Palm Springs Art Museum Architecture and Design Center

"The museum’s architecture and design center is housed inside a classic midcentury International style building that Williams, designed in 1961 for the Sante Fe Federal Savings & Loan. The Santa Fe Federal Savings & Loan building reflected new thinking in the design of banks and financial institutions during the middle part of the twentieth century. No longer were banks heavy masonry structures with neo-classical architecture – modern banks were seen as gathering places for the community; open and inviting. This building also featured a new concept: the drive-up banking window, which still exists on the east side of the building. The building is set up on a raised platform or “plinth” with recessed foundation walls giving it the illusion that it is floating above the ground. Metal shade screens on sliding tracks were built into the west façade to help control direct son in the afternoon hours. The building’s main level features a gallery space for architecture and design exhibitions and curatorial offices. The lower level of the building serves as a study center and library."