Autumn in Palm Springs

It’s time for Modernism Week, a four-day span of events on the architecture, art and design that have generated the timeless allure of the Midcentury Modern style

Canyon View Estates, Palm Springs – Photo courtesy John Lewis Marshall
Canyon View Estates, Palm Springs – Photo courtesy John Lewis Marshall

Like a voyage in time, inside fabulous Midcentury Modern, immersed in the architectural and natural panorama of Southern California. During Modernism Week, one of the most exciting West Coast events for design and architecture

Vista Las Palmas

From 13 to 16 October in Palm Springs, over 50 events are spread across four days, including tours, talks and parties, for a full immersion in the design and art that shaped this American movement, in one of its key locations. This iteration is more limited than its counterpart in February (which lasts 11 days), but it is equally packed with intriguing content and variety

Frey House II

A fundamental role in the experience is played by the guided visits to neighborhoods, buildings and residences in Palm Springs, which narrate and symbolize the Modernist movement. Starting with the area of Vista Las Palmas and Canyon View Estates, the Palm Springs Art Museum, the Frey House II – the home designed for himself by the architect Albert Frey – as well as the Lautner Compound by the architect John Lautner, the Sunnylands Historic House, all the way to the eco-houses in the High Desert

Sunnylands

Among the events of greatest interest, the Palm Springs Modernism Fall Show hosts 45 exhibitors from America and Europe who display (and sell) 21st-century contemporary design products, from furniture to lamps, carpets to silverware, ceramics to prints, apparel and accessories, including some touches of vintage and rarities. Also not to be missed, the talks include the direct participation of the Palm Springs Preservation Foundation, the author James Harlan, and the teachers at the Palm Springs Historical Society Jim Cook and Vinny Stoppia.