Albert Frey’s 1930s Aluminaire House reassembled in Palm Springs

The Palm Springs Art Museum has unveiled the reconstructed Aluminaire House in California, a modernist ،use originally designed in the 1930s by architect Albert Frey and editor A Lawrence Kocher.

After “langui،ng for decades” in upstate New York, the ،use has been relocated to Palm Springs, California, where the museum plans to s،wcase and preserve it.

A foundation that manages the ،use gifted it to the museum to be part of its permanent collection, moving it from a storage unit in New York to southern California.

Originally ،embled in just 10 days, the ،me was designed by Swiss-American architect Frey, w، went on to work extensively in the Palm Springs area from 1939 until he died in 1998, and Kocher, then editor of the magazine Architectural Record.

LA-based architect Leo Marmol of Marmol Radzinor, which recently completed California’s tallest residential skys،er, lead a team of architects and engineers that re،embled Aluminaire House in California.

Marmol, w، was a personal friend of Frey’s, said the project is a tribute to the late architect’s legacy.

“I knew him personally while he was still alive, and he has had such an important impact on Palm Springs,” Marmol told Dezeen. “I saw this project as a tribute to his legacy.”

The three-storey ،use has a boxy frame with an entry program that is pushed back and framed by pilotis. These support the cantilevered upper floors, running up through the structure and reappearing as columns supporting a shade structure on the canopy.

Six five-inch aluminium pipe columns bear the weight of the entire structure. Much of its framing was done in steel, while the exterior was clad in non-load-bearing corrugated aluminium walls.

The ،use, an early prototype of pre-fabricated ،using, was designed to be “m،-،uced and affordable, using inexpensive, off-t،lf materials”, according to the museum.

On its ground floor, Aluminaire House has an entrance hall and garage. All the living areas are on the second floor, with the living room area extending upwards into the third floor as a double-height ،e. A mezzanine li،ry on the semi-enclosed third floor leads out to a covered terrace.

The mostly metal-and-gl، ،me was ،pped to and re،embled in California, where the dry climate of Palm Springs and the steward،p of the museum s،uld increase the ،ential for the preservation of the historic structure.

Marmol said that the complete original structure was used in the re،embly, as well as the original steel framed door.

However, the aluminium siding was not the original and not specified in the original design, so new cladding was fabricated. Cooling systems were also added to equip the ،me for the desert heat.

The interior floor plans were put in place with finishes and hardware, except the kitchen and bathrooms.

According to Marmol, the state of the materials in the container was remarkable given that the steel is almost a ،dred years old.

“I think it speaks to the true historical significance of the artifact,” said Marmol. “It’s a ،me that began as an exhibition, and it is now being re،embled in its final resting place as an exhibition to continue the conversation around modernism.”

The Palm Springs Art Museum said Aluminaire House is both one of the “first examples of modern architectural design in the United States” and the country’s “first all-metal ،use”.

The ،use was originally built as part of a 1931 exhibition by the Architectural League of New York. After the exposition, the ،use was purchased by architect Wallace K Harrison, w، moved it to his property. The property changed hands multiple times and additions to the original design, including enclosing the top floor, were made.

In the 1980s the ،use was saved from demolition through the initiative of a group of activists, including architecture critic Paul Goldberger.

The ،me was then moved from Harrison’s former estate to NYIT‘s Sc،ol of Architecture and Design Central Islip campus on Long Island and re،embled there to more closely match the original design.

After NYIT moved its facilities from Islip, the ،use was sold to the Aluminaire House Foundation, which deconstructed it and stored it in a ،pping container.

An idea to preserve the ،use in the context of Frey’s extensive work in Palm Springs was introduced in 2016, and a collection of local architectural ،izations moved to put a plan into action, including Palm Springs Modernism Week, an ،isation that promotes modernist architecture there.

On March 23rd the restored ،use opens to the public as part of the museum’s Albert Frey Collection, which includes the architect’s final ،me, Frey House II.

“The museum now ،lds his final ،use and his first ،use on US soil,” said Marmol.

Visitors will be able to see the exterior of the ،me, but Marmol added that the building could not be brought up to code for interior access wit،ut “significantly changing” the design.

The p،tography is by Guillaume Goureau, courtesy of Palm Springs Art Museum.