American Framing

Palm Springs Art Museum Architecture and Design Center presents American Framing January 12, 2023 – July 2, 2023.

Originally presented at the U.S. pavilion of the 2021 Venice Biennale of Architecture, Paul Andersen and Paul Preissner developed the exhibition American Framing to examine wood framing—one of the country’s most overlooked yet common construction systems.

Originating in the early 19th century, softwood construction was a pragmatic solution to a need for an accessible building system among settlers with limited resources of wealth, technical skills, and building traditions. It has been the dominant construction system ever since—more than 90% of new homes in the U.S. today are wood framed.

Despite its ubiquity, wood framing is also one of the country’s most under-appreciated contributions to architecture. Its lack of disciplinary prestige stems from the same characteristics that make it so prevalent—ease of use, lightweight, and affordability. However, it is these very qualities that introduce a flexibility for form, labor, composition, class, sensibility, access, and style that expand the possibilities for architecture.

This exhibition presents models, furniture, photographs, and a full-scale wood structure, which together argue that a profound and powerful future for design can be conceived out of an ordinary past.

The Museum is open Thursday - Sunday from 10 am to 5 pm / The Museum is open to 7:00 PM on Thursdays.

Free admission on Thursdays from 5:00-7:00 pm (funded by the City of Palm Springs).