The Aluminaire House, designed by modernist architect Albert Frey, is a prototype aluminum, steel, a In 1931 Frey and A. Schwarting. J.
The Aluminaire House, designed by modernist architect Albert Frey, is a prototype aluminum, steel and glass home that was the first all-metal house constructed in the United States. Frey (1903-1998) was one of the most important modern architects of the twentieth century and helped established a style of architecture that came to be known as "desert modernism." Frey was born and raised in Switzerl
and, and obtained his degree there. While waiting to immigrate to the United States, Frey worked in the Paris atelier of the noted International Style architects Le Corbusier and Pierre Jeanneret. In 1928, Frey left the atelier and moved to New York City to find work. Lawrence Kocher, the managing editor of Architectural Record, entered a revolutionary design prototype at an exposition sponsored by the Allied Arts and Industries and the Architectural League of New York. Called “The Aluminaire,” a three-story aluminum and steel house, intended to be mass-produced and affordable, using inexpensive, off-the-shelf materials. Built in ten days, the Aluminaire House was a study in disciplined, rectilinear geometry. The design allowed for modern living in a compact space, with features including a dumbwaiter, garden terrace, sliding screens and retractable furniture. When it was unveiled in New York City, the starkly modern Aluminaire House was an overnight sensation that emboldened an architectural movement. In 1932 images of the house were featured at the prestigious architectural exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, titled “The International Style - Architecture Since 1922.”
When the 1931 exhibition ended, the building was purchased by architect Wallace K. Harrison, who relocated it to his country estate in Huntington, on Long Island, outside of New York City. Used first as a country house, then added on to, it was later relocated elsewhere on the estate, undergoing significant changes. After years of poor maintenance, the severely deteriorated structure became at risk for demolition in the late 1980s. A concerned group of preservationists, led by architects Michael Schwarting and Julio M. San Jose, Dean of the New York Institute of Technology, saved it, dismantled it, and arranged for it to be donated to the school for their campus, where it was restored and reassembled by architecture students with Prof. When that campus closed, Schwarting and Campani took charge of the house and formed the Aluminaire House Foundation in 2011. The house was again dismantled in 2012 and put into storage in New York where it languished in a shipping container. Schwarting and Campani were invited to Modernism Week several years ago to present on Aluminaire. To an auditorium full of architectural enthusiasts, they presented their story about studying the home for more than 20 years, saving it from demolition, dismantling it once, reassembling it and then having to dismantle it yet again and put into storage, homeless. That day an idea was hatched by a core group of local 'believers,' who thought Palm Springs would make the perfect home. Immediately after this, the California chapter of the non-profit Aluminaire House Foundation was registered, dedicated to raising funds to move the house to Palm Springs and reassemble it here for permanent display. This local committee, including Tracy Conrad, Mark Davis, Brad Dunning, Beth Edwards Harris and William Kopelk, began the task of raising funds to secure the permanent location for the architecturally significant house. In 2017, the disassembled house was shipped to Palm Springs and has been in storage. In August 2020, the Aluminaire House Foundation announced that it had donated the structure to be part of the permanent collection at the Palm Springs Art Museum, where it will be a year-round attraction that pays homage to Palm Spring’s thriving architectural tourism focus. To be located in what is currently the south parking lot of the museum, pending final City of Palm Springs approvals, construction should begin in 2021. Funds are being raised by the Aluminaire House Foundation to reassemble the masterpiece. By locating the house in Palm Springs, where Frey lived and practiced from 1935 until his death in 1998, architecture enthusiasts from around the world will have a rare opportunity to view a complete timeline of his work, from 1931 to 1989. Located on the grounds of the popular Palm Springs Art Museum, the Aluminaire House is destined to become a key attraction in the re-developed downtown district of Palm Springs. Albert Frey in Palm Springs
In 1934, Dr. J. Kocher of Palm Springs, the brother of his Aluminaire House collaborator A. Lawrence Kocher, hired Frey to work on an office/apartment dual-use building in Palm Springs. Finding that he loved the desert environment and the surrounding towering mountains, Frey decided to make the California desert his home for the rest of his long, productive life. Over his long and prolific career, he produced more than 200 building designs, including such notable local landmarks as the Palm Springs City Hall and the Aerial Tramway Valley Station with John Porter Clark. Frey House ll, completed in 1964, was Frey’s longtime residence and is perched on the hillside overlooking the city of Palm Springs. This important structure is also part of the Palm Springs Art Museum’s permanent collection. The Aluminaire House Foundation is a 501 (c) (3) California and New York Registered nonproft. Federal Tax ID 45-2475132
For more information and to send a donation, please visit aluminaire.org. Media please contact O'Bayley Communications at 760-778-3525
“There will be nothing like it anywhere,” says local Aluminaire Foundation committee member Mark Davis. “It will be the only historic house (next to the Palm Springs Art Museum) here that will be open 24/7 for the public to view.” More: https://bit.ly/3zxMPvr
While in downtown Palm Springs, you may catch a glimpse of the Aluminaire House being constructed. Make that reconstructed…
Now streaming... the story of this historic house.
NOW STREAMING: Albert Frey, the 1931 Aluminaire House and Palm Springs - The Story
In 2021, the Aluminaire House Palm Springs will be reconstructed on the grounds of the Palm Springs Art Museum. This film tells the story of Aluminaire from start to finish.
Tickets available until 3/15: https://modtix.com/f/mwoe/aluminaire-house
Today our informational signs were installed on-site at the Palm Springs Art Museum. Now, passers-by can learn about Aluminaire!
Here's a trailer of an informational film you may want to see!
Modernism Week Online Presentation
We are proud to share photos of the new banners just installed at the Palm Springs Art Museum heralding the upcoming assembly of the Aluminaire House. Gorgeous design by the one and only Gary Wexler.
There is activity on the site where the Aluminaire will be assembled, in what is currently the south parking lot of the Palm Springs Art Museum. The construction fence has been erected and plans for the foundation, landscaping, etc. are being finalized. Stay tuned!
NEWS RELEASE
Media Contacts: O’Bayley Communications – Bob Bogard 760/778-3525 • [email protected]
Aluminaire House Foundation – Mark Davis 760/861-0601 • [email protected]
Aluminaire House Finds Permanent Home at Palm Springs Art Museum
Revolutionary Albert Frey-designed masterpiece of modernist design will soon be on view in Palm Springs
PALM SPRINGS, CA – September 3, 2020: The Aluminaire House Foundation announced that it has donated the historic Aluminaire House to Palm Springs Art Museum to be part of the museum’s permanent collection. The historically significant aluminum and metal prototype residence, designed by Albert Frey and A. Lawrence Kocher in 1931, will soon be located outside on the grounds of the museum. Pending final approvals from the City of Palm Springs, assembling the structure will begin in 2021.
“Palm Springs Art Museum has a long tradition of honoring Albert Frey, so donating the Aluminaire to be a part of their world-class collection was an obvious choice,” said Aluminaire House Foundation, California Chapter member Mark Davis. “We are thrilled that this structure, which we brought to Palm Springs three years ago, will soon be reassembled with private funds raised by the Aluminaire House Foundation, and be on permanent display outside of the museum.”
The Aluminaire House is considered a masterpiece of modernist design, recently listed by Architectural Record as one of the most important buildings completed worldwide in the past 125 years. New York architects Michael Schwarting and Frances Campani worked diligently for more than 25 years to save, protect and document Aluminaire, and formed the Aluminaire House Foundation to locate a suitable permanent home for the structure. Once Aluminaire is reassembled, the full arc of Albert Frey’s career in America, from 1931 until his death in 1998 in Palm Springs, may be experienced in the city and at the museum.
“The Aluminaire House is an excellent addition to our robust Albert Frey collection, which also includes Frey House II (1963-64), the residence the architect lived in until his death in 1998,“ said Steve Maloney, Chair of Palm Springs Art Museum’s Board of Trustees. “We are honored that the Aluminaire House Foundation chose to donate this important work to Palm Springs Art Museum so that we can present it to the public. We look forward to celebrating the next chapter of this essential Palm Springs architect who is so strongly associated with bringing international modernism to the desert.”
Frey’s connection with the museum dates back to its origin; his firm co-designed the original Palm Springs Desert Museum, and he served as a member and president of the board of trustees. Frey generously bequeathed his archive of drawings, personal and working papers, photographs, scrapbooks, and other documents—along with his Frey House II residence, which sits on the hillside above the museum.
"While Albert Frey, who is called the father of 'Desert Modernism,' brought International Style to Palm Springs and enjoyed acclaimed fame, he remained less known in his own home country, Switzerland," says Benedikt Wechsler, PhD, Consul General of Switzerland in San Francisco. "It is exciting to see the Aluminaire House find a permanent home at Palm Springs Art Museum, and this project is a testimonial to Frey’s practice and important legacy."
In conjunction with the reassembly of The Aluminaire House, Palm Springs Art Museum is organizing a major Albert Frey exhibition for 2021-2022, which will be presented at the Museum’s Architecture and Design Center, Edwards Harris Pavilion. It will be accompanied by a major publication that features archival materials from the museum’s collection, including a newly donated selection of Frey archival materials that will be presented and published for the first time.
About the Aluminaire House
In 1931, the Allied Arts and Industries and the Architectural League of New York unveiled the starkly modern, all metal ‘Aluminaire’ home, constructed mostly of aluminum and glass components, which inspired the name. It was intended to be mass-produced and affordable, using inexpensive, off-the-shelf materials. Aluminaire caught the attention of the public, so much that in just one week on exhibit, more than 100,000 visitors toured the home. The three-story house, assembled in just ten days, was designed by A. Lawrence Kocher, the managing editor of Architectural Record, and Albert Frey, then a 28-year-old Swiss architect who had recently immigrated to America after working in Paris for the great architect Le Corbusier. It was the first all-metal house constructed in the United States, and of such importance in the architectural world that images of it were featured in the prestigious exhibition, “The International Style – Architecture Since 1922” at New York’s Museum of Modern Art in 1932. Aluminaire emboldened a new architectural movement in the United States. While intended as a display of products, Aluminaire was also an overt demonstration of bringing together the ideas of mass production and high-density community planning.
When the 1931 exhibition ended, the building was purchased by architect Wallace K. Harrison, who relocated it to his country estate in Huntington, on Long Island, outside of New York City. Used first as a country house, then added on to, it was later relocated elsewhere on the estate, undergoing significant changes. After years of poor maintenance, the severely deteriorated structure became at risk for demolition in the late 1980s. A concerned group of preservationists, led by architects Michael Schwarting and Julio M. San Jose, Dean of the New York Institute of Technology, saved it, dismantled it, and arranged for it to be donated to the school for their campus, where it was restored and reassembled by architecture students with Prof. Schwarting. When that campus closed, Schwarting and Campani took charge of the house and formed the Aluminaire House Foundation in 2011. The house was again dismantled in 2012 and put into storage in New York where it languished in a shipping container.
Schwarting and Campani were invited to Modernism Week several years ago to present on Aluminaire. To an auditorium full of architectural enthusiasts, they presented their story about studying the home for more than 20 years, saving it from demolition, dismantling it once, reassembling it and then having to dismantle it yet again and put into storage, homeless. That day, an idea was hatched by a core group of local 'believers,' who thought Palm Springs would make the perfect home.
Immediately after this, the California chapter of the non-profit Aluminaire House Foundation was registered, dedicated to raising funds to move the house to Palm Springs and reassemble it here for permanent display. This local committee, including Tracy Conrad, Mark Davis, Brad Dunning, Beth Edwards Harris and William Kopelk, began the task of raising funds to secure the permanent location for the architecturally significant house. In 2017, the disassembled house was shipped to Palm Springs and has been in storage. Funds are being raised by the Aluminaire House Foundation to reassemble the masterpiece, which will now be on the grounds of Palm Springs Art Museum.
The Aluminaire Foundation is a 501(c)(3) non-profit registered in California and New York. For more information and to send a donation, please visit aluminaire.org.
This is a short video of the Aluminaire (in its shipping container) arriving at the Palm Springs Art Museum on September 3, 2020.
Arriving in Palm Springs
101 N. Museum Drive
Palm Springs, CA
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