Palm Springs Modernism Week: Everything You Need to Know

EventPalm Springs Modernism Week: Everything You Need to KnowFrom home tours to keynote addresses, here are the must-sees in the modernist desert oasis

By Janet O'Grady

February 15, 2022

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Photo: Stephen Kent Johnson

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Each spring, design lovers flock to Palm Springs, California, for Modernism Week. After its cancellation in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the powerhouse festival returns this year with great fanfare from February 17–27.

Palm Springs Modernism Week toasts the city’s wealth of midcentury design and celebrity culture, with more than 350 events on offer. Programming ranges from tours to talks to retro martinis in private homes rarely open to the public—and more.

“Modernism Week celebrates the unique aspects of the tremendous architectural heritage in Palm Springs and the surrounding Coachella Valley,” says Lisa Vossler Smith, executive director of Modernism Week. “Through our tours, talks, and other compelling programs, we help educate people about the essential role that design plays in our daily lives.”

Participants range from preservationists to fans of the TV series Mad Men. And each year, attendance continues to grow, with numbers jumping from 12,000 ticket holders during its 2012 inaugural year to 162,000 in February 2020, according to the event’s organizers. Seasoned festivalgoer Kevin Kemper, of locally based H3K Home+Design, says the diverse offerings attract those looking for a whirlwind dive into midcentury design, as well as those seeking tips for renovating their own modernist homes.

The Palm Springs Art Museum, which will host the Aluminaire House later this year.

Photo: Jessica Sample

One event not to be missed this year, Vossler Smith says, is the three-part symposium “Stories Untold: Black Modernists in Southern California,” taking place on February 21 at 1:30 pm. A collaboration with the Palm Springs Black History Committee, the program features work by prominent, though lesser-known, Black architects and designers from the midcentury period, like Robert Kennard, Arthur Silvers, Roy Sealy, James Garrott, and Ralph Vaughn. It also presents contemporary design projects, such as Destination Crenshaw in Los Angeles, a mile-long open-air museum in the Hyde Park neighborhood. A must-see event on designer Kemper’s list is Palm Springs Modernism Show & Sale, which features 90 national and international dealers of vintage furniture, decorative, and fine arts. Another highlight: the Palm Springs Modern Design Expo, encompassing 45 dealers of contemporary lighting, furniture, and other home products. (Both the Expo and the Show & Sale will take place at the Palm Springs Convention Center from February 18–21.)

Visitors should also make sure to take a tour, offered by mini coach or bicycle through Modernism Week and PS Architecture. These excursions orient guests to the diverse, iconic neighborhoods of Palm Springs while immersing them in history and design—meaning travelers will be able to distinguish the Movie Colony from the Old Las Palmas like a local in no time. The idea of affordable desert modernist design for the masses, attendees will learn, was introduced in the 1950s with the construction of more than 2,000 homes along the Alexander tract. It wasn’t long before Palm Springs became a Hollywood hideaway, with Marilyn Monroe, among others, being a frequent visitor. During a visit, guests can see homes once owned by Frank Sinatra, Bob Hope, and even current celebrities like Leonardo DiCaprio. They can also take in original works by Richard Neutra, John Lautner, and William Cody, who put their stamp on the town, along with Palm Springs design signatures like V-shaped butterfly roofs and the brise-soleil.

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Among the already sold-out home tours is a rare chance to visit Frey House II. Sited on a cliff overlooking Coachella Valley, the structure was once the home of the Swiss-born Albert Frey, a father of Desert Modernism. Frey also worked on Manhattan’s Museum of Modern Art building and designed the Palm Springs City Hall and the Aluminaire House (originally exhibited in New York in 1931 and scheduled to be reconstructed on the grounds of the Palm Springs Art Museum).

Also featured this year is an original 1950s William Krisel home, dubbed the Maison Bleue Moderne, in the Vista Las Palmas neighborhood. While respecting its distinct midcentury details, designer Michelle Boudreau has updated the home with new materials and modern technology. In the Indian Canyons enclave, guests are invited to tour a residence designed by noted architect Stan Sackley in 1975, which contains an assortment of contemporary and vintage furniture by Michael Ostrow and Roger Stoker of Grace Home Furnishings.

Talks this year include a keynote address from AD100 architect Jeanne Gang, a presentation by landscape architect Signe Nielsen, and more. Finally, be sure to visit CAMP, a new community and meeting place, in the lobby of the Hyatt Palm Springs hotel—because with all that inspiration in store, you’re sure to have plenty to talk about with fellow attendees.