Modernism Week’s 2016 Fall Preview will take place from October 21-23, 2016 at various locations in the Coachella Valley. Highlights include a wide range of tours (including walking tours, popular architectural bus tours, a tour showcasing homes across a range of Palm Springs neighborhoods and tours of iconic buildings), educational events (including lectures and film screenings), and a series of receptions celebrating all things modern.
This three-day event offers entertaining tours, lectures, demonstrations, and receptions. The Fall Preview kicks off on Friday night with a festive Opening Night Party and Early Buying Preview Reception at the Modernism Show & Sale at the Palm Springs Convention Center. The popular Show and Sale, which offers important 20th and 21st century objects, furniture, art and textiles from more than 40 premier national and international decorative and fine arts dealers, continues on Saturday and Sunday. Tickets are available in advance at modernismweek.com or at the door Friday night during the opening reception. Weekend show hours are Saturday from 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. and Sunday from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Attendees will experience a wide range of architectural tours, including a walking tour of Palm Springs, a guided tour of Sunnylands (featuring the Annenberg Estate and Visitors Center), the Charles Phoenix Super Duper Double Decker Bus Tour of Palm Springs and other Premier Double Decker Architecture Bus Tours, docent-led tours of Frank Sinatra’s “Twin Palms” Estate and the iconic Frey House II residence, and the 3rd Annual ONE–PS Neighborhood Home Tour, Pads, Pools & Patios, showcases significant homes in a variety of Palm Springs neighborhoods.
There will be a series of educational lectures and film screenings. The popular lecture series “Modernism With a Twist” will reprise the top audience favorites from the past year, and The Palm Springs Women’s Club will be the site of two captivating lectures – Lost, Saved & Endangered, a review of the current state of preservation of important buildings, presented by architectural expert Gary Johns, and Palm Springs to Los Angeles and Back, presented by author, historian and speaker Steven M. Price. “Desert Maverick – The Singular Architecture of William F. Cody,” the story of midcentury modern architect William F. Cody told through the iconic buildings that he created, will be screened at the Palm Springs Public Library.
On Saturday, October 22 the public is invited to attend a special dedication on the Palm Springs Walk of Stars for Robert Imber, local architectural historian and founder of Palm Springs Modern Tours. The ceremony will be held at 2:30 p.m. at the Palm Springs Art Museum Architecture and Design Center, Edwards Harris Pavilion at 300 S. Palm Canyon Drive.
An evening cocktail reception on Saturday, October 22 honoring famed Palm Springs architect E. Stewart Williams will raise funds to nominate several prominent homes and buildings designed by Williams for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places. This indoor/outdoor event will be hosted by Towne Palm Springs, with hors d’oeurves and cocktails provided by Jake’s Restaurant, and will take place at The Shops at Thirteen Forty Five, a restored historic commercial building originally designed in 1955 by E. Stewart Williams.
Another highlight will be Christopher Kennedy’s “Palm Springs Pad” with public tours on Saturday and Sunday and a Preview Party on Friday evening. Built in 2006 by Palm Springs Modern Homes and designed by Los Angeles’ DesignArc, the 48@Baristo townhomes have been widely praised and credited for launching “A New Generation of Desert Modern.” Christopher has updated his new pad with the latest ideas that are easily implemented in today’s modern lifestyle.
About Modernism Week: Modernism Week is a 501 (c) (3) charitable organization, providing scholarships to local Palm Springs students pursuing college educations in the fields of architecture and design; as well as giving grants to local and state organizations for their efforts to preserve modernist architecture throughout the state of California.
Modernism Week’s Mission: 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 Palm Springs.