We’re excited to announce a very important fundraising campaign!

The Aluminaire House™, which is being permanently installed on the grounds of Palm Springs Art Museum, was originally constructed in 1931 as the first all-aluminum house in the U.S. and is now considered a masterpiece of modernist design. The three-story residence joins the Architecture and Design Center and Frey House II as signature assets of the museum and community. Earlier this year, PS ModCom’s board of directors gave their unanimous support by providing an initial donation of $50,000 and an additional $50,000 grant to be matched in partnership with the museum, providing a total of $150,000. The grant will match dollar-for-dollar all donations to provide the funding to help complete the project.

Donations can be made online at the link below!

The Aluminaire House Foundation has gifted the Aluminaire House™ to Palm Springs Art Museum as a part of their permanent collection and is being reconstructed next to the museum at the corner of W. Tahquitz Way and Museum Way. Aluminaire House™ was recently listed by Architectural Record as one of the most important buildings completed worldwide in the past 125 years.

Swiss-born architect Albert Frey (1903-1998)—arguably the most significant architect to have worked in the Palm Springs region of California—established the style of architecture that has become known as “desert modernism.” Having trained with Le Corbusier amongst a group of international colleagues, Frey brought a European sensibility when he came to New York and began collaborating with the American architect A. Lawrence Kocher in 1930. Over a period of roughly five years, the two made significant contributions to the American modernist movement, including the creation of Aluminaire House™. In 1931, the Allied Arts and Industries and the Architectural League of New York unveiled the starkly modern, all-metal structure, constructed mostly of aluminum and glass components. 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 viewed the home. It was regarded as being 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 House™ will be on view starting in February 2024.

More information here.