PALM SPRINGS – A MODERNISTA’S DREAM COME TRUE

Be There or Be Square! Modernism Week 2022 Promises to Be Spectacular

Story & photos by Barbara Beckley

With more mid-century architecture than anywhere else on earth, Palm Springs is mid-mod heaven anytime. But in February Modernism Week puts it over the top, providing private entry into this desert hot spot’s exclusive Modernism lifestyle.

No surprise then – that Modernism Week 2022 tickets are on sale from November 1, 2021, for this February 17-27, 2022 extravaganza. 

Mad For Mod -– Live! In Person!

Founded in 2006, Modernism Week skyrocketed in popularity, prompting the addition of the Modernism Week Fall Preview in October to provide a peek into what’s to come. I just returned from the October 14-17, 2021 soiree – and wow! Modernism Week 2022 promises to be bigger, better and bolder than ever!

As a mid-century fan, I was thrilled to again enjoy live and in person, the whirlwind of retro presentations, tours and parties as only Palm Springs can deliver.

New delights – also set for Modernism Week 2022 – include the “Midcentury Mixology Cocktail Clinic at Mr. Lyons.” Here, I learned to craft the perfect whiskey sour, that a pinch of salt enlivens any cocktail – what?! – and how (surprisingly) heavy those bottles are you see the mixologists wield behind the bar. New, too, are the over-the-top patterns and unexpected art in the 1970s Stan Sackley-designed home of the owners of Grace Home Furnishings on the “Modernism Week Featured Home Tour: Seventies Sackley.” And the exuberant décor and colors (inspired by the 1968 Mexico City Olympics) by H3K Design on the “Modernism Week Featured Design Project Tour: Limon,” a 1964 all-steel, seven-bedroom boutique hotel designed for groups of up to 14 family, friends or associates.  

Oldies but goodies were as wonderful as ever. “Best of Mod With a Twist” brought a chuckle as presenters showed us the not-so-politically-correct way men’s cologne – remember English Leather and Old Spice – was marketed in the Mad Men era; how Tiki originated right here in LA in the 1930s, and what sparked the 1960s Paint-by-Numbers craze. As always, I was impressed to be where heads of state and presidents congregated inside the 1966 Annenberg Estate home at Sunnylands, and the 1964 Frey House II, the small-but-iconic digs of master architect Albert Frey. The pop-up “Curated Vintage Event” (Louis Vuitton, Pucci, Gucci, etc.) “Was like Filene’s Basement,” joked Mitchell Karp of Mitchells Palm Springs, who organizes this apparel/jewelry/accessories show at the mid-century Temple Isaiah. He was right. I scored an Adrienne Vittadini jacket for $98.

The beloved Premier Double Decker Architectural Bus Tours are always tops for an “above-the-hedge” look at Palm Springs’ stunners. This time I learned about Palm Springs “financial district” defined by the architecturally significant bank buildings that line South Palm Canyon Drive. “We’re about architecture, not gossip,” my tour guide smiled. Still, he couldn’t resist telling tales as we passed the former Kennedy hang-out pad, and the Elvis Honeymoon House. Look for mid-mod story-teller Charles Phoenix to add a kick and shtick to the 2022 bus tours.

Nightly parties you bet! “Opening Night at the Palm Springs Modernism Show & Sale – Fall Edition,” paired cocktails and shopping – my kinda event – with an open bar and mid-mod vendors. Luau-themed cocktails and live music poolside celebrated the new Tiki Hotel. “An Evening at Miralon” featured catering by local fav Lulu California Bistro and cocktails at the clubhouse of this new modernist-style twist on a golf community. Miralon is landscaped with olive groves and veggie plantings to give residents custom olive oils and fresh greens instead of golf. Fun art and comp cocktails attracted a cool crowd to “Shag’s October Modernism Print Release Party for ‘The Uphill Climb’.” Shag, a.k.a artist Josh Agle, is a staple of Palm Springs’ mod scene. 

And this was just the preview!!!!

MODERNISM WEEK FEBRUARY 17 – 27, 2022.  DON’T MISS IT!      

“We’re here! We’re back! We’re live!” enthused Tim O’Bayley, Modernism Week spokesperson. “The 2022 edition promises to be spectacular, with major new events and a vast volume of presentations, tours and parties.”      

What’s New? 

“Major events,” said O’Bayley. More than 350 events in 11 days.

The new 18-hole “Golf Par-Tee and Tournament,” with pre-and post-parties, will pay homage to the ‘50’s when everyone was on the fairways. The first-ever celebration of Black History Month (February) will present “Stories Untold: Black Modernists in Southern California,” including architect A. Quincy Jones (Sunnylands) and Palm Springs developer Lawrence Crossley.

“As I Knew Him: My Dad, Rod Serling,” promises an insider look at The Twilight Zone’s creator by his daughter. Also “Star Trek Modern: The Midcentury Designers Who Furnished the Final Frontier.” Parties at Frank Sinatra’s Twin Palms Estate, and a “Retro Martini Party” at an 8,060-square-foot modernist estate, with seven – count ‘em, seven – infinity-edge pools! Also first-time tours of a 1960s William F. Cody house in Indian Wells, and eclectic mid-century homes in Rancho Mirage’s Magnesia Falls Cove.

Also new in 2022, instead of a tent in a vacant lot, CAMP (Modernism Week’s Community and Meeting Place), will be at the Hyatt Hotel in Downtown Palm Springs. CAMP is free, where everyone gathers during their downtime to see retro presentations, shop at Destination PSP (very cool Palm Springs merchandise), buy Modernism event tickets, and schmooze over cocktails and light bites.   

PS Modernism Week 2022 Invades Los Angeles – What?!

For the first time, mid-mod fans can experience master architect Richard Neutra’s works not only in Palm Springs – but on his home turf in Los Angeles!   

Greater LA area residents are invited to purchase the lower priced ticket (created for them), and simply meet at the tour starting point. Joining participants who have taken the tour bus from Palm Springs. Two tours are offered: “Neutra’s Neighborhood: Tour Six Richard Neutra Works,” the most concentrated collection of Neutra works in the world, including inside his 1949 Reunion House led by his son, Raymond Neutra; a tour of Neutra VDL, the architect’s home and studio, and a gourmet boxed lunch in the penthouse. And the “Private Tour of the Home of Architect Richard Neutra,” exploring his 1932 modernist indoor-outdoor, live-work environment. Damaged by fire in 1963, Neutra and son, Dion, rebuilt the house in 1966.

 
 But Wait! There’s More

Retro home tours in more than 25 neighborhoods! Special tours led by modernism funny guy (and expert) Charles Phoenix. Nightly parties in Rat Pack perfect settings. A classic car show, landscape and garden tours, self-guided tours, fashion events, talks with world-class speakers and so much more.

If You Go:

Find more information to plan your trip to Palm Springs here.