Each February, when possible, Steve and I head to Palm Springs for the ten-day long, signature event Modernism Week.
"The mission of Modernism Week is to celebrate and foster appreciation of midcentury architecture and design, as well as contemporary thinking in these fields, by encouraging education, preservation and sustainable modern living as represented in the greater Palm Springs area.""Modernism Week’s signature February Event is an annual celebration of midcentury modern design, architecture, art, fashion and culture. This exciting festival takes place in February in the Palm Springs area of Southern California. Modernism Week features more than 350 events including the Palm Springs Modernism Show, Signature Home Tours, films, lectures, Premier Double Decker Architectural Bus Tours, nightly parties and live music, walking and bike tours, tours of Sunnylands, fashion, classic cars, modern garden tours, a vintage travel trailer exhibition, and more."%20(Medium).jpg)
After getting our midcentury bearings, we headed out on the town to learn more about Palm Springs and its early beginnings. First stop was at Dr. Smith/Dr. Peppers' office.
This small Spanish Eclectic structure was the northernmost residence in the village of Palm Springs when it was built in the 1920s. As the city grew, there was an increasing need for community services, especially along "Main Street," and Dr. Smith converted the residence to a medical office in the early 1930s. Dr. Peppers occupied this building from 1940 to 1958. This structure continues to be used as downtown office space, with a change from medical to real estate use in 1972.
This structure was built c. 1934 by the California Water & Telephone Company as a business office and switching center. It was purchased by General Telephone in 1967 and continued as a switching center until 1984. The structure is constructed of poured-in-place concrete highlighted by a Spanish Eclectic façade. Cool.Steve stands in from of a rare example of a Depression Era Art Moderne style building in Palm Springs. The double and triple bands of horizontal 'streamline' moldings, flat unembellished blocky wall surfaces, and symmetrical façade are characteristics of the Art Moderne style.
Originally Simpson's Radio & Frigidaire Company, The Cork'n Bottle occupied the building, beginning in 1950. Sadly, it's awaiting someone to bring it back to life.
In the 1920s, when Palm Springs was becoming the vacation boom town for the Southern California elite, Pearl McCallum McManus commissioned a new hotel to be built to house all of these visitors. She commissioned locally-renown architect Lloyd Wright, son of Frank Lloyd Wright, to design it. The result was the small but luxurious 24-room Oasis Hotel.Wright was known for his modernist buildings, and the hotel was a decade or more before its time. It became the showpiece of the town–it even had the first swimming pool. Wright used stacking geometric concrete blocks to build the individual units, which were clustered around open courtyards. Ornamental wooden screens protected the rooms, which had large windows, from the blazing desert heat. The glass-walled dining room was built around existing cottonwood trees, with their limbs seeming to grow right into the building.The Oasis Hotel opened in 1925 and was a smash hit. Stars like John Wayne, Lorette Young, and Clark Gable made the Oasis their getaway of choice and reinvented the little village around it.In the 1950s, the hotel was sold to Western Hotels, and much of the original property was dismantled or destroyed. Today, only the 40-foot decorative tower and a few construction blocks remain, tucked between businesses on Palm Canyon Drive. It is designated by the city as a Class I Historic site.%20(Medium).jpg)
A year before his election as mayor in 1988, the singer registered to vote for the first time in his life. He went on to serve as a U.S. Congressman, first taking office in 1994 when Republicans gained control of Congress. He served two terms in the House, where he was well-liked and known for his blunt and self-deprecating humor. Bono was killed in 1998 after he ran head first into a tree while skiing at Heavenly in South Lake Tahoe.
Next stop was at one of my favorite landmarks, the Frey and Chambers designed Tramway Gas Station. Located at the corner of Tramway Road and Highway 111, it was constructed in 1965 with a distinctive hyperbolic paraboloid roof, which gives the building an instantly recognizable appearance. It was used as a gas station until the 1990s, when it was turned into an art gallery. In 2015, the building was placed on the National Register of Historic Places, and was converted to the Palm Springs Visitor Center.We were here for the Festive Celebration of Permanent Nighttime Lighting of Palm Springs Visitor Center."Join PS ModCom, Mayor Garner and Modernism Week to celebrate the new permanent nighttime lighting of Albert Frey’s modern sculptural masterpiece.""Since 2012 Modernism Week has dramatically lit the glorious Palm Springs Visitor Center as part of its annual lighting of the city’s many important modern buildings. Its success inspired the Palm Springs Modern Committee to secure funding to permanently light Albert Frey’s modern sculptural masterpiece. In late 2022, a combination of Measure J funds and PS ModCom contributions achieved this ambitious goal.""Please join Mayor Garner, the Palm Springs Modern Committee Board of Directors and Modernism Week's Board of Directors Chairman, William Kopelk, for the official lighting ceremony." Since the event began at 4:30 PM and it wasn't quite dark yet, we left to return to see what all the hoopla was about.After a delicious Mexican dinner al fresco, we visited the weekly VillageFest. It was cold (55°) but fun to be out in it all.Our return to the illuminated Visitors Center did not disappoint!If Day 1 of Modernism Week is any indication, we're in for an awesome seven days of all this amazing!And in case you were wondering, this is our home for the week. We're camping in Desert Hot Springs. It's a 20 minute drive from where all the action is but it's quiet with a whole lot of its own action happening, if we could stay put for any amount of time!
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1 comments:
It looks like you really packed it in today! I love that Depression Era building. There is just something about that architecture that calls my name. Maybe because it is so rarely seen.
Your Marilyn statue came out perfect. You are off to a great start!
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