Walter S. White: Inventions in Mid-Century Architecture SAH/SCC Gallery Tour & Talk

Location

Santa Barbara, CA
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Join SAH/SCC for a behind-the-scenes visit to the new exhibition “Walter S. White: Inventions in Mid-Century Architecture,” at the AD&A Museum at UC Santa Barbara. Educator, White scholar, author, and SAH/SCC Life Member, Volker M. Welter, will lead the group on a special tour of the new gallery show. Our group will have exclusive access to the exhibition before the gallery opens to the public.

Walter S. White’s (1917-2002) designs for the Coachella Valley desert cities of Palm Desert, Indio, La Quinta, and Palm Springs in the 1940s and 1950s addressed the extreme climate with thrilling, expressionistic forms that took inspiration from the natural landscape. He proposed new, ecologically sensitive, and inexpensive construction methods. White’s inventive roof designs—he received a patent for his all-steel Hypar roof (derived from hyperbolic paraboloid shapes) and wood roof construction methods—make his desert projects especially distinctive. His roofs swoop and curve to match the forms of the mountains in the distance, while providing protection for their inhabitants.