Chandler Museum exhibit focused on Sonoran architects

"Sonoran Shapes + Structures: Desert-Inspired Architecture and Design" is a Chandler Museum exhibit that highlights a variety of examples of how organic architects and designers have treated the local landscape as their artistic muse, a news release states.

In partnership with Organic Architecture + Design Archives, the museum has developed this second exhibition in a series, which explores the basics of organic design, its interpretation by different architects and designers in the context of the Sonoran Desert, and how this philosophy continues to influence the spaces Arizonans experience today.

In the early 20th century, there was a desire to live in harmony with nature rather than apart from it. Architect Frank Lloyd Wright shaped this desire into a philosophy now known as organic architecture and design.

Rather than imposing rigid right-angled forms on the local landscape, Wright and the architects and designers who followed in his footsteps created buildings that responded to the land, light and materials around them.

"Sonoran Shapes + Structures: Desert-Inspired Architecture and Design" opened Sept. 20 and will be on view through Feb. 1, 2026, at Chandler Museum, 300 S. Chandler Village Drive, . 

The hours are Tuesdays through Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sundays from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.; closed Monday. The museum doesn't charge admission.

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