The Architecture and Design Council is made up of over 400 members passionate about contemporary issues and innovations surrounding architecture and design. In addition to special events at private residences, the ADC sponsors an annual symposium, a lecture series, and tours to architecturally-significant sites. The group continues to grow at an unprecedented pace.
For more information about the ADC, contact Brooke Devenney at 760.322.4818.
To view the Edwards Harris Center brochure click here
All lectures are held in the Annenberg Theater, followed by a reception at 7 p.m..
FREE to ADC members $15 non-members Tickets: Call the Box Office at 760-325-4490
Neil Denari, Kite City, Weifang, China, 2010-14.
Saturday, January 28
Neil Denari: What in the World? 6-8 p.m. Reception will be held in the Muse Café
Whether an art gallery, an office, a bank, or a residence, Neil Denari treats each commission as an experiment that attempts to redirect expectations toward new and even better forms of functional and aesthetic performance. From innovative forms of structure to the allure of colors and materials, Neil focuses his efforts on the maximization of resources and ideas. He believes in designing intelligently, where issues such as sustainability, function, and aesthetics, merge into a whole greater than its parts.
Saturday, April 21
Henry Urbach: Exhibition as Atmosphereor, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Architecture in Museums 6-8 p.m. Reception will be held in the Marcuse Sculpture Garden
Curator and writer Henry Urbach will discuss what he calls the "atmosphere" of exhibitions — their spatial, social, and affective dimensions — as a distinctly architectural approach to museum display. In part a critique of Modernist strategies for exhibiting architecture, Urbach's ideas draw on alternative models including installation architecture, offering a fresh, contemporary approach for bringing architectural ideas to bear in museums. Urbach was curator of architecture and design at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art from 2006 - 11 and, for nearly a decade, ran Henry Urbach Architecture, a gallery of contemporary architecture in New York City.
This season the ADC's Saturday morning series, Architecture+Design 101 (A+D 101) will focus on interior design and its relationship to architecture. All lectures are held in the lecture hall at 10 a.m. followed by a site visit at 11 a.m.
$25 per lecture with site visit $85 for the series of four lectures with site visits Tickets: Call the Box Office at 760-325-4490
Steve Chase, Desert Residence, Palm Springs, CA
Sunday, January 29
Steve Chase: Interiors of Luxury and Architecture Lecture by Marybeth Waterman, interior designer, Studio Waterman Inc. & Katherine Hough, chief curator, Palm Springs Art Museum 11 a.m.- 1 p.m.
From the 1970s to 1994, Steve Chase was the top interior designer in the Coachella Valley and the arbiter of taste for many of the wealthy home-owners in the desert and around the world. Chase's various projects were featured regularly in Architectural Digest and he was an early member of Interior Design magazine's Hall of Fame. He also became an avid art collector and major supporter of the Palm Springs Art Museum. Before his untimely death in 1994, he donated his 150-piece contemporary art collection to the museum with a $1.5 million lead gift to add a third level for the permanent collection which was named in his honor.
Discussing Chase's career are Marybeth Waterman and Katherine Hough, both of whom worked with Chase. Waterman began her career working with Arthur Elrod where she came into contact with Steve Chase. Mentored by Chase, he became an invaluable source of inspiration for her life. Waterman was a partner at Steve Chase Associates and then established Studio Waterman in 2002 to further explore the potential of her artistic vision. With over 35 years of interior design experience, Waterman is equally at ease working on custom-built projects and architectural renovations.
Early in her career, Katherine Hough worked at Arthur Elrod Associates where she met Steve Chase and the two developed a fast friendship based upon a mutual love of art. Hough went on to become the Chief Curator at the Palm Springs Art Museum and worked with Chase as he developed his own collection, much of which was included in his gift to the museum.
Ron Arad, Soft Heart Chair, 1991
Saturday, February 11
A Single Seat: Looking at Chair Design Lecture by Bill Butler, Architecture and Design Council chair 10 a.m. - 12 p.m.
Through its long history, the chair has served many purposes, but none so important as Symbol and Comfort. Both functions reflect the interwoven roles of the Chair to elevate or isolate the individual. In this hour we will look at how these themes are expressed throughout history, from log to pew, from stump to throne. So, pull up a chair and let's talk.
Bill Butler is the former president of a large and successful advertising agency in New York. Since arriving in Palm Springs, he has served on the Palm Springs Civic Art Commission, the PS Mod Com Board, the ADC Board and the Photography Collection Council Board. In addition, he lectures on California architecture for the California State University Osher Foundation program. He has lectured frequently on Albert Frey and serves as a tour guide for the Frey II house.
Emily Summers, Summers Residence, Indian Wells, CA
Emily Summers received her bachelor of fine arts degree from Southern Methodist University and her first job was in the fashion office of the original Neiman Marcus store in Dallas. Stanley Marcus became a friend and mentor: “He aimed high and expected the best.” Through him, Summers met luminaries in the fashion and design industries, associations that served her well as she developed her interior design practice, which expanded exponentially when architect Antoine Predock asked her to collaborate on a major southwestern residence in the early 1990s. She includes famed Italian architect Carlo Scarpa and influential San Francisco interior designer John Dickinson among her early influences. Of Dickenson she has said: “I saw his spare, intelligent approach to design in the 1970s and adopted one of his observations: that a room is finished when you cannot remove something without it being missed.”
For nearly thirty years she has acted as a principal of her own design firm. She is a member of ASID, and has been widely published in Architectural Digest, House Beautiful, Metropolitan Home, Texas Architect and the New York Times Magazine. She has won numerous awards and has been named one of the 100 top interior designers by Architectural Digest magazine in 2007. She splits her time between Dallas and the Coachella Valley where she owns a home in Indian Wells.
ADC Booth at Palm Springs Modernism Show Friday, February 17 – Monday, February 20 Palm Springs Convention Center Tickets available at the door
Frey II House Tours Monday, February 20 – Wednesday, February 22 8 a.m. – 6 p.m. Tours pick up at the Box Office $50 tour, $100 sunset tour with cocktail reception Tickets can be purchased at www.ModernismWeek.com
These 45-minute guided tours are a rare opportunity to see the residence of modernist architect Albert Frey. A limited number will enjoy this unique experience and gain insight into this modern master's architectural sensibility. A shuttle van will transport participants from the Palm Springs Art Museum's box office to Frey House II. A cocktail reception is included with the last tour of the day.
Albert Frey Lectures Tuesday, February 21 & Wednesday, February 22 2-3 p.m. Lecture Hall Lecturer: Bill Butler, Chair, Architecture and Design Council $10 per person, includes museum admission Tickets can be purchased at www.ModernismWeek.com
The focus of the lecture is on Frey's life and work before his arrival in Palm Springs. Looking at his experiences in New York and in Europe provides a new perspective from which to view his projects here in the desert.
A. Quincy Jones and Frederick E. Emmons Sunnylands, Ambassador and Mrs. Walter H. Annenberg House, 1963, Photograph by Julius Shulman and Jurgen Nogai, 2007. Collection Palm Springs Art Museum.
ADC Symposium
Conserving Modernism: Celebrating Sunnylands and A. Quincy Jones Saturday, February 25 8:30 a.m. – 3 p.m. – Symposium + Lunch 3 – 5 p.m. Tour + Reception Symposium + lunch only: $50 Symposium, lunch, tour and reception, ADC member: $175 Symposium, lunch, tour and reception, non-member: $225 Annenberg Theater, Palm Springs Art Museum Tickets can be purchased at www.ModernismWeek.com Registration and coffee will begin at 8:30, box lunches will be served, and a reception will follow the proceedings.
On Saturday, February 25, The Palm Springs Museum, the Annenberg Foundation Trust at Sunnylands, and the Historic Preservation Program of the University of Southern California School of Architecture will host a daylong symposium to celebrate the reopening of Sunnylands, the winter estate of Ambassador Walter and Leonore Annenberg in Rancho Mirage. Designed by noted Los Angeles architect, A. Quincy Jones, working with interior designers William Haines and Ted Graber, Sunnylands was completed in 1966. The estate also features twelve man-made lakes and a private nine-hole golf course designed by Dick Wilson. The house and grounds at Sunnylands have been recently restored and will be opened for public tours in February 2012. Also open at this time will be the new Sunnylands Center, designed by Frederick Fisher and Partners, and set in a sustainable landscape created by the Office of James Burnett.
On Saturday morning the symposium will focus on the work of A. Quincy Jones and the rehabilitation of Sunnylands, as well as the design of the visitors' center and landscape. David G. De Long, one of the authors of the recent book on the house and grounds will discuss Jones design process and Willitt Moss will speak about its rehabilitation. Later in the morning Fred Fisher and James Burnett will describe their work on the new Annenberg Center and grounds.
In the afternoon, three prominent preservationists, Susan Macdonald, from the Getty Conservation Institute, Dr. Richard Longstreth of George Washington University, and David Fixler, FAIA, LEED AP, from EYP Architecture and Engineering in Boston, will discuss the unique issues associated with the conservation of modern architecture and landscapes. The proceedings will wrap-up with a panel discussion on these topics and their relationship to sustainable design, one of the overarching goals of the Sunnylands rehabilitation and visitors' center.
XTEN Architecture, Stone Wall Residence, 2011. Photograph by Art Gray.
Fundraiser
Saturday, March 17 5:30 – 8 p.m. XTEN-designed residence at the Madison Club, La Quinta *Shuttles will pick up guests from the Palm Springs Art Museum or the Palm Springs Art Museum, Palm Desert $200 ADC members only R.S.V.P. to ADC Coordinator, Brooke Devenney, at 760-322-4818 or
After Party
Friday, April 6 Location TBD $25 for current members, or the price of museum and ADC members who join for the party R.S.V.P. to ADC Coordinator, Brooke Devenney, at 760-322-4818 or
Details coming soon!
Summer Tour: Santa Barbara
Saturday, August 19 – Sunday, August 19 Tour picks up in the Palm Springs Art Museum, South parking lot $500 single occupancy $550 double occupancy
Photographs by Julius Shulman and Jurgen Nogai, 2007.
Julius Shulman: Palm Springs Special Deluxe Edition Available
In conjunction with the exhibition, Julius Shulman: Palm Springs, held at the Palm Springs Art Museum, the ADC commissioned Julius Shulman and Jurgen Nogai to photograph architecturally significant mid-century modern homes in Palm Springs. Rizzoli International has published a 208-page book co-authored by curator, Michael Stern and architectural historian, Alan Hess.
This deluxe edition includes a boxed copy of the book and a choice of one photograph from a limited edition of 100 signed and numbered 16" x 20" color photographs by Julius Shulman and Juergen Nogai. These are limited edition photographs, 1/20 through 20/20, of five homes in Palm Springs from which to choose:
Alexander Steel Development House, 1961, architecture by Donald Wexler
Burgess House, 1958, architecture by Hugh Kaptur and William Burgess with subsequent additions by Albert Frey.
Dinah Shore House, 1964, architecture by Donald Wexler
Elrod House, 1968, architecture by John Lautner (SOLD OUT)
Sunnylands, Ambassador and Mrs. Walter H. Annenberg House, 1963, architecture by A. Quincy Jones and Frederick E. Emmons
Julius Shulman: Palm Springs Deluxe Edition for nonmembers- $5,000 plus tax
Julius Shulman: Palm Springs Deluxe Edition for ADC members - $4,500 plus tax
The photographs can be seen by appointment at the Museum. Contact Brooke Devenney at 760.322.4818 or email to reserve your deluxe edition and color photograph today!
