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“We also had to reassess the structure — we’re now in earthquake country and in a very challenging desert environment [...] To make this a permanent installation, we had to work with the city to assess how to permit it. We couldn’t classify it as a habitable structure because that would trigger the ADA and energy requirements, so we had to classify it as an exhibit." — Palm Springs Life
The house had sat dormant in a Long Island storage facility until its relocation was finally worked out in March of 2015. Site preparations took until last year to commence after the museum added the house to its permanent collection in 2020. The entire 37-year process earned an Advocacy Citation... View full entry
The Palm Springs Art Museum has shared an update on the future of the Aluminaire House three years after acquiring the Albert Frey and A. Lawrence Kocher masterpiece to its permanent collection. The home, which had been lingering in a local storage space since 2017, will now be reassembled and... View full entry
Apparent Japanese architecture aficionado Kim Kardashian recently traveled to the country to meet with Pritzker winner Tadao Ando, according to an Instagram post made by the celebrity mogul Thursday. Ando is designing a private residence for Kardashian in the Palm Springs area, the details of... View full entry
Disney’s planned “Storyliving” community is gaining traction after the company released an update featuring additional details about their new Cotino project located in Rancho Mirage, 11 miles east of Palm Springs, California. As KTLA reported this weekend, the scheme will come with a host... View full entry
The fourth edition of Desert X kicked off earlier this month in Southern California’s Coachella Valley with 12 site-specific installations that focus on ecology and the global social and economic consequences of climate change. Artists were challenged by the “desert, its beauty, harshness, and... View full entry
The Albert Frey Aluminaire House that was donated and shipped to the Palm Springs Art Museum about five years ago will remain disassembled in its shipping container for at least another year or longer. Key issues raised by the city may keep visitors from ever walking through the Aluminaire House, even when reconstructed. — The Desert Sun
Frey’s experimental 1931 house (created in partnership with A. Lawrence Kocher) first came into the museum’s coffers in 2020 after a six-year bout in storage and a $600,000 gift, which was supposed to go towards its permanent installation on a corner plot on the Palm Springs Art Museum’s... View full entry
Tensions over visitors, some of whom will, inevitably, want to claim a piece of the desert themselves, has been a part of the area’s story for years. But as the pandemic has boosted Joshua Tree’s allure for travelers, transplants and investors, it has magnified old conflicts and created new conundrums. — The New York Times
Numbers of short-term rentals have doubled in Joshua Tree and the neighboring community of Yucca Valley, presenting an existential crisis to some of its inhabitants dismayed at the new boom in development to meet the demands of the market. Even the tree species that the town is named for is under... View full entry
The Palm Springs Art Museum has announced its acquisition of Albert Frey and A. Lawrence Kocher's Aluminaire House, a futuristic prefabricated home that will be installed at the foot of the museum adjacent to a new public park. The Desert Sun reports that the nonprofit Aluminaire House... View full entry
Today's featured virtual event happenings, from Archinect's Virtual Event Guide, address issues from resiliency, mass timber, community engagement, residential design, art, public art, urban design, Palm Springs modernism and bamboo. Are you hosting a virtual lecture? Presentation?... View full entry
On this episode of Archinect Sessions, we’re sharing a conversation I had with Alysa Nahmias, the director and producer of the documentary film “The New Bauhaus.” We recorded this conversation last month, poolside, a few hours before the film premiered to a packed house in the Annenberg... View full entry
Thanks to the deep pockets of venture capitalist Ron Burkle, the [Bob Hope House] is being remade to reflect the architect’s original vision. Lautner protégé Helena Arahuete, who worked with him for 23 years, has stripped the interiors and rebuilt the inside with natural materials. Swan faucets, wallpaper and carpet are out. Quartzite flooring, African mahogany and Brazilian granite are in — as is the shape-shifting light that transforms the house during the course of the day. — The Los Angeles Times
Comedian Bob Hope, when presented with a model of his 24,000 square foot Palm Springs home by architect John Lautner in 1969, had but one comment to reflect his admiration of and bewilderment towards the proposal: “Well, at least when they come down from Mars they’ll know where to go.”... View full entry
Get ready for “Bell”hops and Baja Blasts, Fire Sauce and Sauce Packet floaties, because The Bell: A Taco Bell Hotel and Resort is opening for a limited time in Palm Springs this August, meant for 18+ superfans. Complete with exclusive Taco Bell menu items and plenty of surprises, The Bell is sure to be the spicy twist of your summer. So pack your swimsuit, mark your calendars and start the countdown, because The Bell is about to make all of your taco dreams come true. — Taco Bell
for a limited pop-up run this August, Taco Bell will open a hotel in Palm Springs (not to be confused with their permanent wedding chapel in Las Vegas). Photo courtesy of Taco BellThe Taco Bell-themed hotel is just one example of many recent strategies for well-established brands to develop... View full entry
Kiley was among the most important, influential, and idiosyncratic landscape architects of the 20th century and the designer of more than 1,100 projects. Yet today his work is not well known outside of the field of landscape architecture and, to a lesser extent, the architecture profession. Despite his renown and importance, his legacy remains fragile. — Metropolis
There are many amazing architects and designers whose work sadly remains unnoticed due to the lack of exposure and presence outside of certain circles. With Modernism Week well underway the traveling exhibition "The Landscape Architecture Legacy of Dan Kiley" makes its debut in California's... View full entry
Esteemed mid-century modern architect William Krisel, known for his use of the butterfly roof, died in Beverly Hills on Monday at the age of 92.Working largely in Southern California, Krisel designed over 30,000 homes in the region. Some of the architect’s most influential work was built in Palm... View full entry
Amid the dust and clamor is the steel skeleton of Aitken’s “Mirage,” which takes the form of a 1960s-style suburban California ranch house. The seven-room structure, to be fully mirrored on the outside and inside, is perched on a hillside with city and desert views, which are key to the piece. The structure has gaping holes where doors and windows might be, and its interior walls are built on angles to reflect the sky and contrasting surrounding terrain... — The L.A. Times
What does the desert in Riverside County have to offer aside from a massive annual music festival, the sleek modernism of Palm Springs, and the ethereal vista of untrammeled nature? Well, starting on February 25th, it has the Desert Exhibition of Art, or Desert X for short. Exhibitors in the... View full entry
