Archinect - News

Former AIA Gold Medalist Antoine Predock passes away aged 87

2024-03-05T12:00:00-05:00

The Albuquerque Journal is reporting Antoine Predock to have passed away on March 2nd at the age of 87.

The architect and long-tenured University of New Mexico faculty member left a mark on the state he called his “spiritual home” over a four-decade career that culminated in the 2006 AIA Gold Medal and a Lifetime Achievement honor from the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Awards the following year.

Predock is best known for creating the Canadian Museum for Human Rights in Winnipeg and a definitive portfolio of public, institutional, and residential designs in New Mexico and the Southwest Region, which was a constant source of inspiration. His work outside of the state eventually garnered the most recognition, notably his design for Austin, Texas’s City Hall, the Tang Teaching Museum at Skidmore College, and the well-admired Petco Park in San Diego.

The Canadian Museum for Human Rights, Winnipeg. Image: Ken Lund/Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Predock also operated an office in Taiwan ...

Largest clean energy infrastructure project in U.S. history begins construction

2024-01-02T15:55:00-05:00

Construction has begun on the largest clean energy infrastructure in U.S. history. The joint SunZia Transmission and SunZia Wind projects will span New Mexico and Arizona, bringing power to 3 million people.

The project is being delivered by Pattern Energy, which has secured $11 billion in financing to begin construction on the project. SunZia Transmission will comprise a 550-mile transmission line between central New Mexico and south-central Arizona, with the capacity to transport 3,000 MW of electricity. The SunZia Wind facility, meanwhile, will be the largest wind project in the Western Hemisphere, spanning Torrance, Lincoln, and San Miguel Counties in New Mexico.

“Our hope is this successful financing of the largest clean energy infrastructure project in American history serves as an example for other ambitious renewable infrastructure initiatives that are needed to accelerate our trans...

Diller Scofidio + Renfro to design a new hybrid arts and technology center for the University of New Mexico

2023-08-08T16:48:00-04:00

Diller Scofidio + Renfro (DS+R) has been announced as the architects of a new $65 million arts and technology facility for the University of New Mexico’s main campus in Albuquerque.

Working alongside local practice ROMA Architecture, the firm expects to break ground next summer on the new Center for Collaborative Arts and Technology (CCAT) in line with the university’s two-year-old UNM College of Fine Arts Framework Plan.

DS+R’s Partner-in-Charge for the project, Benjamin Gilmartin, said it will be a "catalyst for the advancement of the arts in New Mexico." His team's collaborative design will reportedly meet the standards for LEED Silver certification while providing students with exhibition spaces, rehearsal areas, and a large concert hall.

The project will be enacted on a vacant site bordering the city’s Central Avenue, therefore creating a new gateway onto the 769-acre campus similar to several other recent arts-focused higher education projects at UPenn, Williams, and Dartmouth...

Spaceport America selects RS&H, Populous, Zia team for master plan project in New Mexico

2023-05-18T17:47:00-04:00

The New Mexico Spaceport Authority (NMSA) has selected a team comprising RS&H, Populous, and Zia Engineering & Environmental Consultants to spearhead the Spaceport America Master Plan Project.

Located adjacent to the U.S. Army White Sands Missile Range in southern New Mexico, Spaceport America is the first purpose-built commercial spaceport in the world. It aims to serve as a multi-modal site for point-to-point space transportation, aerospace operations, research, development, and testing.

The spaceport master plan study will explore the potential for future space and aviation operations, macro and micro-industry trends, national security space requirements and operations, public and private investments, potential launch vehicles operating from the site, frequency of flights, potential payloads, propellant storage, regulatory trends, and development options for future spaceport operations.

Populous will provide master-planning support, along with leading the branding and event pro...

MASS Design Group announces acquisition of long-time Santa Fe collaborator Atkin Olshin Schade Architects

2022-11-16T12:03:00-05:00

MASS Design Group has announced its acquisition of Santa Fe, New Mexico-based Atkin Olshin Schade Architects (AOS) in a move they say will offer an enhancement of the relationship the two have built already through years of collaboration.

The merger makes the new combined entity Santa Fe’s largest architectural office, with further opportunity to leverage AOS’s Philadelphia operation in order to pursue “innovative approaches to preservation, adaptive reuse, and design for mission-focused organizations throughout the northeast and nationally.”

Previously on Archinect: MASS Design Group founder Michael Murphy announces he is stepping down, will join the faculty at Georgia Tech

It comes just under a month after MASS’s co-founder Michael Murphy left the firm to take a position on faculty at Georgia Tech University, handing over the reins to his former Senior Principal and Managing Director Christian Benimana and Patricia Gruits as well as the firm’s co-founder and current Chief Design O...

Studio Ma has been selected to lead the design for UNM's College of Fine Arts expansion

2021-07-05T19:44:00-04:00

An art school in New Mexico is banking on an ambitious plan that hopes a leading regional firm’s name power will drive a cultural revival in a state holding a pivotal place in the history of American art.

Studio Ma has been tapped to lead the design for the University of New Mexico’s College of Fine Arts new master plan that will incorporate a five-step holistic process to develop an expanded academic facility in collaboration with Albuquerque-based firm Dekker/Perich/Sabatini.

A university press announcement pointed to the studio’s prominence in the field as a reason for choosing the firm University Architect Amy Cobourn referred to as “talented and engaging.”

Arts Lab. Photo courtesy of the University of New Mexico.

Studio Ma has guided the efforts to Arizona State University’s Downtown Phoenix campus tower complex, a massive science center at ASU’s original Tempe location, and a graduate dormitory that opened in 2017 at Princeton.

“The University of New Mexico is a locus in the ...

Albuquerque mayor declares June 24th Antoine Predock Day

2021-06-28T15:50:00-04:00

In a surprise announcement, Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller declared June 24, 2021 “Antoine Predock Day” – honoring the work of internationally acclaimed architect, Antoine Predock. The declaration came during an event held by the UNM School of Architecture and Planning celebrating Predock’s 85th birthday.

While originally from Lebanon, Missouri, Predock has stated that he considers himself an Alburquerque native. He studied engineering and architecture at the University of New Mexico (UNM), and he eventually established his first studio, Antoine Predock Architect PC, in Albuquerque in 1967.

The AIA Gold Medal-winning architect is a prominent supporter of the University of New Mexico’s School of Architecture and Planning (SA+P). He’s designed several projects on the UNM campus, including the Cornell parking structure, the original UNM School of Law building, and George Pearl Hall, which houses SA+P. Predock’s also carried out an array of projects across New Mexico, including the La Luz community, Albuquerque Museum, Rio Grande Nature Center, and Spencer Theater.

Previously on Archinect: Antoine Predock donates property and archives to University of New Mexico

In 2017, SA+P announced the creation of the Predock Center for Design and Research in Predock’s former residence and workspace...

Tadao Ando-designed 20,662 acre estate for Tom Ford finally finds a buyer

2021-01-12T11:42:00-05:00

After more than four years on the market, Tom Ford’s sprawling New Mexico estate has finally found a buyer. The property, better known as the Cerro Pelon Ranch, sits just outside Santa Fe in the Galisteo Basin area, and measures a whopping 20,662 acres.

The home features the Silverado Movie Town, which is built on the site in the 1980s, writes Joyce Chen for Architectural Digest. The set was originally used for the Western film Silverado, and later for films including 2011's Thor.

Previously on Archinect: Tadao Ando's sprawling Santa Fe compound for Tom Ford hits the market at $75M. Image: kevinbobolskygroup.com

As we reported four and a half years ago, when the property was first listed, Cerro Pelon Ranch had construction oversight provided by LA firm Marmol Radziner.

Read our interview with Tadao Ando, Tadao Ando Interview: 20 Minutes with a Master

"Built by award-winning architect Tadao Ando, the main house sits low to the earth over an expansive reflecting pool, with a wide walkway cutting across the water," writes Chen.

AIA components in border states with Mexico mobilize opposition to the Border Wall

2018-03-01T09:32:00-05:00

The proposed $25 billion wall along the US/Mexico border raises questions that have proven divisive to society. [...] In 2017 and 2018, AIA state components and chapters in Arizona, California, New Mexico, and Texas wrote resolutions and letters with the support of their boards of directors opposing a border wall and questioning its cost-benefit relative to infrastructure projects all over the country that they deem higher-priority.

AIA state components and chapters in each of the four states bordering Mexico—Arizona, California, New Mexico, and Texas—are organizing their opposition to Trump's border wall proposal and have passed formal resolutions.

"Robert Miller, AIA, 2018 president of AIA Arizona, led the charge in drafting a template articulating his component’s concerns, which he shared with AIA chapters in Arizona and, ultimately, components in Texas, California, and New Mexico," writes Katherine Flynn for the AIA. "Keeping the AIA Code of Ethics at the forefront, Miller says, helped him conceptualize the statement as something that members could support outside the context of their own partisan views."

Below are the AIA State Components’ statements regarding the proposed border wall:

AIA New Mexico

Texas Society of Architects

AIA California Council

AIA Arizona

Here are four AIA Local Chapters’ statements regarding the proposed border wall:

Tadao Ando's sprawling Santa Fe compound for Tom Ford hits the market at $75M

2016-08-10T15:01:00-04:00

Whatever canvas he is given, whether it's a highly constrained urban lot or a sweeping New Mexico landscape, Tadao Ando rarely falters. Cerro Pelon Ranch, the two compounds he designed for former architectural student turned fashion maven/filmmaker Tom Ford, is no exception.

Enormous, horizon-hugging curved concrete walls ripple out from the primary rectilinear residence, engaging the surrounding terrain while creating a boundary for the enormous pools adjacent to the house.

The ranch, with construction oversight provided by Marmol Radziner, is currently on the market for $75 million.

What else is Tadao Ando up to?

Get Lectured: University of New Mexico, Fall '15

2015-09-22T13:10:00-04:00

Archinect's Architecture School Lecture Guide for Fall 2015

Archinect's Get Lectured is ready for another school year. Get Lectured is an ongoing series where we feature a school's lecture series—and their snazzy posters—for the current term. Check back frequently to keep track of any upcoming lectures you don't want to miss.

Our next poster comes from The University of New Mexico, School of Architecture and Planning.

Want to share your school's lecture series? Send us your school's lecture series poster and details to connect@archinect.com.

Listed below are upcoming events.

Sept 25
Kim Yao / Principal, Architecture Research Office (ARO) - NYC

Oct 2
Dianne Harris / Dean, College of Humanities, University of Utah - Salt Lake City

Oct 15
Photographic Notes on the Road exhibit: J.B. Jackson, 1955-1989

Oct 16-17
Photo Paysage/Landscape Representation Conference

Oct 30
David Hill / Asst. Professor of Landscape Architecture, College of Architecture, Design & Construction - Auburn University, Alabama

Nov...

In the midst of historic drought, Barclay's plans a residential development in New Mexico's desert

2015-05-21T13:02:00-04:00

[Barclay's] plan, to fabricate a “master-planned community” for nearly 100,000 people on what is today a field of sand dunes, is called Santolina. If fully populated, the development would be about the size of New Mexico’s current second-largest city, Las Cruces, and bigger than Santa Fe [...] Columbia University’s Earth Institute points to 2050 as a time when the drought will begin to worsen dramatically, right around when Santolina planners predict the development could approach full capacity

Have an idea for how to address the drought with design? Submit your ideas to the Dry Futures competition!

Get Lectured: University of New Mexico, Spring '15

2015-01-23T15:22:00-05:00

Archinect's Architecture School Lecture Guide for Winter-Spring 2015

Archinect's Get Lectured is back in session! Get Lectured is an ongoing series where we feature a school's lecture series—and their snazzy posters—for the current term. Check back frequently to keep track of any upcoming lectures you don't want to miss.

Today's poster comes from the University of New Mexico School of Architecture and Planning.

Want to share your school's lecture series? Send us your school's lecture series poster and details to connect@archinect.com.

Unless noted, lectures begin at 5:30 p.m. in the Garcia Honda Auditorium in George Pearl Hall.

Jan 23
Stefan Behnisch / Behnisch Architekten

Jan 30
Alberto Perez-Gomez / McGill University

Feb 6
Nancy Meem Wirth / Preservationist - Santa Fe, NM

Feb 13
Nataly Gattegno + Jason Kelly Johnson / Co-founders, Future Cities Lab, California College of the Arts

Feb 20
Gregg Pasquarelli / SHoP Architects

Feb 27
Martin Stupich / Photographer - Albuquerque, NM

March 6
Ruth Wilmore ...

The world's first city for robots

2012-08-21T20:17:00-04:00

A science project of unprecedented scale begins this month in the New Mexico desert, as a technology firm breaks ground for a model metropolis. Washington-based Pegasus Global Holdings will build a town replete with schools, parks and an airport. But the intended residents are not people, but robots.

Plans to build $1billion ghost town in New Mexico desert delayed

2012-07-16T13:21:00-04:00

Pegasus, the company behind the scheme, had originally intended to build the huge, 15-square mile replica town near to Hobbs in the southwestern U.S. state but has postponed building work after struggling to find enough land for the project. The $1billion city (£643million) with no residents had been billed as a testing ground for researchers developing products ranging from self-flushing toilets, intelligent traffic systems and next-generation wireless networks.

NM Mayor: I Was Quite Drunk When I Signed Those $1 Million Contracts

2011-08-05T13:26:01-04:00

According to court documents, Resendiz admitted in a June 2010 deposition that he was drunk when he signed nine contracts with the architectural design firm Synthesis+ for $1 million worth of work.

Found via this discussion in the Forum.

Spaceport America: First Looks at a New Space Terminal

2007-09-05T12:45:00-04:00

The design chosen is a low-lying, striking bit of construction that uses natural earth as a berm, and relies on passive energy for heating and cooling, with photovoltaic panels for electricity and water recycling capabilities.

Virgin Galactic's New Mexico spaceport by Foster & Partners.