Modern Madness: Palm Springs Modernism Week

It’s that time of year again – when thousands of smog-weary Angelonians and design buffs from all over the country descend on the mid-century modernist mecca that is Palm Springs, California. Since 2006 the annual festival has given architecture nerds a peak behind the curtains of some of the city’s most iconic commercial and residential buildings.

This year, due to the ongoing pandemic-related constraints around the holding of a large, live event, the festival has moved, in part, to an online platform. The practically-named Online Experience is thus a mix of programming that includes virtual tours, presentations, and documentary films and is on sale through March 15th. Videos are available to stream through the end of the month and, at anywhere from $10 to $45 a pop, will cost you more than your monthly Netflix subscription but not nearly as much as the real thing. For that, check out the roster of in-person tours and talks during Modernism Week proper, held this year from April 8th to 18th.

As a quick aside, for those of you needing a primer on mid-century/midcentury modernism (or is it capitalized – Mid-Century Modernism – who’s to say?), and for the acronym crowd, MCM, here’s a brief guide. And another for good measure. And a few on modernism in Palm Springs specifically.

If you’re like me, you sadly do not have a mid-April jaunt to sunny California on the books. So we’ll just have to make do with the virtual tours. A lot of the titles piqued my interest, including the Architectural Driving Tour of Palm Springs, which promises a nice overview of important modernist buildings throughout the city, as well as The Desert Modernists Video Series with Alan Hess for a look at this quintessentially California take on mid-century design through the eyes of one of its greatest authorities. If you’re looking to explore modernism beyond Palm Springs, there’s Modern In The Middle: Chicago Houses 1929-1975 that takes a look at midwestern modernism and Modern New Canaan – Evolution of Design: Bauhaus | Harvard GSD | New Canaan for a lowdown on the New England brand of modernism born of the “Harvard Five.”

With limited time and funds to spend on virtually ogling other people’s houses, I have so far only checked out one video, Modernism Week Signature Home Tour Video Series No. 1. In it, host Maureen Erbe walks us through five significant modernist Palm Springs homes, treating viewers not only to a tour of the residents’ private inner chambers, but also to conversations with the homeowners and, occasionally, the architect himself. As the camera follows our gracious hosts from room to room, the proud owners share little tidbits here and odds and ends of history there, all while casually and expertly name-dropping the designers of various original pieces of MCM furniture and priceless works of art.

As a teaser for anyone who might care to watch it for themselves, here’s a peak at the featured homes:

• The Edris House, architect E. Stewart Williams, 1954. As the house remains virtually unchanged since the day it was built – wood paneling, 50s style kitchen and all – the Edris House serves as a wonderful educational example of what a modernist home from this period would look like. High point: Panoramic views of the desert landscape and distant hills. Also the secret built-in bar. Low point: Master bedroom has no separation from the en-suite bathroom. Cozy.

• The House of Cardin, architect William Krisel, 1969. If you’re a fan of visionary designer Pierre Cardin, as the owners of this home most unequivocally are, this is the house for you. It’s also the only one of the bunch to break away from mid-century modern furnishings in favor of a more space age aesthetic (take the chrome silver circular couch in the living room), coupled with a liberal sprinkling of all things Cardin (from the bed linens and curtains to the owners’ kaftans repurposed from vintage scarves to the 1972 Cardin-edition AMC Javelin SST in the driveway).

• The Aggregate Wall House, architect John Walling, 1975. Not only is this a great example of late modernism, with a touch of Brutalist elements, it is absolutely gorgeous. The scale of the place is impressive, with high ceilings and sight lines that extend across the house. Typical of a mid-century home, the structure is site-specific, closely following the form of the land so that the house appears to grow out of it, rather than to sit on top of it. There is a nice sense of cohesion in the repeated use of materials like raw aggregate concrete walls and slate floors that extend from the interior to the exterior through floor to ceiling glass. Hands down my favorite of the five.

• Skyfall, architect R. Denzil Lee, 1963. Like the House of Cardin, this is a very clean, very white mid-century design emblematic of Palm Springs architecture. Its minimalism is balanced by brightly colored decor and graphic elements like pop art. Now I know that modern, sparkling white interiors persist as an in vogue design choice, but in my humble, sometimes unpopular opinion, it’s a rather antiseptic look. Skyfall does, however, boast a rather unusual circular pool around which the house is built. Glass walls curve around it for a near-360 degree view, while an oculus above the pool opens to the sky and glimpses of palm trees above.

• The Wexler Family Home, architect Donald Wexler, 1955. Prominent MCM architect built this house for his family, an effort which reportedly took three people over the course of four months to complete at a cost of $12,000. The post and beam structure has a simple, open floor plan that still looks fresh and modern by today’s standards. T 1-11 plywood siding is used on both interior and exterior walls, which, though common today, was an innovative building material at the time. Expertly landscaped grounds inspired by Japanese rock gardens complete the indoor-outdoor aesthetic that is a hallmark – and a definite selling point – of mid-century modern design.

Taking the virtual tour has had the unfortunate side effect of making me wish that I could see these homes for myself, even if only from behind closed gates and through privacy hedges. Perhaps on my next voyage to Palm Springs (I spent a weekend there a couple years ago during a brief stint in LA). After all, I did promise myself that if I ever make it back, I would make more of an effort to seek out the modernist architecture that the city is so famed for. Not that it’s exactly hard to come by, but I spent so much time during my last visit soaking up all the Spanish Colonial and Mediterranean Revival architecture that is also characteristic of the area (not to mention the sun rays while lounging at the hotel pool), that I kind of bypassed the mid-century.

In the meantime, perhaps I’ll try to slake my wanderlust with more virtual programming. As it happens, there’s a part two to the signature home tour series, Modernism Week Signature Home Tour Video Series No. 2, with five more houses to drool over. Weekend plans, made.