Dreaming of Mid-Century Modern Pools in Palm Springs

Lounging by a mid-century modern pool in Palm Springs sounds nice right now as we freeze here on the East Coast. Bonnie Tsui’s piece in the New York Times this past weekend could not have come at a better moment.
“The pool is both entertainment and escape,” she writes. “Under the palm trees in a desert town built over an aquifer, the symbolism of the pool as oasis is particularly resonant. It is refuge and relief — from the heat, from daily difficulties, from the 24-hour glare of nearby Los Angeles. Screen idols had been fleeing the pressure cooker of Hollywood for the poolside pleasures of Palm Springs’ resorts since the 1930s. You could alternately seek entertainment and silo yourself away.”
Here are few pictures of some Palm Springs’ pools to help warm you up–or push you to book a flight west right now. Modernism Week also is coming up Feb. 15-25.
The pool at the Annenberg’s Sunnylands by A. Quincy Jones.

The champagne cork shaped pool at the Ocotillo Lodge by Dan Palmer and William Krisel.

The Understated Modernism of Don Wexler

This is last in the trilogy of posts on my trip to Palm Springs. (You can read the first two posts here and here. I am devoting this post solely to the work of Donald Wexler, FAIA, who my wife and I had the pleasure of meeting when we were in Palm Springs during Modernism Week.
Mr. Wexler, who is 85, is quite simply put, a rock star without the attitude. His work was feted throughout Modernism Week with the exhibit Steel and Shade: The Architecture of Don Wexler at the Palm Spring Art Museum and the showing of the file, Journeyman Architect: The Life and Work of Donald Wexler (Speaking of the movie, Modern Richmond is holding a showing of the film at the Virginia Architecture Center on Wednesday at 7 p.m.)
Touring around Palm Springs with Mr. Wexler and his family was an honor.
He attended many of the other Modernism Week events, spoke on a panel and even took one of three-hour architecture tours of the city that he helped build and define. (Luckily, I picked the tour he was on.)
Wexler, who grew up in Minnesota, served in the Navy during World War II. Once his service was complete, he studied architecture at the University of Minnesota after taking an aptitude test saying he would be good at it; he was thinking of career in engineering. The test was right. After he graduated, he left Minnesota at 24 and snagged an apprenticeship with none other than Richard Neutra. He then worked Read More >

Modern Capital Does Palm Springs

The Kaufmann House by Richard Neutra.
Been running around Palm Springs trying to take in all the architecture. So much to see and so little time. I did take a three-hour bus tour yesterday. We were honored to have Donald Wexler on the tour with us. (More to come on Wexler’s work and impact on Palm Springs in another post.) Here are just a few shots from yesterday. Make sure to follow me on Facebook and Twitter for real-time mid-century modern updates from the desert.
Palm Springs City Hall by Albert Frey.
One of seven Wexler steel houses.
Me and and Don Wexler after the tour.
Former Coachella Valley Savings and Loan building by E. Stewart Williams. A nice view to end the day.

Modern Capital Heading to the Mid-Century Modern Mecca

The 1963 Tramway station In Palm Springs by Clark, Frey and Chambers.
(Courtesy of the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway)
If you have been reading this site for some time you know I hate the winter and the cold. My wife and I are finally heading to Palm Springs this year to get some sun and to experience the mid-century modern mecca during Modernism Week, which begins Feb. 17. Make sure to follow me on Facebook and Twitter for all the modern action. Here are some pieces I have been reading as we plan the trip: an interview with Modernism Week founder Jacques Caussin, a self-guided tour by Palm Springs tour guru Robert Imber and a nice piece on the “quiet elegance” of architect Donald Wexler. I also discovered the funky, mod art of Nat Reed. And maybe I will dream about buying this home by Albert Frey. California or bust.

Dreaming of the Desert

The 1963 Tramway station by Clark, Frey and Chambers.
(Courtesy of the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway)
As I sit here looking out the window on this dreary, icy day in Washington, my mind wanders to Palm Springs. Unfortunately, plans my wife and I had to go to the mid-century modern mecca for the upcoming Modernism Week (Feb. 13-21) have been sidelined. For those going, have fun. For those who are not heading west, take a “virtual tour” here with a reporter for the Minneapolis Star Tribune, who regularly escapes the Minnesota winters by jetting off to Palm Springs. The tour guide mentioned in the piece, Robert Imber, also has a nice article here to help you embrace your inner modernist as you think about the desert, cool MCM architecture and try to stay warm.