away – fortunately through a thick pane of glass. His visage called
to mind a sacred Inca mask... a jaguar with eyes of gleaming
emeralds.
At the end of our tour, we watched giraffes loping along a
ridge, their gait slow-motion and dreamlike. Silhouetted against the
sunset sky, they painted a classic scene from out of Africa, and yet
here they were in the desert of California.
IN PALM SPRINGS, THE NATURAL WORLD
dovetails
beautifully with the man-made one, particularly in architecture. The
city possesses a trove of houses in the Mid-Century Modern style
that exploded onto the scene after World War II, with Palm Springs
as ground zero. Architects such as Albert Frey, John Lautner, and
Donald Wexler adapted its clean lines, glass walls, and indoor-
outdoor living to the desert’s intensely sunny climate and broad
mountain views, creating what’s known as Desert Modernism.
All this makes Palm Springs a pilgrimage spot for architecture
devotees and lovers of cool. (Think tanned movie stars with cocktail
glasses on a poolside terrace.) To learn more, we chose a tour
offered through the museum’s Architecture and Design Center.
There we met our witty expert guide, Michael Stern, and piled into
his red Ford Flex to begin our education.
Q
: Why does Palm Springs look the way it does?
A
: The city long ago imposed a one-story limit on houses, to
keep them from blocking views of the mountains. Hedges and walls
make residences “discreet to the street.” Landscaping often reaches
to the curb, showcasing desert plants such as ocotillos and smoke
trees.
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TRAVEL
