Phoenix Just Might Be Serious About Building 'The Pin'

Last week, the City of Phoenix issued a broad request for proposals soliciting “Entertainment and Tourism Attractions” for the downtown area. After months of unofficial support for a massive honey-dipper shaped observation tower that’s been floated by developer Novawest and BIG, the international design firm headed by Danish architect Bjarke Ingles, Phoenix is signaling its willingness to take this idea seriously.

Known for its audacious designs and for what they call “hedonistic sustainability”—like the waste-to-energy plant that doubles as a ski slope that recently broke ground in Copenhagen —BIG has put forth what it’s pitching as a reboot of the iconic twentieth-century urban observation tower. They’re affectionately calling it “The Pin.”