Albert Frey: Inventive Modernist - Hardcover

by Albert Frey (Artist), Brad Dunning (Editor)

A comprehensive volume on Swiss-American architect Albert Frey, whose "simple but severe" style of Desert Modernism cemented his legacy as one of the most influential architects worldwide.

Inventive Modernist tracks the scope and significance of Frey's career, from his early days in Paris working with Le Corbusier to his rise as the iconic architect of Palm Springs. With full access to Frey's various archives, the book provides many rare and previously unexhibited architectural models, drawings, films, photographs, and furniture, and offers an exceptional visual guide that goes far beyond the mere documentation of finished buildings. New academic research, in-depth essays, and a thorough, illustrated listing of the architect's projects between 1925 and 1997 serve to contextualize Frey's relevance today while securing his importance as a twentieth-century architectural master.

Author Biography

Albert Frey (1903-1998) was a world-class architect who helped establish Palm Springs as a world-recognized center for modern architecture and design. He was the first architect to design a modern International Style structure for Palm Springs and paved the way for modern architecture and the architects that followed.

Steeped in early European modernism, Frey's adroit handling of low-cost and low-maintenance industrial materials, sublime desert color combinations, and appealing geometric compositions give him a unique and permanent place in the idiom of "desert modernism" and succinctly expressed his two greatest loves--nature and architecture.