Stroll along with Hipstorian Marshall Shore in our video tour and learn about some of ASU’s history through a sample of architectural highlights.

A walk through the ASU Tempe campus reveals an architectural survey of the many styles and periods that reflect the university’s expansion, growth and setting in the Sonoran Desert. You won’t see the traditional vine covered halls associated with the colleges and universities in other parts of the country. No way! Here you’ll find stately palm trees lining the iconic, one hundred year-old Palm Walk. ASU’s architecture is a tangible link between its start as a small teachers college in Tempe in the late 1800s up to its present stature as one of the largest the multi-disciplinary educational institutions in the U.S. today.

Your tour with Marshall Shore starts at the beginning with Old Main, which was dedicated in 1898 when ASU was the Territorial Normal School, for teachers. Next he’ll take you through the decades with distinctive structures and architectural features from the 30s and 40s. Marshall ends his tour about midway through the campus with a striking example of mid-century magnificence, ASU Gammage, the beautiful performing arts theater designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in the 1960s.

So, take a few minutes to view our video tour with Marshall Shore and then put on your comfy walking shoes and head to ASU’s original Tempe campus to see these examples and more of this university’s distinctive architecture and history.