Palm Springs | The Californian desert city is known for golf, tennis and many celebrities. A less than two hours’ drive from Los Angeles, celebrities such as Frank Sinatra have lived here. An extremely attractive clientele for banks, which set up remarkable branches here. An invidis cultural tour inspired by Le Corbusier.
At invidis, almost everything revolves around digital technology – usually digital signage, DooH and retail media networks. From time to time it’s time to think outside the box and look at the bigger picture. Or to take a look back. As part of the invidis Executive Lounge 2024, we went on a guided architecture tour through Palm Springs.
The most beautiful bank for the money of the rich and beautiful
In the 1950s and 1960s, architects began to experiment with futuristic design in public buildings such as bank branches. Even in Palm Springs, where many Hollywood actors already lived at the time. Far away from paparazzi and yet only two hours from the studios. Most actors’ contracts at the time stipulated that they could not live more than 100 miles from the studio. The distance from Hollywood to Palm Springs is exactly 99 miles.
One of the best examples is the City National Bank, built in Palm Springs in 1959, which now houses a branch of the Bank of America. The bank resembles a bright blue and white mushroom. The unusual design of the bulbous building and the rounded roof has many advantages. A wide roof overhang cools the entire structure and decorative aluminum sunshades protect against the sun. In addition, the bank was built on the main road of Palm Springs, in close proximity to six other banks and easily accessible.
Banking has changed a lot in the last 65 years; today, Bank of America operates 3,700 functional branches with 15,000 ATMs. Architectural beauties are hard to find anymore.
