If you’re a fan of Mid-century Modern, you won’t need to miss Palm Spring’s 7th annual Modernism Week. See Frank Sinatra’s expansive piano-shaped pool, or watch the latest Eames documentary as you take in the desert’s signature decorative. Head to sunny Orlando, Florida and see the latest in building materials and trends, and listen to Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke talk about the condition of the housing industry. If you’re looking for ways to become motivated or just enjoy getting out amid other layout fans, here are five picks of what to do and see around the globe.
modernismweek.com
FESTIVAL — February 16-26, 2012
Modernism Week, Palm Springs, CA
Celebrate all things Mid-Century Modern for 11 eventful times in Palm Springs’ annual Modernism Week. Peek inside the rarely opened home (pictured) of modernist architect Albert Frey, famous for his steel-framed floor-to-ceiling glass pocket doors and a huge hillside boulder integrated as an inside wall. Or enjoy seeing Frank Sinatra’s piano-shaped pool, a gathering of classic Airstream trailers, and touring other signature houses that make Palm Springs a design destination for design enthusiasts. Love lectures, 1950s-themed cocktail receptions, documentary movies such as Eames: The Architect and the Painter, Just How Much Does Your Building Weigh, Mr Foster? , and more.
alivinglibrary.org
INSTALLATION — January 27–29, 2012
Portable Parks IV: Past, Current, Future A Living Library
Santa Monica Place Shopping Center, Santa Monica, CA
See Bonnie Ora Sherk and Otis Public Practice graduate students reimagined a metropolitan mall site to become a green and lively “mobile park” Since the 1970s, Sherk has created performance installations that bring the expertise of nature into unexpected places. As part of Pacific Standard Time’s Performance and Public Art Festival, see how she transformed the distance using California Native Zones, mini-gardens of drought-tolerant plants and The Flower Unfolding, a monumental-scale organic edible landscape.
bellafleur.com
TRADE SHOW — February 8-11, 2012
2012 NAHB International Builders’ Show, Orange County Convention Center, 9800 International Drive, Orlando, FL
Network with home-building sector professionals, browse 800 industry suppliers, and also take your pick from more than 165 educational sessions. Check out this year’s New American Home, a reinterpretation of the Timeless White Box of the 1960s and ’70s made popular by leading architects such as Le Corbusier and Richard Meier, and listen to keynote speaker U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke Discuss the state of the housing industry.
Photo: Exhibitor Bella Fleur
ala.fi
EXHIBIT — Through Feb. 26, 2012
Seven Connections: A window Contemporary Finnish Architecture, Museum of Finnish Architecture, Kasarmikatu 24, 00130 Helsinki, Finland
To kickstart Helsinki’s official World Design Capital program, the Museum of Finnish Architecture hosts an experimental exhibition showcasing contemporary Finnish architecture around the world. Put together by journalist-media arts pro Virpi Aaltonen and designer-researcher Pekka Sipilä, the exhibit includes interviews with the architects and many of new buildings, some still under construction. The featured sites include the Museum of the History of Polish Jews in Warsaw by Lahdelma & Mahlamäki, the Wuxi Grand Opera by PES Architects and more.
Photo: Kilden Performing Arts Centre, Kristiansand 2011, Norway by ALA Architects
Jason Mandella
EXHIBIT — Through February 27, 2012
Plywood: Material, Process, Form, Museum of Modern Art, 11 West 53 Street, New York, NY 10019
See examples from MoMA’s collection showing layouts in plywood from around 1930 through the 1950s. Archival photographs illuminate the process of design and manufacture in plywood, and iconic furniture from Alvar Aalto, Charles and Ray Eames, Eero Saarinen, and Arne Jacobsen seem alongside natural platters from Tapio Wirkkala (1951), Sori Yanagi’s Butterfly Stool (1956) and even an architectural design for a prefabricated home by Marcel Breuer (1943).
More 2012 style occasions: 5 Best January Events, Jan. 6-31, Jan. 13-31, Jan. 20-Feb. 10
What is in your calendar? Let us know in the comments!