Modernism in the American Desert · Eric Strain · Las Vegas

Event Details

Part of the Modernism in the American Desert symposium, this talk explores how architects and designers shaped a distinctive vision of modern life in the arid landscapes of the American West. Through climate, light, and material, the desert became both inspiration and laboratory for innovation—revealing how modernism took root and flourished across the region.

Eric Strain

Eric Strain, AIA, is an architect and educator whose work explores the intersection of craft, place, and community in the arid landscapes of the American Southwest. He is the founding principal of assemblageSTUDIO in Las Vegas and an Associate Professor of Architecture at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Over a career spanning more than twenty-five years, Strain has sought to define an authentic desert modernism—architecture that responds to light, heat, and material with honesty and restraint. His work has been recognized with over sixty Design Excellence Awards and has been published internationally. Under his leadership, assemblageSTUDIO received both the AIA Western Mountain Region and AIA Nevada Firm Awards, and Strain himself has been honored with the AIA Nevada Silver Medal. He has also taught at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and the University of Utah, and continues to advocate for an architecture rooted in place—one that respects the desert as a living, shaping force rather than a backdrop.