After World War II, Las Vegas eagerly embraced Modernism. Hotels, motels, restaurants, banks, churches, schools, civic buildings, office buildings and residential neighborhoods expressed the latest architectural trends.

Los Angeles’ top architects designed many of the city’s Modern masterpieces. George Vernon Russell arrived in 1946 with his design for the Fabulous Flamingo Hotel. Wayne McAllister was responsible for designing the 1952 Sands and 1955 Fremont properties. Martin Stern Jr. designed sleek new towers for the Sahara and Sands in the 1960s. William Krisel brought his stylish Palm Springs’ Alexander House designs to the Las Vegas neighborhood of Paradise Palms. And the LACMA-celebrated architect Paul R. Williams designed a futuristic church and ultra-Modern motel on the Strip.

Local architects Hugh Taylor and Zick & Sharp were responsible for stylish Midcentury Modern commercial and residential buildings throughout the area. In addition, the Jet Age Googie style was applied to coffee shops, motels and auto dealerships.

Join historian and author Peter Moruzzi for a rollicking presentation featuring a visual feast of remarkable photographs, renderings and promotional materials of Modern Las Vegas from the 1940s through the 1960s.

Moruzzi graduated from the University of California at Berkeley and later attended the American Film Institute in Los Angeles. He is a long-time preservationist who chaired the Los Angeles Conservancy’s Modern Committee, then, in 1999, became the founding president of the Palm Springs Modern Committee. He has authored six pictorial history books covering Havana, Palm Springs, Los Angeles, Las Vegas and Classic Dining restaurants.

The Palm Springs Modern Committee (PS ModCom) is a local nonprofit organization dedicated to the appreciation and preservation of Desert Modern Architecture and Design.

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