On a perfectly glorious October Saturday we toured the UNM Predock Center for Design & Research and the La Luz community, both in Albuquerque. It was our first tour since the pandemic and the interest was great. NMAF co-sponsored the tour with the La Luz del Oeste Foundation; the proceeds were donated to the UNM Center for Southwest Research, John Gaw Meem Collection, to hire a student to process the La Luz Collection.
We started at the Predock Center, led by Dr. Audra Bellmore and her team. On display were models, sketches, drawings, collages, motors and memorabilia – artifacts from a long and storied architectural practice. The tour provided an opportunity for the architecture students to study buildings commissioned from across the globe. And Antoine Predock was digitally present – touring and visiting with colleagues.
In the afternoon we met at La Luz, the first and ground-breaking commission of Predock’s, now over 50 years old. The community is made up of 96 clustered adobe townhouses, communal plazas and recreational spaces, all with stunning views to the Sandia Mountains and Rio Grande bosque. We toured three different units: one with a recent, modern interior renovation, another restored to its original state, and a third unit which was two-stories. Professor Emerita Anne Taylor and fellow resident guides talked not only about the sustainable housing design but also about the landscape transition which reflects a greater awareness of our precious limited water and climate change. La Luz is internationally recognized and is on the State Register of Cultural Properties.
This restart of our annual tours was illuminating, invigorating and once again shared among old and new friends and colleagues. Off to a new round!
New Mexico Architectural Foundation 
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