Why So Much Modern Architecture In Palms Springs?Sitting nearly astride the San Andreas Fault, Palm Springs owes everything to the geologic forces that caused hot springs to bubble up from the desert floor. The springs drew native Cahuilla Indians and later intrepid pioneers; then came railroads and new settlers seeking open space and healthy dry desert air.
In the 1920s and 30s Palm Springs emerged as a resort destination drawing Hollywood elites and affluent vacationers from the east. It became a playground for the rich and carefree – a reputation that enhanced its popularity and fueled its explosive growth through the 1940s, 50s and 60s. Drawn by the growing need for homes and buildings, as well as the extraordinary desert landscape and the city's unrestrained spirit of reinvention, architects came to Palm Springs, too, where they embarked on an extraordinary experiment. The results of this experiment were thousands of bold, innovative structures that expressed the spirit of their unique time and place. Desert Modernism took its cues from the ideas of early modernists like Le Corbusier, Walter Gropius, Mies van der Rohe, Marcel Breuer and Frank Lloyd Wright. Its style grew out of a confluence of forces that began with the pure vision of talented architects and incorporated the tastes and expectations of Hollywood celebrities, affluent snow birds, busy home builders, booming businesses and an aspiring post-war middle class. The buildings that resulted were new and original. They reflected and enhanced the stark beauty of their desert environments. They featured honest materials such as glass, wood, steel, stone and concrete that were both beautiful and essential. They assumed an integral role in the aesthetic space between sand, mountain and sky, and they expressed an understated sense of style that replaced ostentation with the inherent drama of quality design. But by the late 1970s, Palm Springs' fortunes began to diminish as 'modern' styles fell out of fashion and newer Coachella Valley resorts drew away the crowds. Architectural treasures languished while new homes and developments sprang up in derivative historical styles. And many of the homes and buildings that had come to be associated with Palm Springs' heyday fell into sad disrepair. Fortunately, neglect turned out to be a blessing when a new wave of avid modernism fans returned to Palm Springs in the 1980s and 90s in search of classic architectural homes. Their enthusiasm fueled a resurgence in mid-century modern style, a timely rescue of countless threatened structures and a dramatic turnaround for Palm Springs' economy. Now famous for its unique concentration of fine modernist homes and buildings, Palm Springs is a hugely popular resort destination where visitors flock from all over the world in search of a stylish, quintessentially modern place to relax, unwind and explore California's cultural treasures and glorious desert landscape. 
Palm Springs Arial Tramway Valley Station, 1963, Albert Frey and Robson Chambers
|
Kaufmann Desert House, 1946, Richard Neutra
Celebrated Palm Springs Modernist ArchitectsHerbert W. Burns, 1897-1988
Albert Frey, 1903-1998 John Porter Clark, 1905-1991 E. Stewart Williams, 1909-2005 James McNaughton, 1912-1979 Howard Lapham, 1914-2008 William F. Cody, 1916-1978 Walter S. White, 1917-2002 Robson Chambers, 1919-1999 Dan Palmer, 1920-2007 Richard Harrison, 1921-1993 William Krisel, 1924 - 2017 Donald Wexler, 1926-2015 Hugh Kaptur, b. 1931 Stan Sackley, 1937-2001 Michael Black,1937-2008 
Colonnade & Spa Resort, 1963, William F. Cody, Wexler & Harrison, et al. (Demolished in 2014 to make way for Indian casino).
Inspired by LeCorbusier's chapel at Ronchamp, 1959, City National Bank, Rudi Baumfeld
Alexander Construction Co. "Butterfly" Tract Home, 1957, Palmer & Krisel
Dr. Franz Alexander House, 1955, Walter S. White
|
Acclaimed Architects Who Worked in the
|
Banner photo: 1957 post and beam by tract home developer Jack Meiselman.
