Get Your Midcentury Modern Fix at Dallas Architecture Forum’s October Symposium

Keynote speaker Leo Marmol is an expert on the Kaufmann House by Richard Neutra in Palm Springs, considered one of the most important residences of the 20th century. Photo: David Glomb

If you swoon over Frank Sinatra’s style, and you marvel over Mad Men‘s Midcentury Modern, then you won’t want to miss the next Dallas Design Symposium, presented by the Dallas Architecture Forum.

Titled Modernism, the focus of the symposium is the best of Midcentury Modern architecture and design. It will be held Oct. 4 from 2 – 5 p.m. at the Nasher Sculpture Center.

Keynote speaker Leo Marmol, FAIA, is one of the world’s leading authorities in the restoration of iconic Midcentury Modern and International Style residences, including the 1946 Kaufmann House by Richard Neutra in Palm Springs, and restorations of works by Cliff May, Rudolph Schindler, John Lautner, Minoru Yamasaki, and E. Stewart Williams. Marmol will overview his firm’s landmark restoration projects, as well as discuss how the firm integrates Midcentury design elements into their new construction and pre-fab projects, producing award-winning residences.

An interior photo of the Kaufmann House in Palm Springs. Photo: David Glomb

Also speaking at the symposium is Sidney Williams, curator of the Palm Springs Art Museum.  Her father-in-law, E. Stewart Williams, designed Frank Sinatra’s famous Twin Palms residence in Palm Springs, his first residential commission. She will share inside stories about Twin Palms, the homes of other movie stars, and the design history of the area.

Summitridge Residence. Photo: Roger Davis

Summitridge Residence. Photo: Roger Davis

The Moreno Residence. Photo: Roger Davis

The two speakers will be followed by a panel discussion looking at the popularity of Midcentury Modern design in movies and television shows, like the iconic Mad Men.

A post lecture cocktail reception for patron ticket holders will be in a private residence designed by Howard Meyer, with renovations by Bodron + Fruit, that is widely considered to be one of the finest examples of International Modernist design in Texas.

Tickets for the symposium are $35 for Forum and Nasher members, and $45 for the general public. Tickets for the Symposium and cocktail reception at a private residence following the symposium are $85 for Forum and Nasher members, and $95 for general admission. You can purchase tickets here.