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A Look At Desert Modernism
(# 154) |
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| Completion |
NA |
| Specific Use of Building |
Residential |
| Project Location |
939 E Sunair Road, Palm Springs Ca 92262 |
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William Krisel, in conjunction with Alexander Construction Company, built over 2,500 tract homes in the 1950’s, doubling the size of Palm Springs. To build this amount of tract homes, the design needed to be simple. A majority of these homes were built on a 40x40 square, with very similar layouts. So what makes these homes different from an ordinary housing tract? By varying the roof lines, and changing the setback, Krisel was able to design a tract that was efficient to build, while simultaneously being aesthetically pleasing. These homes, when new, could be purchased for under $30,000 and included A/C, a swimming pool, and a modern design.
I’ve included a sketch of a home found in the Twin Palms neighborhood of Palm Springs. To give you a better idea of the items that would commonly be found inside these homes, I’ve hand rendered several pieces of furniture and decor.
Krisel believed that the indoors and outdoors are not separate, but that each space should exhibit a harmonious balance with the other. He designed many of the light fixtures and the furniture for these homes. Everything was simple, yet extremely elegant. Over 40,000 homes have been built from his designs. These homes from the 1950’s are just as functional, beautiful, and well designed then as they are today. Not only did he bring affordable, stylish homes to the masses, but he helped define desert-modernism as a whole.
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