Bakersfield Built: an Unlikely Modernism 1930-1970

In 1952, the city suffered a horrific earthquake. Although devastating for the community, the earthquake, along with a postwar population boom, resulted in a wave of modern residential, commercial and institutional work. A generation of mostly USC-trained post-and-beam modernists including Eugene Choy, AIA, Wright, Metcalf & Parsons, Whitney Biggar, AIA, Eddy & Paynter, Ernest L. McCoy, AIA, and Clifford Harding, AIA brought modern architecture home. Bakersfield Built is a periodic celebration of the city’s architectural heritage draws people from all over Southern California.

Join David Coffey, for a look at Modernism beyond the Grapevine. David Coffey is the owner of Richard Neutra’s Davis House, curator of the Frank Lloyd Wright Ablin House and founder of Bakerfield Built, a celebration of Bakersfield’s modernist architecture that takes place every five years.

$12

Things to Know

This event is for all ages.
Ample free public parking is available in the multi-level public garage across from the Palm Springs Art Museum.
Handicap parking is available. This event is wheelchair accessible.
The organizer of this event is Modernism Week.

Event Check-in Location 

CAMP Theater, 285 N Palm Canyon Dr, Palm Springs, CA 92262
View Map

Photo Credits: Ablin House, Frank LLoyd Wright, 1959. Photo by David Coffey. Ablin House, Frank LLoyd Wright, 1959. Photo by David Coffey. Dental Office, Jack Hayslett, 1956. Photo by David Coffey. David House, Richard Neutra, 1937. Photo by David Coffey. David House, Richard Neutra, 1937. Photo by David Coffey. Leddy House, Richard Neutra, 1958. Photo by David Coffey.