Historical architects Carin Carlson, principal, and Tim Mitchell, associate principal, were guests on the USModernist Radio Podcast to discuss Hennebery Eddy’s rehabilitation work at the Painted Desert Community Complex in Petrified Forest National Park. Carin and Tim explore the origins and impact of the Mission 66 program and its role in modernizing park infrastructure, along with an in‑depth look at the Painted Desert Community Complex rehabilitation project, including how they became involved, the site’s history, and the project’s biggest challenges.
Listen to the podcast episode here
Mission 66 was a 10-year planning and development program created by the National Park Service to modernize national park system facilities and infrastructure. From 1956 to 1966 — leading up to 50th anniversary of NPS — the program added visitor centers, administrative and maintenance facilities, staff housing, and recreational infrastructure to address rising visitation. Structures built as part of the program reflect an evolution in design away from the recognizable “park rustic” style and toward the contemporary, mid-century design we now recognize as hallmark to the era. The Painted Desert Community Complex exemplifies this modernist sentiment, with the rehabilitation project addressing the ongoing challenge of rehabilitating Mission 66-era buildings in ways that preserve their historic character while improving functions for contemporary use.
Through modern-era design expertise and sustainable preservation best practices, the rehabilitation of the Painted Desert Community Complex leads Petrified Forest National Park into the future. A gateway to Arizona’s remote high desert, the park’s community complex is a Modernist masterpiece by renowned architects Richard Neutra and Robert Alexander. It’s composed of long, low buildings with flat roofs organized around a series of courtyards that reflect the community-focused ideals of the 1950s. Deep overhangs, ribbon windows, sliding glass doors, and Neutra’s signature “spider leg” structure establish the complex as an icon of the International Style and a National Historic Landmark. Completed in 1965, the buildings quickly exhibited significant deterioration due to unstable foundations and a harsh climate, followed by haphazard, incompatible repairs that degraded the original design. Hennebery Eddy’s comprehensive rehabilitation prioritizes resiliency by reversing incompatible changes and restoring original design intent with the use of contemporary, durable, and functional systems and details.