As a design-led perfumery, we’re always searching for inspiration. This summer, our annual Summer Fridays series returns with destinations across the U.S. that spark creativity and invite discovery.
Our next stop takes us to California’s high desert.
Tucked beside Joshua Tree National Park, A-Z West is an 80-acre artwork that’s part living experiment, part artist’s compound.
Created by artist Andrea Zittel, the site brings together architecture, furniture, and the surrounding landscape in an ongoing exploration of how we live. “How should we live?” and “What gives life meaning?” are two core issues addressed in Zittel’s artistic practice.
Wander through the Wagon Station Encampment, Regenerating Field and Planar Pavilions, where minimalist forms frame the vast desert landscape. Every structure is designed with intention, inviting visitors to rethink the relationship between freedom, security, autonomy, authority and control.
Today, A-Z West is stewarded by High Desert Test Sites (HDTS), the nonprofit Andrea Zittel co-founded in 2002. Since 2022, HDTS has managed the site, continuing its mission through tours, residencies and artist-led programming.
While You’re There…
A quick drive takes you to Joshua Tree National Park. The national park sits at the intersection of two distinct desert ecosystems, the high-elevation Mojave and the high-elevation Colorado.
Known for its expansive desert vistas, twisted namesake trees, and massive rock formations, it's one of California’s most iconic landscapes.
Stop at Keys View for panoramic views of the Coachella Valley, explore Covington Flats for access to some of the park’s largest Joshua trees, or wander the Wonderland of Rocks at Indian Cove.
What to Spray
Book- Personal
Quiet and effortlessly grounding. Book- Personal is a soft, aromatic skin scent layering Black Tea, Sandalwood and Cedarwood, feeling right at home among the stillness of the California desert.
Travel back to Week 1: Storm King Art Center