The first modernism event under the organization’s new identity as the Museum of History and Culture La Jolla focuses on UC San Diego’s architectural impact.
Showcasing the architecture, design, history and innovation that have shaped La Jolla, Modernism and Architecture Week returns with the popular La Jolla Modernism Tour on Saturday, Oct 3 and expanded offerings from Oct 2 through 11, presented by the Museum of History and Culture La Jolla (formerly the La Jolla Historical Society).
The La Jolla Modernism Tour, open from 10 am to 4 pm Oct 3, features six homes that ticket holders tour at their own pace, driving themselves. Tickets come with a QR code for directions along with a tour book outlining the architects and distinctive details of each home.
A Platinum Tour ticket is available, which includes a bus-driven, guided tour of the homes plus lunch.
Tour tickets usually sell out; MHC La Jolla has added capacity this year to allow more people to join.
Image courtesy of Museum of History and Culture
“We’re excited this year to have more people coming,” La Jolla Modernism Committee Chair Joan Gand said.
Modernism and Architecture Week 2026 focuses on UC San Diego, which was founded in 1964 and greatly impacted La Jolla’s development, Gand said.
Many professors and scientists that UCSD founder Roger Revelle attracted to La Jolla in the 1960s moved to the area and “hired all of the exciting young architects that were practicing at the time and building and designing modernist houses,” Gand said, noting the tour includes some of these houses, with two retaining original furniture and artwork.
Beyond the tour, “this year is bigger than ever,” MHC Executive Director Lauren Lockhart said. “There’s so much excitement and enthusiasm for modernism in the region, and we love to be able to uncover new stories that haven’t been told through these programs.”
The week launches Friday, Oct 2 with a sold-out cocktail party that includes an exclusive, extra home tour offsite, though people can still purchase a “Modernism Social” ticket for the same evening without the tour.
The event, held at the Wisteria Cottage museum space, allows MHC La Jolla to more fully reintroduce itself since its identity shift, Lockhart said.
The growth and success of the four-year-old modernism program is part of why MHC La Jolla changed its name, she added. “We’re bringing in new audiences who had never discovered us before through their interest in modernism, [which] points to this natural transition to being recognized as a museum.”
Modernism Week continues after the Oct 3 tour with a week of programming including lectures, special tours and the 2026 Jewel Awards.
The UCSD connection is furthered during a few different sessions including “Concrete to Redwood,” a guided exploration of the brutalist Geisel Library that promises to uncover new details and a tour of the Walter Munk Lab at UCSD’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography, a redwood and glass structure Gand called “one of the most beautiful buildings on campus.”
La Jolla Modernism and Architecture Week is a fundraiser for the museum, Lockhart emphasized. “All the proceeds go right back into presenting our free exhibitions and as many free programs as we possibly can.”
Tickets and more details can be found here.
