William Krisel, who had a heavy hand in shaping California modernism, passed away on Wednesday at age 92. The architect, who was born in Shanghai but raised in the Golden State, is best known for the thousands of middle-class homes he built with his firm Palmer & Krisel along with developers Alexander Construction Co.
Krisel believed in the accessibility of the modern home, telling NPR that his aim in the 1950s was to offer buyers a “100 x 100 lot, all fenced-in, landscaped, modern design, air condition, swimming pool—all for $29,900,” which he accomplished with extensive tract housing developments throughout southern California.
But if there was a single place where Krisel’s influence ran the deepest, it would be Palm Springs, the desert town lauded today as a midcentury oasis. It was there that Krisel developed his distinct style, one consisting of butterfly roofs, glass walls, and open living plans, documented in William Krisel's Palm Springs: The Language of Modernism, published last year.
