starring Billy Bob Thornton.

References

{{reflist Skyscraper office buildings in Phoenix, Arizona Office buildings completed in 1968

See also

References