Best Of Tucson®

Best Contemporary Architecture

Rattlesnake Bridge (by Simon Donovan)

All the brain-munching and the pulling off of other peoples' extremities was really getting us down until we saw the Rattlesnake Bridge. This innovative architectural wonder conceived by local artist Simon Donovan looks so real that it's like crawling down the belly of the beast itself! What a refreshing change. Donovan's design combines the intrinsic angularity of metallurgy with the sinuous reptilian grace of the snake to create one of the truly great works of public art in the Southwest. Take a walk through this mind-bending metal viper and think, peristalsis.

Runners up:

2. Icehouse Lofts, 1001 E. 17th St., 623-5638, www.icehouselofts.com

3. UA College of Optical Sciences, 1630 E. University Blvd., 621-6997, www.optics.arizona.edu