Keynote Presentation: Thom Mayne, FAIA

Thom Mayne founded his now internationally renowned firm Morphosis in 1972 as a collective practice of architecture, urbanism, and design, rooted in rigorous research and innovation.

Working globally across a broad range of project types and scales, Morphosis is recognized for its innovative and sustainable designs for cultural, civic, and academic institutions, including the Bloomberg Center at Cornell Tech, the Perot Museum of Nature and Science, Emerson College, Casablanca Finance City Tower, Beirut New Embassy Campus, the academic building for The Cooper Union, and the recently completed Orange County Museum of Art.

Mayne’s presentation will examine how the 1945 Case Study House Program holds up today and what that means going forward. “I’m interested in an architecture that’s open-ended, that challenges current contexts and cultural constructs,” he notes.

The agent-of-change journey that he launched in the late 1960s is one he has continually reexamined and refined, like a scientist seeking a cure to end the world’s afflictions.

“I have always embraced an architecture of complexity, of disruption, of ambiguity,” Mayne reflects in the introduction of Morphosis 2004–2018 (Rizzoli, 2019), a 708-page tome. This fearless approach has funneled him through each period of the firm’s history with one resolute goal: “to maximize the transformative power of architecture’s role.”

For Modernism Week participants, his lecture will frame the modern-day architecture of Southern California in a fully and richly global perspective.  

Mayne’s distinguished honors include the Pritzker Prize (2005) and the AIA Gold Medal (2013). He served on the President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities under President Obama. With Morphosis, Thom Mayne has been the recipient of 29 Progressive Architecture Awards, over 120 American Institute of Architecture Awards and numerous other design recognitions. SFMOMA, MoMA, and Chicago Art Institute, among others, hold artworks produced throughout his career.

Following the presentation will be an elegant wine and hors d’oeuvres reception, catered by Eight4Nine, in the museum’s sculpture garden. (Requires purchase of a ‘presentation including reception’ ticket, limited quantity available).

There will be a special introduction by presenting sponsor Sunset magazine's Editor-in-Chief, Hugh Garvey. 

This event qualifies for 1.25 AIA/CES Learning Unit (LU).

$125 (includes reception), $65, $40

Discover more about Thom Mayne on M. >> MADE by: 6 Questions for Thom Mayne

Things to Know
This event is for ages 12 and older.
Ample free public parking is available in the multi-level public garage across from the Palm Springs Art Museum.
The entrance to the Annenberg Theater is located behind the Annenberg Theater Box Office, adjacent to the Palm Springs Art Museum's North Parking Lot.
Handicap parking is available. This event is wheelchair accessible.
The organizer of this event is Modernism Week.

Event Check-in Location 
Annenberg Theater,  Palm Springs Art Museum, 101 N. Museum Dr., Palm Springs, CA 92262
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 Photo Credits: Iwan Baan, Iwan Baan, Morphosis, Matt Stromberg, Morphosis, Rizzoli