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Postcards from Palm Springs: Modern Gems in the Desert
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Michael DiTullo
Michael DiTullo is currently a design director at Converse. His team is responsible for a wide range of products, from on-court performance footwear for athletes like Dwyane Wade to lifestyle and retro products. Previously DiTullo has been a footwear designer in the Brand Jordan and Sport Culture divisions of Nike, where he designed industry leading footwear and bags. Prior to joining Nike, Michael was a designer at Evo Design, where clients included Burton, Bose, VTech, Samsonite, Kodak, and Chantal among others.
Michael graduated from the Rhode Island School of Design, attended the Cleveland Institute of Art on exchange and studied design in Milan. Michael has won numerous design awards, freelances actively, teaches from time to time, can sketch an ’82 Fire Bird from memory, owns enough shoes and watches to match them with T-Shirts, and geeks out on design way more than anyone should. In his free time, he is a contributor for core77. He has also lectured on design process at at universities, art schools, and corporations such as The Columbus College of Art and Design, The Rhode Island School of Design, and Adobe. His work will be featured in several upcoming books. DiTullo lives on the outskirts of Portland with his wife Kristina, who is a painter, and their dog, Louie, who is spoiled. http://michaelditullo.com/
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Michael DiTullo & Kristina DiTullo
First and most famously was Neutra’s Kaufman House, built in 1946. Clean and understated, it is more timeless than Wright’s work; bold and integrated into the land, it is more elegant than anything that came out of the Bauhaus. There are two other Neutra houses in town, but this is the best. Around the corner is the Lowey House. Then directly surrounding these are other modern homes from the 40’s, 50’s and 60’s—still in mint condition.
Indeed, Palm Springs has recently developed a dedicated group of modern preservationists—many of the mid-century houses were destined to be torn down and replaced by Spanish and Italian villas. In 2002, the Maslon House, designed by Neutra, was demolished in secret during the night just a few years ago, (despite protesters), and this act ignited American Modern preservation in Palm Springs.
The next stop from George’s agenda put us downtown. Relatively unglamorous, it looks like a five-mile stretch of strip mall. But tucked into the never-ending, laser-straight line of one-story shops, we were surprised by some beautiful, modern public buildings, especially on the East side of town. Chief among them is the Bank of America building. It’s a total knock-off of a Le Corbusier, but it is still stunning. George warned us not to miss the Washington Mutual building across the street, composed of an exquisite series of inverted arches.
In town, there is a healthy scattering of consignment and antique stores, each offering the best of what originally lived in all of these mid-century homes. Piled high are original Eames chairs and various Bauhaus pieces. Most of the stores look like the contents of a design museum packed into a room, and digging through the old electronics, kitchen appliances, and mod bric-a-brac was a daylong task, but also a great pleasure.
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