The late architect Albert Frey was born in Switzerland but spent most of his life in Palm Springs, where he started his days with a glass of grapefruit juice and a headstand. He also designed some of the edgiest designs in the desert, including his own home built around a boulder above the Palm Springs Art Museum and the town’s aerial tramway.
You can see his work and the work of dozens of other midcentury architects and designers during Palm Springs Modernism Week (modernismweek.com), which runs February 13-23. And, no, it’s not too early to get tickets for this event, now in its 20th year, because it tends to sell out.
It’s no wonder that the event has become a global phenomenon—the town is transformed into one giant house museum/cocktail reception/costume party/people-watching event for its eleven-day run, last year drawing some 130,000 attendees who participated in 400 events, all of which helps local organizations raise funds. Modernism Week was launched in 2006 as part of two established programs—the Palm Springs Art Museum Architecture and Design Council Symposium and the Palm Springs Modernism Show and Sale, growing exponentially each year.
At press time, the specific schedule for the February event had not yet been released, but past Modernism Week events put a major emphasis on the work of Southern California architects who helped create Palm Springs’ “look” between the end of World War II and the 1970s. Frey was among these design giants—and his noted experimental aluminum house, “Aluminaire,” was recently relocated from the East Coast to the Palm Springs Art Museum grounds. Other notable architects put their stamp on the town, including William Krisel, William Cody, Richard Neutra, John Lautner, A. Quincy Jones, Hugh Kaptur, Donald Wexler and others. Many of their signature projects were designed for celebrity clients like Frank Sinatra, Dinah Shore, William Holden, Bob Hope and Kirk Douglas, who escaped Hollywood for the privacy of cactus and palms.
Bus tours, walking tours and private home visits give you a glimpse of this sleek, airy desert style. Sinatra’s Twin Palms estate, designed by E. Stewart Williams, is usually open for Modernism Week tours, as is Sunnylands, the sprawling, 1966 Walter and Lee Annenberg estate by Jones and interior designers William Haines and Ted Graber.
Look for lectures and panels by design experts, a vendor showcase, book signings and more. Factor in fun during the event, too. Past festivities have included a swinging martini-fueled house party, a soiree celebrating the caftan as a fashion icon, live music and plenty of Instagram moments, thanks to vintage cars and participants dressed to the hilt not just in Palm Springs-centric Trina Turk designs, but wildly hued 1960s minis and patterned bell bottoms.
Can’t make it in February? Plan waaay ahead for the October 2025 Modernism Week, a four-day, smaller version of the annual February event.