Awards
Advocacy
Citation of Merit
An Advocacy Citation of Merit is presented to the Aluminaire House, designed by Lawrence Kocher and Albert Frey. Originally conceived as an exhibition piece for the 1931 Allied Arts and Industry and Architectural League Exhibition in New York City, the Aluminaire House showcased mass-produced building materials in a modern, repeatable form. It was never intended as a permanent structure, but at the end of the exhibition, architect Wallace Harrison purchased the building and relocated it to his property, thus beginning its long journey. In the early 1990s it was moved to the NYIT Central Islip campus in an effort to save it, led by key figures Professors Michael Schwarting and Frances Campani. When the campus later closed, the building went into storage, but it was not forgotten. A presentation by Schwarting and Campani in 2014 kicked off a renewed effort, led by Mark Davis of Modernism Week, to bring the house out of storage and relocate it to Palm Springs. Advocacy work continued and in February 2020 the Palm Springs Art Museum agreed to accept the house as part of its permanent collection. After a Covid-19 delay, the Aluminaire House was carefully and accurately reassembled. The original structural materials of aluminum columns, girders and beams, steel girts to frame the walls and the steel windows all remain in place. The House is visible from the street, and the grounds are open to the public when the Museum is open. In a suitable homage, Frey House 2, that Frey built for himself in 1964, sits on the mountain behind, looking down on the Aluminaire House.
“This is an almost 100-year-old house that was not meant to last, but it has. People have gone to herculean lengths to preserve it, and there is value is recognizing the individuals who have spent decades in service to preserving this object. The new location in Palm Springs makes perfect sense.”
- Liz Waytkus, Docomomo US Executive Director
“Sometimes the best preservation tool is patience.”
In chronological order reflecting the 37 years over which advocacy efforts took place:
Jon Michael Schwarting (Campani and Schwarting Architects, Professor Emeritus NYIT, Aluminaire House Project, Aluminaire House Foundation); Frances Campani (Campani and Schwarting Architects, Associate Professor NYIT, Aluminaire House Project, Aluminaire House Foundation); Dr. Julio M. San Jose (Dean, School of Architecture, NYIT–deceased); Mr. Michael Lynch (Director, Division of Historic Preservation Services, NY State Department of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation);120 NYIT architecture students who worked on the Aluminaire House in classes for 10 semesters from 1988-1992; Paul Field (Contractor, NYIT adjunct assistant professor); Elise Quasebarth, Higgens and Quasbarth LLC (Historic Structures Report); Dr. Kenneth Frampton, (Professor of Architecture, Architectural historian and critic, Aluminaire House Foundation); Walter Chapman (Contractor, 2000 reconstruction and 2012 deconstruction); Mark Davis (Modernism Week, Aluminaire House Foundation); all members of the 2014-2020 California Committee of the Aluminaire House Foundation; Louis Grachos (Former Director, Palm Springs Art Museum); Adam Lerner (Executive Director/CEO, Palm Springs Art Museum); Leo Marmol (Architect, Marmol Radziner, Trustee Palm Springs Art Museum); D.W. Johnston, (Contractors, Palm Springs reconstruction)
How to Visit
Currently deconstructed and awaiting restoration.
Location
Palm Springs Art Museum
101 North Museum DrivePalm Springs, CA, 92262
Case Study House No. 21
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Designer(s)
Other designers
A. Lawrence Kocher, Albert Frey