Recognizing Lost and Current Leaders

Here is a look at some people who have progressively impacted the architectural landscape in New Mexico in productive ways. We remember and acknowledge them here.

Lost Leaders

Anna Muller

Last October, longtime Albuquerque resident, Anna Muller, passed away.  She was born in Albuquerque and was raised here and in Oakland, CA.  Some summers were spent at the family ranch Los Cordobas, near Taos.  After college she was enlisted by the Nixon administration’s National Hispanic Leadership team to coordinate opportunities for minority-owned businesses and Muller then opened her own consultancy, NEDA Business Consultants Inc., to support minority and women-owned businesses.  She purchased and restored the historic John Pearce House in downtown Albuquerque for her office.  

Muller was also active in the preservation of the historic residential community in downtown Albuquerque which resulted in the 1972 founding of the Downtown Neighborhood Association.  The efforts of Muller and others resulted in zoning changes that protected historic homes from being converted to offices and apartments. For many years she owned the Kate Nichols Chavez House and the Albert Mercier House.  https://documents.cabq.gov/planning/landmarks-urban-conservation-commission/Historic%20Houses%20in%20the%20DNA.pdf

In addition to her homes in downtown Albuquerque, Muller owned the historic S.H. Kress building at 416 Central SW and the oratorio at the family ranch in Los Cordobas. 

https://www.taosnews.com/obituaries/anna-marie-muller/article_f95ba23c-495e-11eb-86b6-ffbf97ea8ce1.html

Dr. Armin Rembe

Armin Rembe, an oncologist-hematologist and a steward of Los Poblanos Historic Inn and Organic Farm, passed away in April last year.  He and his wife, Penny, purchased half of the property in 1976 and raised their family there.  In 1999 they purchased the remainder of the 25 acres and began a preservation plan for the entire property.  The two iconic Territorial buildings, Los Poblanos and La Quinta, were designed by noted architect, John Gaw Meem and were completed in 1932  and 1934, respectively.  Dr. Rembe and the family have expanded the uses of the estate while maintaining some of the public and community access that was a part of the 1930s design.  His dedication to Los Poblanos has helped preserve this important icon of New Mexico history for future generations.

https://lospoblanos.com/blog/in-memory-of-dr-armin-rembe

https://nmarchitectureguide.org/2017/12/16/building-project-2/

Well Done!

In December the American Institute of Architects awarded its highest honor, the Gold Medal, to Ed Mazria for his lifetime of work. From the AIA website the award is for:

  …recognizing individuals whose work has had a lasting influence on the theory

and practice of architecture.

In 1979 Mazria wrote The Passive Solar Energy Book which had a significant influence on the design and construction community. Since then he has focused on climate change and how the construction industry has contributed to it. In 2002 he started Architecture 2030 which became a non-profit whose mission is: to rapidly transform the built environment from the major contributor of greenhouse gas emissions to a central solution to the climate crisis. https://architecture2030.org/ 

Mazria and his team, based in Santa Fe, have taken U.S. government data and synthesized it into graphics that are understandable to the architecture and construction communities. Architecture 2030 has made a profound contribution to combating climate change.

https://www.aia.org/showcases/6346387-edward-mazria-faia


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