Of the 22 books that architectural historian Alan Hess has written since 1985, three focus on Palm Springs.

The most recent of those, “The Palm Springs School: Desert Modernism 1934-1975,” which includes essays by Christine Madrid French, Eddie Jones, Ken Lyon, George E. Thomas and Sian Winship, was published in February right before the start of Modernism Week, the annual gathering in the city of which Hess is on the board.

Although based in Irvine, Hess says he returns often to Palm Springs for good reason.

“Palm Springs is one of the most important centers of architectural development in the mid-20th century,” says Hess, who was in Palm Springs when we connected for a video call. While similar design movements developed in cities throughout the Southwest, he explains, Palm Springs was different.

“Palm Springs was a small town. It was concentrated,” he says. “It was in a spectacularly beautiful natural setting. It had money. It had glamour from Hollywood, but probably most importantly, it had this core group of really talented, innovative, modern architects. Devoted. They were dedicated to modern ideas, and Palm Springs gave them a chance to explore and try new things. That’s what makes it most valuable now, looking back, because they had the opportunity and they had the talent.”

Indeed, the contributions to modern architecture found in Palm Springs and the surrounding area are so great that Hess continues to learn from them. Over the course of working on “The Palm Springs School,” he came to realize how much of a role organic modern architecture played in the area’s development.

“Palm Springs is often erroneously thought to be an extension of the international style, just flat roof boxes with a lot of glass,” he explains. But he points out that there is a Frank Lloyd Wright influence in how architects were merging modern technology and design with the surrounding nature.

“What I discovered,” Hess says, “was that there was this balance of the organic American modern architecture and the European international style, and it created something unique here when those ideas blended.”

In “The Palm Springs School,” Hess and contributors dig into 20th-century history, from resorts to gas stations, and provide a glimpse into the stunning, historic homes that have become synonymous with both the desert and midcentury modern architecture. The book’s prologue explores the Oasis Hotel, designed by Lloyd Wright in the 1920s.“It had wonderful things, like a dining room that had French doors on at least three sides, so that in the middle of the winter you could open up and there was beautiful weather. It was wonderful,” says Hess. “But there was a big brazier in the middle of the room for fire to warm you up on the chill winter nights. Perfect for its place. Perfect for its innovative architecture. That was the beginning.”

Hess’ own favorite piece of Palm Springs architecture unfortunately no longer exists, but it does make an appearance in “The Palm Springs School.” The Springs, a restaurant designed by William Cody, melded Googie with the style that had taken root in Palm Springs.

“The plan is absolutely crazy,” Hess enthuses. “It looks like a cubist drawing of a plane crash. Literally. It’s going in all directions. That’s the plan.” The Springs also included a ceramic tile mural of kachina dolls made by Millard Sheets, the artist famed for his works depicting California. “It was one of the very best Googie buildings ever designed,” says Hess.

Hess’ favorite existing example of desert modernism is Cody’s own home, which is also included in the book.

“When you’re inside, you’re surrounded by light and air and views of nature. When you’re outside, you still feel protected and sheltered and you have a place where you can live, dine, sit outside that’s sheltered, like inside,” he says. “The piece of architecture is just spectacular and I think should be much better recognized.”

“The Palm Springs School” is an image-heavy delight for anyone with an interest in Palm Springs architecture, but the book also provides important lessons from the movement that can be applied to both city planning and architecture today.

“It is so much more than a style,” says Hess. “These architects, they were very serious and well-trained modernists. They believed — almost religiously, some of them — about using modern materials. It was a new age. You have to live in a new way. You have to have houses that reflect that.”

One of the lessons of “The Palm Springs School” is how to build for an extreme climate.

“Each of these architects responded to the extreme climate of the desert in an innovative way, whether they buried their houses halfway in the dirt or they oriented them to the sun or away from the sun,” says Hess. “Location, placement, materials, all of those things are lessons that people learn today as well.”