The second in our series highlighting the best buildings in Palm Springs during the city's Modernism Week is Richard Neutra's Kaufmann House, one of the most revered examples of residential architecture in the style.
Built in 1946, the boxy two-storey residence has many defining elements of modern architecture ? a flat roof, pale exterior and shaded outdoor spaces ? tailored to the arid climate of the California desert.
Photo by Stephanie Kloss from her California Dreaming series
Its prominent features include slatted metal walls, which create breezy indoor-outdoor spaces alongside landscaping with large boulders, cacti, palms and sandy gardens.
The Kaufmann House was built by Austrian-born architect Richard Neutra for Edgar J Kaufmann ? an American department store entrepreneur ? as a vacation residence away from his Pittsburgh home. The same retail baron commissioned Frank Lloyd Wright to build Fallingwater in Mill Run, Pennsylvania, a decade earlier. Photo by David A Lee
The house in Palm Springs is predominantly oriented east-west, maximising sunrise and sunset views. The layout includes five bedrooms and five bathrooms, with a grassy backyard and pool overlooking the San Jacinto Mountains to the west.
Large sliding glass doors open onto patios that are lined with vertical, moveable metal fins. These slats enable the rooms to be shaded and cooled during extreme heatwaves, and closed up during sandstorms.
Photo by Rocor, Flickr
The house has a cross-shaped plan, with a...