Albert Frey’s 1931 Aluminaire House™ and Its Influence on American Modernism

In anticipation of the Palm Springs Art Museum’s permanent installation of the 1931 Aluminaire House™, architect Leo Marmol will explore the impact this structure had on American Modernism design.

Marmol will trace the varied influences of Modern Architecture in California from Le Corbusier’s revolutionary treatise, The Five Points of Architecture and Walter Gropius’s Bauhaus Manifesto, to the social, economic, and geographic conditions that made the arid region of Palm Springs so ripe for the cultivation and proliferation of Modern Architecture – hence the ideal permanent home for Aluminaire.

Following the talk join attendees for a reception in the museum’s sculpture garden to celebrate the groundbreaking.

About Aluminaire House™:
The home was designed by Albert Frey and A. Lawrence Kocher as part of the New York Architectural and Allied Arts Exposition in 1931. The original installation represented the first major exhibition of European Modernism on U.S. soil. Constructed of prefabricated steel and aluminum components and designed following the principles set forth by Albert Frey’s mentor, Le Corbusier, the structure acted as a harbinger of American Modernism and the futuristic way of life it promised. The lecture will explore why Palm Springs supports Modern Architecture as the prevailing aesthetic as well as Frey’s relationship with the desert.

[michaeltherrien]

Everyday I walk past the Aluminaire House as it is being rebuilt next to the Palm Springs Museum. When I need a break from work, I stand at the corner and watch more of the structure come back into form. I am fascinated by the process of architecture, design and construction and this house has thoroughly captured my attention. I feel the emotional expression in the Aluminaire House now that is near completion. The structure has a soul, a unique essence that are more than the sum of the materials used in this unique design.