Collection by Allie Weiss
Midcentury Lovers: You Can Thank This Architect for Transforming Palm Springs Into a Modernist Hotbed
A new book explores the legacy of modernist icon William Krisel.
William Krisel's Palm Springs (Gibbs Smith) is the first major monograph dedicated to the architect, who helped introduce the modern aesthetic to the desert city on a mass scale. He designed countless examples of the tract house, which Alan Hess describes in the book as "the basic building block of the modern suburban metropolises growing after 1945." Krisel's single-family homes embraced the more contemporary post-war lifestyle with open-plan layouts and a connection to the outdoors. Here, we've gathered a few of our favorite examples of his architecture from the book, which prove his role in cementing the midcentury style of Palm Springs.
Another 1956 tract house with a flat roof designed by Krisel.
William Krisel designed the Ocotillo Lodge, a hotel that features a number of his signature design moves: post-and-beam construction, walls of glass, and seamless indoor/outdoor connections. Pictured here is one of the hotel’s bungalows.
The Sandpiper is a group of nine real estate subdivisions (306 homes in total), designed by Krisel and built between 1958 and 1969. Krisel also did all the landscape design for the site.
A home in Krisel's Kings Point development, an 11-acre site off of the Canyon Country Club golf course that was designed in the early 1960s.
Krisel was also known for his boldly modern approach to landscape. The Menrad residence, shown here, features a distinct geometric design. The architect, working in the harsh Palm Springs climate, relied on hardscape elements—setting a precedent for drought-tolerant landscape design.
The interior of the Menrad residence, with a raised ceiling and glass walls. "The house felt like the ultimate expression of what postwar residential architecture in California was all about," resident Chris Menrad writes in the book.
The Buzyn residence features an open-plan interior.