The Aluminaire House, one of the earliest and edgiest examples of the International Style of modernist architecture in America, was never meant to withstand a harsh desert climate.
Originally it wasn’t even designed to be outside.
The house, a boxy three-story structure clad in aluminum panels that went up within 10 days, drew big crowds as well as some gleeful ridicule from the mainstream press, which naturally helped to establish its bona fides as avant-garde architecture.
Now, having been disassembled, reassembled and relocated three times over the decades and rescued from demolition along the way, the influential house is being reconstructed in a new — and the plan is, permanent — site.
In anticipation, an Albert Frey exhibition opened at the museum in January.
Persons:
Albert Frey
Organizations:
Grand, Palm Springs Art Museum
Locations:
America, Swiss, New York