The Aluminaire House
by Jon Michael Schwarting
Frances Campani
A chronicle of
obsession, a testament to perseverance, and a fairy tale of luck, the story of
the Aluminaire House is beautifully presented in this book by the architects
who spent 37 years championing the 1931 house by Albert Frey and Lawrence
Kocher. They take us through the history of the building from an idea, to demonstration
house, country weekend home, endangered treasure, teaching tool, and finally to
an appropriate resting place in Palm Springs. (After a 10-year process, it went
on display as part of the Palm Springs Art Museum in 2024.) Exhaustively
illustrated with an impressive amount of photographs, sketches, and plans, the book
details every aspect of the house. The authors place the house in the wider
context of issues about prefabrication, affordable housing, and modernism.
Gibbs Smith, 2024,
hardcover, 168 pages, $40
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