The Lookout Studio at Grand Canyon National Park by Mary Colter. Photo Credit: See below
The Lookout Studio at the Grand Canyon National Park was designed by Mary Elizabeth Jane Colter (1869-1958). As an architect for the Fred Harvey Company, Colter completed many projects within the Arizona park, including Phantom Ranch, Hopi House, Hermit’s Rest, and Desert View Watchtower. Lookout Studio was built in 1914 on the top of the canyon’s South Rim and currently serves as a gift shop and observation area. The building was added to the National Register of Historic places in 1987.
Colter’s work has become known as the “National Park Service Rustic Style,” which emphasized respecting the integrity of regional elements and incorporating them into the design. Colter’s work in the early 1900’s drew upon Native American influences, using motifs from the Hopi, Zuni, Navajo and Mexican tribes, which was contrary to the European design style of the time. With regard to the southwest region she was designing in, many of Colter’s buildings were made of natural materials such as stone, matching the surrounding desert.
Read more about Mary Colter in BWAF’s Collection of Women of 20th-Century American Architecture and add your own knowledge.
For additional resources about Mary Colter, see Arnold Berke’s Mary Colter: Architect of the Southwest (2002).
Photo Credit: NPS photo by Michael Quinn, under Flickr Creative Commons 2.0
