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Ripple effect: the Palm Springs hotels making waves
There must be something about all that sunshine and blue-on-blue sky, but Palm Springs has long lured a particular tribe of traveller – savvy, design-conscious, and fastidious about their choice of lodgings. Aiding the cause is the area’s haul of classic mid-century architecture, many of which, thanks to generous proportions and outdoor spaces, have been successfully co-opted or refurbished as bright and cheerful hotels.
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Maier's 'maison': Bottega Veneta's Beverly Hills hub gets a Mediterranean makeover
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The architects who built Palm Springs: E. Stewart Williams
Most influential in the realm of public and cultural life, Williams’ (1909-2005) legacy can be seen all over town. He’s the architect behind the Palm Springs Art Museum (1976) and the Santa Fe Federal Savings & Loan building (1960) and the Aerial Tramway Station (1963) – a refuge for hikers and wildlife lovers, 2,600m above the town in the San Jacinto Mountains
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Empty house: Carmen Argote delves into family history for her latest exhibition
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Modernist houses for sale in sunny California
Few places capture the public imagination like California. The Golden State on the American West Coast is the stuff of myth, movie and modernism; and these modernist houses – which are currently up for sale – could be just the excuse to make the move
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Desert home strikes a balance between modernism and nature
High Desert Retreat by Aidlin Darling Design is a desert home that negotiates crisp modernism and clean geometries within an arid, natural setting
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Tim Street-Porter’s photo diary of modernist marvels in Palm Springs
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Stayner Architects revive Wave House – a lost Palm Springs gem
Los Angeles-based Stayner Architects is behind the thoughtful refresh of a Walter White house in the desert, a mid-century modern classic available to visit during the 2020 Palm Springs Modernism Week
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Jory Brigham's furniture pairs mid-century craft with 70s colour
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John Pawson reveals latest residential offering in Los Angeles
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Tour a secret Palm Springs modernist icon, the Racquet Club Cottages West
During this year's Palm Springs Modernism Week visitors can explore William F. Cody's Racquet Club Cottages West, a residential complex including 54 original cottages, set within a wider campus frequented in the past by the likes of Clarke Gable and Frank Sinatra. Now privately owned by individuals, the villas are lovingly kept and preserved by the community of modernism enthusiasts: ‘The Cottages evoke the romance of the ‘old Palm Springs' like no other property in the desert,’ says one of them
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How Donald Wexler and William Krisel turned Palm Springs into a Hollywood retreat
In 2012 (W* 152), we met architects Donald Wexler (1926-2015) and William Krisel (1924-2017), in their natural habitat, Palm Springs, a place that they, along with Albert Frey, E Stewart Williams and William Cody, turned from dust to diamonds. Wexler earned his reputation as an innovator with his steel-framed prefabs, going on to design the second home for actress Dinah Shore, while Krisel, architect of the Twin Palms Estates an elegant tract of holiday homes, was renowned for designing a slew of housing from LA to the San Fernando Valley. Both architects had Palm Springs in common, and lived to watch their legacies unfold.
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Four architects on the influence of Palm Springs
Many contemporary architects working today have been inspired by the modernist architecture of Palm Springs. Modernism Week brings them back to the desert town for a series of events that focus on the work of contemporary architects from restorations and renovations, to obsessions and design expressions
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Painting architecture: Tommy Fitzpatrick’s fractured modernist visions
Tommy Fitzpatrick’s new series of electric-hued architectural paintings capture the American artist's 30-year fascination with modernism
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Donum Estate’s wine-tasting pavilion by Studio Other Spaces celebrates its land
The latest addition to California wine and art destination Donum Estate – the Vertical Panorama Pavilion by Olafur Eliasson and Sebastian Behmann’s Studio Other Spaces – celebrates the soil, landscape and weather that make wine possible
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Mixed media: Bret Easton Ellis and Alex Israel join forces at Gagosian Beverly Hills
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California’s forgotten roadside architecture makes for a wild West Coast drive
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Diamond Rock: a Sonoma Valley house celebrates its surroundings
A Sonoma Valley house celebrates its surroundings
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Gala night: the UCLA School of the Arts and Architecture celebrates 50 years
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Clean sweep: True Botanicals’ toxin-conscious luxury skincare line is a winner
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What to see at Modernism Week in Palm Springs
For this year's guide, visit our digital Palm Springs architecture tour. Modernism Week is your key to the colourful doors and private enclaves of the midcentury modern town of Palm Springs in California. The 2020 programme offered up tours of modernist communities Park Imperial South and Racquet Club Cottages West, as well as a stroll through Vista Las Palmas with famed Palm Springs architects William Krisel and Charles E. Du Bois – plus all the usual poolside cocktails, schmoozing and mid-mod madness. Photography: Sabrina Che
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Over 100,000 unseen Andy Warhol photographs to be made public
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Shingle vision: Roy McMakin’s designer retirement home in Venice, California
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Cali-glam cohesion: RH unveils Eight Palms, its first residence
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Palm Springs according to Phillip K Smith III
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Navigating California’s concrete skateparks through the lens of Amir Zaki
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Sprüth Magers inaugurates its Los Angeles space with new work by John Baldessari
