Hugh Kaptur
Bill Anderson, Rock Hudson, c 1950s-1960s
Collection Palm Springs Art Museum, Gift of Dorothy Anderson, ©Palm Springs Art Museum
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Hugh Michael Kaptur (b. 1931) moved to Palm Springs in 1956 and established his practice, first as a building designer, then later as a licensed architect. He continues an active architectural practice today.
His early projects were executed in steel post-and-beam construction and were rectilinear in form, but he later developed his unique signature style. Kaptur’s inspiration comes from American Southwest indigenous dwellings, desert architecture, and Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesin West.
His use of abstract geometric form has produced buildings that are sculptural in spirit and have an organic, bold modern aesthetic. Many of his projects are recognizable for their thick blank whitewashed walls, inset windows with protruding surrounds, and wide overhangs to protect the structures from absorbing the intense desert heat.
Hugh Kaptur, composition of Kaptur renderings by Patrick McGrew, c. 2019,
digital images. Patrick McGrew Collection, Palm Springs Art Museum, S2014.3.
Modern architecture underpins the Palm Springs Art Museum, and architects associated with the region have played critical roles in the evolution of the museum and of its collection. Palm Springs Art Museum is fortunate to have significant collection holdings of work by renowned architects Albert Frey, FAIA, E. Stewart Williams, FAIA, and Hugh Kaptur, AIA.
The museum owns nearly 6,000 drawings, as well as renderings, photographs, and models by Kaptur that represent the span of his distinguished career. Kaptur's designs total over 200 projects and he has played a significant role in Palm Springs architectural development and built environment through his civic, commercial, and residential projects.
CIVIC PROJECTS
Kaptur was awarded the Palm Springs Fire Station No. 3 commission and as a result obtained his California architecture license in 1967. He designed other civic buildings, including the Palm Springs Municipal Golf Course Clubhouse with its sweeping, floating roof, and Palm Springs Fire Station No. 4 which recently received a modern updating and an addition with Kaptur consulting on the project.
Kaptur-Lapham & Associates, Fire Station No. 4, City of Palm Springs, 1971,
black-and-white exhibition print. Photo by Dan Chavkin.
Ricciardi-Kaptur & Associates, Palm Springs Municipal Golf Course Clubhouse, 1967,
color exhibition print. Photo by Dan Chavkin.
Ricciardi-Kaptur & Associates, Fire Station No. 3, City of Palm Springs, 1964, cover sheet rendering by Hugh Kaptur, ink on drawing paper, 24 x 42 inches. Gift of Hugh Kaptur, S2015.6.
COMMERCIAL PROJECTS
Commercial buildings are a staple of Kaptur's body of work, including office buildings and small hotel projects. Tahquitz Plaza (now Kaptur Plaza) was designated a Palm Springs Class 1 Historic Site in 2015.
Kaptur-Lapham & Associates, Tahquitz Plaza I (formerly Best, Best & Krieger), Palm Springs, 1974, perspectival view of West section of complex, rendering by Dave Purcell, watercolor on board, 31 7/8 x 46 3/4 inches. Gift of Hugh Kaptur, S2015.6.
Kaptur-Lapham & Associates, Musicland Hotel (formerly Casa Blanca), Palm Springs, 1970,
black-and-white exhibition print. Photo by Dan Chavkin.
Hugh Kaptur, AIBD, Impala Lodge (now Triangle Inn), Palm Springs, 1958, black-and-white exhibition print. Photo by Dan Chavkin.
RESIDENTIAL PROJECTS
Over half of Kaptur's projects are residential, consisting of single and multi-family dwellings. These include custom designed homes, condominiums, and apartment complexes throughout the Coachella Valley. The Selzer Residence in Palm Springs is his favorite residential project due to its large pyramidal roof volumes which zoning codes allowed him to design for the client.
Kaptur and Cioffi, Architects, Paul and Kay Selzer Residence, Palm Springs, 1987,
model with cover sheet index, ink on drawing paper, 24 x 42 inches. Gift of Hugh Kaptur, S2015.6.
Hugh Kaptur, AIBD. Steve McQueen (formerly Thomas Griffing) Residence, Southridge neighborhood, Palm Springs, 1963, perspective drawing showing front entrance and carport, rendering by Hugh Kaptur, graphite on vellum, 18 1/16 x 28 1/2 inches. Gift of Hugh Kaptur, S2015.6.
Hugh Kaptur, AIA, & Associates, view of pool area of William Holden Residence, Southridge neighborhood, Palm Springs, c. 1978.
Photo by Erven Jourdan, silver gelatin print, 11 x 14 inches. Personal collection of Hugh Kaptur.
Hugh Kaptur, AIBD, Hotel for Mrs. Fern Laurance (formerly Impala Lodge, now Triangle Inn), Palm Springs, 1958,
rendering by Hugh Kaptur, ink on paper, 24 x 42 inches. Gift of Hugh Kaptur, S2015.6.
Hugh Kaptur, AIBD, Ranch Club Estates, Ranch Construction Company, 1959, rendering by Hugh Kaptur,
color pencil on tracing paper, 8 x 24 inches. Gift of Hugh Kaptur, S2015.6.
Kaptur donated most of his archive to the museum in 2015, providing a rich and invaluable resource for curators and researchers. He received a Palm Springs Walk of Stars in 2014 which is placed adjacent to the Palm Springs Art Museum’s Architecture and Design Center, Edwards Harris Pavilion.
A retrospective exhibition of Hugh Kaptur's 60-plus-year career entitled Hugh Kaptur: Organic Desert Architecture was presented at the museum in 2019.
Photographer unknown, Hugh Kaptur at McQueen Residence, c. 1963, silver gelatin print, 8 x 10 inches. Personal collection Hugh Kaptur.
