Albert Frey and Lina Bo Bardi: A Search for Living Architecture

Palm Springs Art Museum is proud to present Albert Frey and Lina Bo Bardi: A Search for Living Architecture – an unprecedented exploration of the surprising but compelling synergy in the visionary building and design of two midcentury modern masters. The exhibit will be on view at the Palm Springs Art Museum Architecture and Design Center and opens Saturday, September 9, 2017, and continues through Sunday, January 7, 2018. This innovative exhibition uses 3-D models, drawings, design objects and photographs to convey Frey and Bo Bardi’s shared belief in architecture as a way to connect people, nature, building, and living.

“The parallel odysseys of Frey and Bo Bardi represent the emergence of Southern California and São Paulo as architectural laboratories of the mid-20th century,” said Elizabeth Armstrong, Palm Springs Art Museum’s JoAnn McGrath Executive Director. “Although they never met, this exhibition shows how they each embraced the social and environmental contexts specific to their adoptive homes.” Four homes provide the starting point for the exhibition: the glass-walled structures designed by Frey and Bo Bardi for themselves in Palm Springs (Frey II House) and São Paulo (Casa de vidro); Bo Bardi’s Cirell House and Frey’s Aluminaire House, which is scheduled to be assembled across from the Palm Springs Art Museum in a forthcoming downtown park. An illustrated catalogue will accompany the exhibition and will be available for purchase in the both museum stores.

A Search for Living Architecture is organized by Palm Springs Art Museum and is co-curated by the museum’s Director of Art, Daniell Cornell, and internationally known Bo Bardi scholar, Zeuler R. Lima.

“Both Frey and Bo Bardi were interested in re-imagining architecture via the transformation of the modern house,” said Cornell. “Presented here together for the first time, these structures convey departure points for understanding the evolving concept of Living Architecture… . As Frey and Bo Bardi embraced modern technologies, they responded to the climate and terrain of their respective environments, and the people whose lives were shaped by those conditions.”

Palm Springs Art Museum is the largest cultural institution in the Coachella Valley and includes three locations in Palm Springs and Palm Desert. The flagship building is located in downtown Palm Springs and features compelling art exhibitions, a vast permanent collection, and the 428-seat Annenberg Theater, all in a 150,000 square foot, architecturally-significant building. Palm Springs Art Museum Architecture and Design Center, Edwards Harris Pavilion, features exhibitions and programming that explore the rich topics of architecture and design. Palm Springs Art Museum in Palm Desert is an 8,400 square foot, Silver LEED-certified building named The Galen that presents rotating exhibitions and special collections. It is surrounded by the four-acre Faye Sarkowsky Sculpture Garden featuring important sculpture works.

September 9th, 2017 – January 7th, 2018
Palm Springs Art Museum Architecture and Design Center