Palm Springs according to Phillip K Smith III

Who better to share their guide to Palm Springs than Coachella Valley native, the American artist Phillip K Smith III, who creates his site-specific light-based works from his studio in Palm Desert, which is close to the mid-century modernist mecca.
Smith is renowned for large-scale temporary installations that draw upon ideas of space, form, colour, light and shadow, environment, and change. Past works include Lucid Stead in Joshua Tree, Reflection Field and Portals at the Coachella Music and Arts Festival, and The Circle of Land and Sky at the inaugural 2017 Desert X exhibition. His public artworks have popped up in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Kansas City, Oklahoma City.
Smith’s next major project is a collaboration with the fashion brand COS for their prestigious annual design installation at Milan's Salone del Mobile 2018. Something of a departure from his signature works which are more typically immersed in natural landscapes, the COS installation will be exhibited in the courtyard of Palazzo Isimbardi. Meanwhile, during Modernism Week 2018 Smith is giving a lecture on his work. Here’s his tips on the iconic houses to see during the 11-day event and his preferred Palm Springs hotspots.
Phillip K Smith III. Portrait: Antonia Jane Allen
W*: You grew up in Palm Springs, what are your childhood memories of the area?
PKS: I was doing a lot of hiking out in the middle of the desert and around the Salton Sea when I grew up here. That time spent in the quiet and vastness of the desert were highly impressionable on me. Fast forward many years, I continue to experience those same emotions and seek inspiration as I head out into the far reaches of the Mojave Desert.
W*: How did growing up there influence your work?
PKS: The scale of the desert, the sense of space as you see the horizon line, and the changing colours and light of the surrounding mountains, valley floor and sky are all highly inspirational for me. There are incredible natural light phenomena that happen here every day. The only requirement for seeing them is to slow down and to spend the time to see the shift and change.
The interior of Albert Frey's Frey House II. Photography: Bethany Nauert
W*: Which iconic house would you urge Modernism Week visitors see?
PKS: I still am really drawn to architects’ own designed homes. Rarely open to the public (only during Modernism Week) Frey House II is my favourite iconic house. Perched up above the Palm Springs Art Museum on the side of San Jacinto, Frey’s intimate masterpiece employs steel, glass, concrete block and the boulders of the mountain side as his construction palette. And if you get a chance to sit at his former drawing desk and look out over the expanse of the desert, I think you’ll realise that only beautiful designs can spring from that desk.
E Stewart Williams’ family home is also one of my favourites…elegant, simple, and innovative. And directly next door is J P Clark’s family home… which I used to be able to hang out in during high school. The Clark Family still lives there.
The Parker hotel at Palm Springs
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
W*: Which is your favourite hotel?
PKS: I love the vibe at The Parker. The lobby bar and the small speakeasy-like wine bar tucked away behind the lobby are perfect hideouts when you need one.
W*: Which restaurants do you frequent?
PKS:
My favourite Palm Springs restaurant is Workshop Kitchen + Bar. First, because I love the interior architecture with its stark concrete and hanging light fixtures; second, because they make impressive hand-crafted cocktails; third because the menu is unique and frequently changing - my favourite item is the Diver Scallops served with buttery grits and pork belly.
W*: Any other preferred pitstops?
PKS: Koffi is my favorite caffeine stop; Cheeky’s in Palm Springs and Keedy’s in Palm Desert have my favorite breakfast items (including the bacon flight at Cheeky’s).
W*: And for cocktails?
PKS: In Palm Springs I like to find an old-school vibe with a vintage flair and expert bartenders: Melvin’s, Spencer’s and Bootlegger Tiki for a Martini, Old Fashioned or Mai Tai.
I’m also a big fan of Truss and Twine, adjacent to Workshop.
The Circle of Land and Sky, by Phillip K Smith III, 2017
W*: Which stores would you recommend?
PKS: While I’m known to frequent hardware stores and steel yards, I also enjoy shopping in the Uptown Design District in Palm Springs. Wil Stiles, The Shag Store and Modernway are local gold mines.
W*: Is there a top spot for soaking up the view?
PKS: I really like heading up Thousand Palms Canyon Road into Sky Valley and heading east through the Indio Hills. You can see the entire Coachella Valley from that road… from the Salton Sea all the way to the San Gorgonio Pass. Also, I like to head out into the agricultural grid in the East Valley near the Salton Sea – the extreme contrasts of desert, green farmland, and sea are absolutely beautiful.
W*: Best Modernism Week tour?
PKS: If you can't see my favourite Frey House II, the next must-see is the Double Decker Architectural Bus Tour. It's a great way to see the city, learn about the different midcentury modern architecture styles and the Desert Modern architects who built them.
INFORMATION
For more information visit Phillip K Smith III's website. Palm Springs Modernism Week is on from 15-25th February, for more information visit the website.
-
RIBA Stirling Prize 2025 winner is ‘a radical reimagining of later living’
Appleby Blue Almshouse wins the RIBA Stirling Prize 2025, crowning the social housing complex for over-65s by Witherford Watson Mann Architects, the best building of the year
-
A24 just opened a restaurant in New York, and no one knows it exists
Hidden in the West Village, Wild Cherry pairs a moody, arthouse sensibility with a supper-style menu devised by the team behind Frenchette
-
Yinka Ilori’s new foundation is dedicated to play and joy: ‘Play gave me freedom to dream’
Today, artist and designer Yinka Ilori announced the launch of a non-profit organisation that debuts with a playscape in Nigeria
-
Explore Tom Kundig’s unusual houses, from studios on wheels to cabins slotted into boulders
The American architect’s entire residential portfolio is the subject of a comprehensive new book, ‘Tom Kundig: Complete Houses’
-
Ballman Khaplova creates a light-filled artist’s studio in upstate New York
This modest artist’s studio provides a creative with an atelier and office in the grounds of an old farmhouse, embedding her practice in the surrounding landscape
-
Three lesser-known Danish modernist houses track the country’s 20th-century architecture
We visit three Danish modernist houses with writer, curator and architecture historian Adam Štěch, a delve into lower-profile examples of the country’s rich 20th-century legacy
-
The most important works of modernist landscape architecture in the US
Modernist landscapes quite literally grew alongside the modern architecture movement. Field specialist and advocate Charles A. Birnbaum takes us on a tour of some of the finest examples
-
The Architecture Edit: Wallpaper’s houses of the month
This September, Wallpaper highlighted a striking mix of architecture – from iconic modernist homes newly up for sale to the dramatic transformation of a crumbling Scottish cottage. These are the projects that caught our eye
-
Jeanne Gang’s single malt whisky decanter offers a balance ‘between utility and beauty’
The architect’s whisky decanter, 'Artistry in Oak', brings a sculptural dimension to Gordon & MacPhail's single malt
-
An idyllic slice of midcentury design, the 1954 Norton House has gone on the market
Norton House in Pasadena, carefully crafted around its sloping site by Buff, Straub & Hensman, embodies the Californian ideal of the suburban modern house embedded within a private landscape
-
Richard Neutra's Case Study House #20, an icon of Californian modernism, is for sale
Perched high up in the Pacific Palisades, a 1948 house designed by Richard Neutra for Dr Bailey is back on the market