Palm Springs Art Museum Architecture and Design Center Opened in November, 2014

Site Staff Social Scene

 

Palm Springs Art Museum Architecture and Design Center, Edwards Harris Pavilion opened in downtown Palm Springs in November 2014. The restored midcentury modern bank building designed by noted Architect E. Stewart Williams, is the hub of the museum’s exploration of architecture and design, and will house related exhibitions and educational and community programs, as well as research space and a storage area for the museum’s growing architecture and design collections and archives. The opening exhibition, An Eloquent Modernist, E. Stewart Williams, Architect, celebrates the accomplishments of Williams, the acclaimed architect who designed the historic building in 1961 to be the Santa Fe Federal Savings & Loan, and who was one of the most important architects of the Desert Modern style developed in and around Palm Springs in the middle of the 20th century.

For the opening day there was musical entertainment from the Los Angeles-based performers String Theory. A collaborative ensemble of musicians and dancers well-known for their large-scale performance installations that transform environments and architecture into giant musical instruments, the Architecture and Design Center became a harp as part of the musical collaboration.

The Architecture and Design Center is located in downtown Palm Springs at 300 South Palm Canyon Drive and open Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Thursday 12 p.m. to 8 p.m. The museum is closed Monday and Tuesday. As part of the museum’s Free 2nd Sunday program, made possible by the generous support from the H.N. and Frances C. Berger Foundation, the museum offers free admission and all activities are free every second Sunday of the month, year-round.

Palm Springs Art Museum Architecture and Design Center
300 S. Palm Canyon Drive, Palm Springs, CA 92264
760-423-5260
http://www.psmuseum.org/architecture-design-center

Photography by Lani Garfield