SuStainable new Mexico architecture

Transcription

Sustainable
New Mexico
Architecture
Taos Courthouse Preservation • The Old Spanish Trail
March 2015
Northern New Mexico’s Largest Circulation Newspaper
Vol. 7 No. 3
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Vol. 7, No. 3 • March 2015
Issue No. 71
Publisher
Green Fire Publishing, LLC
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News & Views
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Contents
Sustainable New Mexico Architecture . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . 7
Puebloan Architecture
Spanish Colonial Architecture
Architecture in the Mexican and American Territorial Periods
Northern New Mexico Architecture
Queen Anne and Victorian Architecture
The Railroad’s Influence on New Mexico Architecture
Spanish Pueblo-Revival Style Architecture Traits
Taos County Courthouse Preservation Plan Moves Ahead . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 12
Taos County Courthouse Murals .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .13
How Archaeology and Architecture History
Can Teach Us about Truly Sustainable Design . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .16
Cañada de Apodaca Trail
Nominated to National Register as Part of Old Spanish Trail. . .. . .. . .. . 18
Nominating Sites for the National Register of Historic Places . . .. . .. . .. . .21
From the Old Spanish Trail Association Website. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . ..21
UNM-Taos: Skills Development in Sustainable Design . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .25
Book Profile: Hacking the Earthship:
In Search of an Earth Shelter That Works for Everybody . . .. . .. . .. . .. 25
So Long, Big Oil and Big Coal . . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. 26
What’s a Heat Pump? . . .. . .. .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. 27
A Tribute to Linda Pedro: Advocate for People with Disabilities . . .. . .. . .. . 31
Sustainable Santa Fe Update. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. 33
Newsbites . . .. . .. . .. . .. . ... . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. 35
What’s Going On. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. 38
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© 2015 Green Fire Publishing, LLC
Green Fire Times provides useful information for
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of opportunities and resources in the Southwest. In
support of a more sustainable planet, topics covered
range from green businesses, jobs, products, services,
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Intersections of Archeology,
Architecture, Culture and Place
M
uch of the Sustainable New Mexico Architecture focus of this
edition of Green Fire Times was written by Rachel Preston Prinz,
an architectural researcher and preservationist. Rachel loves to share her
passion for discovering the genius loci—the “Spirit of Place.” After having
been a project manager in traditional architecture firms for more than 10
years, she founded the Albuquerque-based firm Archinia, in 2007, and its
nonprofit offshoot, Built for Life, in 2012. Rachel has given multiple TEDx
and Pecha Kucha talks on sustainability and historic preservation and is a wellregarded designer and architectural researcher. She served as a preservation
commissioner in Taos and has led groundbreaking research into traditional and
modern means of earth sheltering. In 2014, she launched a television project,
Built for Life, to celebrate New Mexico’s 1,000-year building tradition of
no-tech sustainability.
COVER: RECONCILIACION
A mural by Emil Bisttram in the Taos County Courthouse (See page 13)
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6
Sustainable New Mexico Architecture
Rachel Preston Prinz
T
wentieth-century architecture began to paint a different picture of New
Mexican architectural values. That picture is one of architecture from other
places that is unsuitable for our climate, at worst. At best, it is one that copies the
architecture of our place but with total disregard for historic materials and methods
that are designed to work well with our climate. This ultimately means our homes
cease to work for us and are dependent on technology to function. What can we do
to change that and make architecture work for the people of New Mexico again?
If it is true, as Brooke Hindle suggests, that architecture is a “three-dimensional
embodiment” of history, then it is clear that the history of New Mexican
architecture is a story about several distinct groups of strong and independent
people, who appreciate simplicity and celebrate living. There is much we can
learn from each of these periods of historic architecture to relearn the lessons our
forefathers knew and put ourselves on track for a more sustainable future.
There is much we can learn from historic
architecture to put ourselves on track
for a more sustainable future.
The indigenous people who settled in this less-than-hospitable place knew that
you chose land that was fertile, had year-round streams, and had easy access to
building materials, hunting and gathering, and medicine. They kept it simple,
building with materials nearly right at their feet, and orienting to the sun, so they
could capture its rays in winter when heat was needed and shed the heat in summer
when it was not. Like the Hispanics who settled here next, they started small and
worked into larger and larger spaces as they improved their position, grew trade
relationships, and gathered more tools. They shared body heat in smaller rooms
and stored food in dark recesses they planned for in the center core of their homes.
They planned for securable spaces that could be naturally heated and ventilated
because they were designed well.
The Hispanic settlers had an intimate knowledge and understanding of architecture
and agriculture and of using microclimates to improve both. They had learned
engineering from the Moors and Romans, so their approach to design was
sophisticated. They built places before they built spaces, bringing in irrigation,
natural ventilation, massing and construction techniques that they adapted to
make spaces that were very much of their place. They adapted to each location,
using science to improve performance and pure wherewithal to push through what
another person might consider an impossible task—like starting an agricultural
village in the desert. They realized that securing their water source in a courtyard
and pairing that with solid science and shading meant that natural ventilation was
improved. Shade, in the form of trellises and portals, made outdoor spaces accessible
in the heat of summer and the cold of winter. Community leaders came together
in these protected, south-facing, sun-basking spaces to argue positions and make
decisions for the community in what would come to be known as the resolana.
Taos Pueblo
As early as 700 A.D., the area we now know as New Mexico was settled by
indigenous people who were morphing their lifestyles from a nomadic hunting
and gathering existence to a stable agricultural one. They began to build permanent
structures, including pit houses, cliff dwellings and pyramid-shaped pueblos.
These structures were almost purely functional, providing protection from the
elements and natural enemies, as well as places to store a growing collection of
farming implements. In historic documents, this period of architecture is called
Indian Style. Today, however, the architectural forms from this early indigenous
settlement are referred to as Pueblo style.
The Puebloans mastered working with their
environment, utilizing every advantage
they could to live comfortably.
One of many interesting aspects of indigenous architecture in New Mexico is that
Puebloan peoples will sometimes allow a building to die. They believe that, as in
life, everything has a season, and sometimes that season ends.
Puebloan buildings are built close to the mountains, in most cases, where trees
for roof framing are easily accessible. Also, there is year-round running water on
the site.
Traditional Pueblo style architecture is characterized by materials that reflect and
respond to their place. Structures were most often constructed of puddled adobe
(poured like concrete), sun-dried adobe, or stacked stone that was collected or
shaped on-site. Floors were usually dirt. These buildings are often two or more
stories tall, oriented with their main façade facing south or southeast and stepped
continued on page 8
© Rachel Preston Prinz (2)
The Americans brought with them the tools and
materials to change the way we built to adapt even more
to our particular climate. Pitched roofs and milled details
allowed us to capture the sun for solar gain, and bigger
operable windows allowed more light and ventilation into
spaces. When we added full-length porches, we found
out we could precool the air before it entered the home.
When all of these ideas were merged, we got architecture
that stands the test of time.
Puebloan Architecture
Now, that is sustainable! And it is all within our reach, if
we do what we can on our own, then come together with
our communities and share with our children how it is
all connected—and how we are all connected.
Acoma Pueblo
7
Sustainable NM
continued from page 7
back on upper levels to facilitate passive solar collection and good views for feast
dances. The earth-colored walls are covered in mud stucco as a kind of chinking,
like that used in log homes to prevent air infiltration. The mud plaster was repaired
or replaced annually.
The smallish interior spaces of Puebloan buildings were directly based on the
lengths of locally available vigas, which, in northern New Mexico, means spaces
about 15 feet wide. Historic interiors were decorated with yeso—painted white
with natural gypsums—and may have featured rodestrado—darker, earth-tone,
contrast-color paint or manta fabric at the wainscot (lower wall facing) commonly
used in later times. If the former decorative technique was used outside, it used
bright, vegetable-based dyes. Many rooms had a corner fire pit with a skylight
above it. This encouraged a physical reaction in the way air moved through the
space, allowing for a natural heating and cooling method—called stack effect—
that drew heat from the fireplaces, which were connected on several levels. Rooms
were sometimes exhausted via chimney pots, a later addition we can see notably
at Acoma Pueblo.
Door and window openings were often low and small, with rough-hewn wood
lintels, and rarely located on ground level. Rather, the house was accessed by
climbing a ladder to upper floors, then descending another ladder. The crude branch
ladders were constructed with rawhide thongs or notched tree trunks. Doorways
were often closed with hide or coarse cloth, and windows covered with selenite,
mica or oiled hide before wooden doors and glazed windows were introduced in
the 19th century.
The Puebloans mastered working with their environment, utilizing every advantage
they could find to live comfortably, long before the Europeans arrived. They knew
and understood the landscape, its climate, the ebbs and flows of the seasons and,
thus, the movements of water, plants and animals. They built from things they
could find on the site or directly adjacent to it. They built for longevity and built
community around the work of keeping their homes maintained. There is much
for us to learn from this if we want to start building lives that are truly Sustainable.
If the world were to fall into complete disarray, if all our mechanical systems were
to fail and our transportation systems were to break, we could be in real trouble.
The Puebloan people who are maintaining a significant degree of their traditional
ways would have all they need as far as food, shelter and water right where they
are. They would be just fine.
Spanish Colonial Architecture
In 1540, 67 years before the founding of Jamestown, Virginia, and 80 years
prior to the landing at Plymouth Rock in Massachusetts, the Spanish explorer
Coronado was exploring what would become New Mexico, claiming the area and
its inhabitants for the Spanish Crown. With him, and in subsequent expeditions
into the frontier, came Franciscan friars, whose charge was to lead as many of
the “natives” as possible into the service of the church, were also asked to guide a
© Seth Roffman
The roofs and floors between levels were supported by random-length, peeled-log
vigas supporting aspen latillas, willow twigs, split cedar or pine, which was then
laid over with grasses or straw and, finally, adobe mud, dirt, or sod/turf.
Palace of the Governors, Santa Fe
number of settlers to build a new empire by harvesting the efforts of the people
and the bounty of the land. The land was not as giving as Coronado might have
hoped, and Spanish settlement had created friction between the tribes. Because
harvests were given to the church and king, there was no food to trade. Starving
and enslaved, the native people wanted no more of Spanish rule. They revolted in
1680. After the Pueblo Revolt, the Palacio Real, or Governor’s Palace in Santa
Fe, was turned into and lived in as a pueblo for 13 years until Diego de Vargas
returned in 1693 to implement the Reconquest.
The Spanish Crown had rules for the size and
shape of all elements of common buildings.
The architecture of the time was fortified and was designed only to provide shelter.
Any structures that were built were supplied by either what could be obtained in the
immediate vicinity or on the biannual wagon trains that arrived from Chihuahua,
México, on the Santa Fe Trail. Unlike the architecture of California or Texas, there
wasn’t the money in New Mexico for elaborate Mission-style churches and homes.
There was no police force, little ruling authority and, for many years, nowhere near
enough clergy to tend to the needs of the people. New Mexican settlers had to
fend for themselves, leading to the evolution of the Penitentes and another major
Hispanic contribution to New Mexican culture: artifacts for homes, including
beautiful hand-crafted santos, bultos and retablos. By all accounts, New Mexico
was still very much a frontier. From the mid-17th century through the late 19th
century, the predominant architectural style was referred to as Spanish Colonial.
The early Hispanic period buildings, in most cases, started with only one or two
rooms. They were added onto as families grew, until they formed courtyard homes
called haciendas. The hacienda was the ideal form for its day, built surrounding
a patio, with a portal all around or across one end of the enclosed courtyard. The
hacienda had small exterior openings, so the space could be secured from animal
and human predators, which also led to somewhat of an interior focus. The zaguan,
a covered room on the outside wall of the courtyard home, had a large gate on the
outside face and an opening into the courtyard at the inside. This allowed people
to bring in their livestock and wagons in case of attack.
© Rachel Preston Prinz
The Spanish Crown had rules
for size and shape of many
elements of common buildings.
South-facing hillsides were
preferred for building locations
to protect buildings from the
north and west winds and
snow, to maximize solar gain
in winter, and to offer a secure,
high vantage point from which
to defend the buildings.
The Trujillo home on Ranchitos Road in Taos
8
In most cases, buildings were
continued on page 10
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9
Sustainable NM
constructed of thick courses of sun-dried adobe bricks, a technique the Spanish
learned from the Moors.
© Anna C. Hansen
Buildings were constructed as one-story structures, with rooms linked together
linearly and opening either into one another along one side or through a covered
porch. Most had short parapet walls at the joint of the roof and walls to prevent
people from climbing onto the roof, as well as to give defenders a place from which
to shoot during an attack. The mud-plaster exterior walls were remudded each year
in an enjarre, which was almost always done by women. Most homes featured bee
hive-shaped, raised corner fireplaces with adobe chimneys. These Spanish Colonial
buildings most often utilized a low-pitched or flat earthen roof supported by round,
peeled vigas and latillas and, eventually, planks, which were sometimes painted
or covered with bleached muslin. Better tools made of metal—not stone—made
possible refined cutting of vigas, and these were eventually cut into rectangular
shapes and allowed to rest on large carved brackets, which allowed for longer spans
and taller, larger spaces. The Spanish preferred one large, multifunction space to
the many smaller, single-use spaces that the Native Americans preferred.
Taos Territorial House, ca. 1875. Listed in the National Register of Historical Places
From the transfer of what would become New Mexico from Spain into Mexican
hands in 1821, to the American occupation in 1846, commerce and social
development were centered at the regional trading posts, where money, goods
and ideas were exchanged.
South-facing hillsides protected buildings from the
winds and snow, and maximized solar gain in winter.
As indigenous raids were quelled, people began to move to the areas just outside
of the town proper and build their homes around small placitas. You can see this
influence today while strolling the Taos shopping district on Paseo del Pueblo
Norte, as well as in the neighborhoods behind and around La Loma Plaza. In
fact, the Taos Inn is one such grouping of homes around a small plaza, only the
homes are now combined into one building, and its courtyard has been enclosed
to form a space for a bar and lounge,
complete with corner fireplace. The
original well sits inside, covered up
by a sculptural fountain and skylight.
Interior walls were whitewashed, in most cases, to reflect light from the small
windows through the space and featured a gingham or similar fabric wainscot.
Elaborately carved woods and colorful paint detailing at ceilings, arches, between
rooms or over doorways were usually reserved for the interior of the building for
maintenance reasons. The earthen floors were pounded with adobe mortar and,
eventually, planed wood. Many were covered with a locally made jerga, a blackand-white geometric cloth carpet.
In the eastern United States, Greek
Revival architecture was in very
much in vogue at the time. While
the rest of America was dancing to
the beat of Grecian drums, it was
not until the opening of Fort Union’s
new officers’ quarters in 1869 and
The small windows we see in Spanish Colonial period buildings might have
originally been made of selenite, mica or oiled hides. They were sometimes covered
with wooden shutters, which allowed the rooms to hold heat in at night. Wooden
grilles over openings mimic Spanish metal grilles and allow for ample natural
ventilation. With tools came the ability to make things, and two of the most
important items made during this period were doors and hinges. Metalworking
of iron and tin was introduced, and we see these details used first in churches
and, later, in private homes. Glass and cloth were also being traded on the wagon
trains from México, and we start to see beautiful detailed embroidery with bird
and floral designs on altar cloths, walls and glass. Those symbols were derived
from Oriental, Persian and Moorish motifs.
The Spanish used the same basic principles of good design that the Puebloans
did, and they introduced tools, natural ventilation and decorating techniques that
made their larger spaces shine.
When the Santa Fe Trail opened
in 1821, New Mexican architecture
began to change. Still considered a wild
and primitive place, New Mexico was
growing and evolving, and architecture
began to reflect its “civilization.” In
1815, French and American fur traders
arrived in Taos, which would become
the southwest gateway to the ports of
trade in the central and western states.
These hunters and trappers fared well Taos Plaza in the late 1800s
in the unruly town that Taos was and
amassed their wealth and power in several homes along Ledoux Street. Gardens
burst to overflowing with flowers in the summer.
Courtesy of Denver Public Library
Architecture in the Mexican and
American Territorial Periods
Fort Marcy’s construction in
1870 that Greek Revival took
a firm hold in New Mexico.
The introduction of American
forces was intended to quell
tensions between the many
Two examples of Territorial style in Santa Fe
people claiming New Mexican
lands and, of course, to protect the Santa Fe Trail, which provided both a financial
incentive and supply support for U.S. expansion into the frontier. With the arrival
of the U.S. Army came access to a much higher degree of skilled workmanship,
as well as the most significant intervention for New Mexican architectural design
prior to the railroads, that is, sawmills, which allowed for much finer detailed trim
and carpentry. The second and third most significant donations to New Mexico’s
architectural development were nails and window glass. Taos had structures
influenced by both Greek Revival and Colonial Revival on its plaza before the
plaza burned down in sections over the 1920s and 1930s.
It was not uncommon for Greek Revival-influenced homes to use the concept of
a separated front and back parlor, usually one large rectangular room separated
by a structural wall and some curtains, so we look for this hallmark in renovated
buildings to determine their period of construction.
10
11
Taos County Courthouse
Preservation Plan Moves Ahead
T
o preserve the historic Taos County Courthouse on Taos
Plaza, the town of Taos and Taos County have come together
to address long-standing issues regarding maintenance and use of
the facility, which has been all but abandoned since municipal offices
were moved from the building in the late 1960s. Since that time,
the building has served various functions, including as a home base
for some of the plaza’s merchants. However, underutilization of the
facility and the dwindling budgets that resulted left the building in
need of some relatively serious upgrades in order to make it functional,
financially viable and accessible to meet modern codes.
To address these concerns,Taos architect David Henry was contracted
in 2014 to put together a team to prepare a preservation plan. The
plan outline asked the team to consider the building’s historic and
current uses, determine structural and architectural stability and
propose future phases for stabilization and rehabilitation, so that the
structure could be put back into sustainable use.
The Spanish Pueblo Revival courthouse
we see today is the third documented
municipal structure on the site.
Henry, historic structural engineer Jim Hands of Santa Fe and I used the architectural
and art-history pieces of this report as a basis to determine the architectural chronology
of the building. One of the greatest finds was locating the original architect’s drawings
on vellum and mylar at UNM’s Center for Southwest Research at the Zimmerman
Library in Albuquerque.This seemed like a miracle because many of the county’s records
were destroyed in the fire that claimed the courthouse’s predecessor building, and many
later records were lost in moves to other locations.
The 1932 Spanish Pueblo Revival courthouse we see today is
the third documented iteration of a municipal structure on the
site. The first dated to sometime between 1830 and 1842 and is
identified on an 1847 map of the town square as a calaboza, or jail,
in the Galician dialect from northern Spain. The building on that
map appears to have been a small, one-room-deep building. We
can safely presume that it was completed in Hispanic vernacular
style with adobe construction and vigas serving as the structure
for a flat earthen roof because other materials would have been
prohibitively difficult to obtain in this far-removed northern outpost
in the Mexican territory. We know that a second iteration of the
Taos Plaza 1880
courthouse was completed in the American
Territorial period, sometime around 1880,
once the Americans arrived and began the
process of morphing New Mexico into a U.S.
state. This Americanized courthouse was
also one room deep, but it appears to have
been somewhat wider at the façade than its
predecessor. It was also most likely made
of adobe but featured uniquely American
details like wood trim at the doors and
windows, which were introduced when the
American government built the first wood Taos Plaza 1902
mills to support the building of facilities like
Fort Union.This second-generation courthouse had a detached jail behind the building,
across a small yard that featured a hand-dug well.The structure was modernized several
times, removing the high parapets and adding a pitched roof, then adding a gable to
shed water away from the front door. This courthouse never had a portal.
12
The second Territorial generation of the Taos County Courthouse, along with most
of the buildings on the north side of the plaza, burned nearly to the ground on May
9, 1932. The several fires that destroyed Taos Plaza in the early 20th century were
most likely due to a combination of the Americanization of the plaza, which covered
the historic adobe structures with wood façades, along with the introduction of lessthan-ideally designed and installed electrical systems. Between 1912–1918 the east
side of the plaza burned. The Columbia Hotel, predecessor to the La Fonda Hotel we
see today on the south side of the plaza, burned in 1928. The west side of the plaza
burned down in 1931. The courthouse and north sideburning down in 1932 was the
final blow. Thankfully, by the early 20th century, most of the residents had moved away
from the plaza, so, while businesses sustained major losses, loss of life was minimized.
Because of these fires, most buildings on the plaza had been replaced, so much of
the “truly historic” ambience of our past was lost. Original 30-inch adobe walls from
the old plaza buildings still exist, embedded in walls on the outer edges of the area,
offering our only tangible glimpses into the
plaza that once was.
When the second iteration of the courthouse
burned in 1932, it was decided to rebuild
the courthouse in its same location but
with a greatly expanded footprint to
allow more of the county’s services to be
accessible in one place. Along with the
rest of the buildings that were replaced on
the plaza, the new building would be built
in the new Spanish Pueblo Revival style
that John Gaw Meem and others were
utilizing to “modernize” Albuquerque and
Santa Fe. Louis Hesselden, an Albuquerque
architect, was called in to design the new
structure. Hesselden was the son of a
renowned Albuquerque designer and
mason and would ultimately become one
of Albuquerque’s most prolific architects,
designing the famous Nob Hill Business
Center—the first automobile shopping
center in the world—as well as the Excelsior
Laundry Building, College of St. Joseph
Campus (University of Albuquerque), St.
Paul’s Lutheran Church, First Methodist Church, Albuquerque Country Club, some
of the structures of the New Mexico State Fair, countless residences and, eventually, the
Bernalillo County Courthouse and Hall of Justice that would replace the one his own
Courtesy New Mexico State Records and Archives Center
Top (l-r): Emil Bisttram’s Reconciliation/Reconciliación, Bert Philips’
The Shadow of Crime/La Sombra del Crimen, Ward Lockwood’s
Sufficient Law Protects/Ley Suficiente Protege; Center: Ward
Lockwood’s Justice Begets Content/Justicia Causa Felicidad,
Frederico Vigil’s Respect Creates Harmony/Armonia Trae Respeto;
Bottom: Victor Higgins’s Moses the Law Giver/Moises El Legislador
Above: Taos Court House frescoes under construction. L-R: Ward
Lockwood with his Superfluous Laws Oppress; Public Works of Art
Project regional coordinator Gustave Baumann; Bert Phillips with his
The Shadow of Crime; and assistant Amarante Maes. 1934.
Taos County
Courthouse Murals
W
hen the new Taos County Courthouse was completed in January 1934,
the Works Progress Administration (WPA) Public Works of Art Project
commissioned four of Taos’s premier artists to paint 10 murals in the facility.
The project was managed by Santa Fe artist Gustave Baumann. The four artists
engaged in the effort were Emil Bisttram, Ward Lockwood, Bert Phillips and
Victor Higgins. They became known as the “Taos Fresco Quartet.” An 11th mural
was completed in 1994 by renowned New Mexican fresco artist Frederico Vigil
following his conservation of the original murals. i
13
Taos County Courthouse continued from page 12
The 1932 courthouse was built with partial funding from the Public Works
Administration and partly financed by a loan from a local bank. Construction was started
in 1932 by contractor L. H. Bovos. The courthouse was completed and inhabited by
January 1934. The facility included offices for county staff, including the sheriff, county
clerk and assessor, commissioner, treasurer, two vaults and jail on
the first floor, and the agriculture agent, superintendent of schools,
district judge, justice of the peace, district attorney and the court
and jury rooms on the second floor.The move into the courthouse
was facilitated by “trucks, vans, lorries and wagons,” according to
a report by 23-year veteran Taos News arts editor Regina Tatum
Cooke, who crafted a wood-block print of the move-in for the
front page of the paper on the day the facility opened.
father had built. He was a vanguard of the new architecture of the time and perfectly
suited for designing a municipal facility. His characteristic design style was noted to
have several common characteristics: the use of cementitious stucco, brick and cast
stone as decorative detailing (evoking Spanish Colonial Revival and Territorial Revival
styles) and details influenced by Mediterranean and California Mission Revival styles.
This helps to explain the interesting mission detailing at the Taos County Courthouse.
Taos County Courthouse, 2010
After the building was vacated by Taos County government in
1970, minimal funds and maintenance were provided by the county.
Reports of roof leaks, damaged adobe, ruined plaster, cracking and
chipping of the ceilings and walls and damage from break-ins
became more common, until the facility was finally stabilized and
the roof repaired in the 1990s.Those repairs are more than 20 years
old now and, because of a lack of maintenance funding, many of
these issues need to be readdressed.
The character-defining features of the historic Taos County
Courthouse remain intact:
• Its location on Taos Plaza, serving as a courthouse square, South façade of courthouse, Dec. 1941
which reflects the enduring Spanish influence of town planning;
In 2010, the town of Taos received a $125,000 federal grant through the American
• The two-story flat-roofed, stuccoed adobe building with its curvilinear parapet,
Recovery and Reinvestment Act to upgrade the mechanical systems in the building.
exposed vigas and punched windows, characteristic of Spanish Pueblo Revival
The funds were used to design and install a modern gas-fired, hot-water, radiant-heating
style;
system to replace the aging and failing steam boiler and radiator system. So, while the
• Original windows in some places;
building remains largely empty, it has “good bones.”
• The portal extends across the entire south façade and is detailed with exposed
Most of the building’s current issues revolve around its underutilization; addressing
round vigas and wood decking, 10-inch-by-10-inch wood support beams, 12-inchdeferred maintenance—which threatens the portal, roof and adobe walls; and addressing
diameter round posts and carved-wood corbels. The portal originally terminated
the less-than-ideally detailed infills at the east and west alley additions, which have
on the east and west ends with massive stucco rooms that led to open alleyways
caused structural damage and eliminated access to natural light and ventilation. Other
on the east and west sides of the building but is otherwise intact;
major factors in restoring the courthouse to full use include the building’s current state,
• The original central hallway plan with the primary entrance centered on the south
which does not meet code for fire protection, egress, or restroom facilities, and it does not
façade;
provide equal access under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).To achieve these
• The interior, with simple, unadorned finishes in all rooms but the main stair, which
ends, a sprinkler system must be installed, fire-protecting materials should be added at
features geometric railings typical of the period, and the courtroom, now known
the corridors, restrooms should be added, and a handicapped-accessible lift or elevator
as the Mural Room, features 10 original WPA-era murals by four of the members
should be installed to allow visitors of every ability to visit the historic mural room.
of Taos’ famous Society of Artists.
The building was not perfect in its original design, and some modifications were required
to address issues in the original construction. We know that part of the back wall was
built of adobe, but it was located in-grade, meaning that the elevation of the ground at
the north side of the building is nearly a story above that at the south.The original walls
at this location needed to be reinforced with concrete to address issues from retaining
this massive wall of earth. Structural loading on the floors of the courthouse and the
rest of the second floor led to issues of sound transmission to the floors below. Carpet
and dropped ceilings were added to attempt to dampen the sound. These approaches
were not entirely successful and will likely need to be addressed in the future.
The character-defining features of the historic
courthouse remain intact
The only major changes to the exterior of the building over its 80-plus years of existence
are the infill of the east and west alleys on either side of the main structure and the
removal and replacement of the massive adobe “bookends” on the portal, both of which
appear to have been done within a few years of the original construction.The replacement
of the double-hung windows with single-pane fixed windows and the replacement of
the original wooden entrance door, transom and sidelights are somewhat major changes
to the character of the building that might need to be reconsidered. Other changes
have shifted uses of spaces and wall locations on the interior but, for the most part, are
benign and easy to work around in a revised use plan.
14
At recent public meetings to generate interest in the project, it was shared that the
approximate cost of addressing all of these issues and getting the building completely
ready for its next iteration will be around $2.5 million. A first phase of updating
the interior first-floor spaces, providing an elevator and adding restrooms, has been
estimated at a little over $800,000. The remainder of the upgrades and repairs has been
estimated at approximately $1.5 million.The county, town and interested organizations
are currently enlisting public support for the project, as well as looking into ways of
creatively and collaboratively funding the restoration of this important piece of Taos’
history. Future public meetings and design charrettes will explore the potential uses
of the space.
David Henry notes that “The Historic Taos County Courthouse served its constituents well
for the 35+ years of its public life. Unfortunately, as Taos County grew (and continues to grow)
the staff, agencies and the public needed more space and more parking. The decision to relocate
the courthouse off of the plaza in +/-1970 had far-reaching and unforeseen ramifications. Once
the public functions were taken out of the historic building, daily life on the historic Taos Plaza
was changed forever. Citizens no longer linger in the shade of the plaza portal after they have
filed their marriage license or paid their property taxes. Now these activities take place in a
much larger facility with modern paved parking, air-conditioned hallways, and pass-codeprotected access to Taos County staff. A sign of the times. Some may call this progress. Yet, the
way the historic plaza structure was used back in the day will never be reproduced at the modern
facility. Maybe the pace of life is just a little too quick now. I know that many people miss the
park-like setting of the historic plaza and the ability to undertake civic activities, social hour,
and lunch with friends, all within the walkable and comfortable confines of the plaza.” i
15
How Archaeology and Architecture History
Can Teach Us about Truly Sustainable Design
W
hen this photo was taken 18
years ago, I had no idea how
prophetic it would become. I was
traveling to Europe’s mysterious ruined
places, like Paestum and Pompeii,
and fell in love—with the bones of
architecture. I would marvel over
details like this elaborately laid column.
That was the beginning of a career
where I would get to play on the
edge that separates architecture and
archaeology. I figure out the puzzles,
patterns and underlying systems that
made old architecture work and then
apply that knowledge to modern design. I will share with you some of the things I
have learned that I think can help you make your space work better for you.
One of the things I have
puzzled over the most is
this stuff called “green,” like
this award-winning “green”
gas station. It has no place.
It could be anywhere. It is
made of lots of metal. That
metal had to be mined,
transported and brought
to an extraordinarily high
temperature to be workable,
using huge amounts of
resources through every
step in the process. All those surfaces have no point but decoration and require an
unbelievable number of connections.
What the past tells us about green design is that it is local, simple, natural and
efficient. The majority of things we do today to make ourselves feel green actually
are not. Double-thick walls mean double the wood. Rigid board insulation is made
from petroleum. And the super-insulated home idea often means windows you
cannot open windows because air is delivered to you via a power-driven system.
Besides the fact that New Mexico is ideal for open windows nearly six months a
year, design based on power-driven systems is just not smart. Because, as we learned
with the Super Bowl freeze a few years back, the sun goes down, storms pop up,
and power and gas go down. And then what?
Truly sustainable buildings have to work at a suitable baseline without depending
on mechanical systems to function. The mechanical system has to be an accessory,
not the primary source of heat, water or air. Guided by 5,000 years of documented
building history, here is how I know this idea can work.
On the chart below we see the far left is when we started building structures for
permanent habitation. Stonehenge happened not long after that. The founding of
16
Rome, in about 700 B.C.E., happened a little over halfway along our timeline. The
last quarter or so of the line shows when we built Gothic cathedrals, and people in the
Southwest moved into cliff houses some 100 years later. It was not for another 600 years
that we introduced any kind of mechanical system to try and control our environment.
Of our entire building history, we have had mechanical systems for less than 4 percent
of that time, meaning that, for 96 percent of our time, our buildings worked with the
environment, instead of despite it.
Understanding this was the first part of
my paradigm shift. Then, one day, I was
hanging over the edge of a ruin taking
this photo of a kiva/pit house in Chaco
Canyon:
Precariously balanced, I was trying to get
the shot right, and I had one of those ahha moments. I saw that the same levels of
the kiva/pit house are the skeleton—the
bones—of this Navajo-inspired Moon
Lodge, in Taos, where my girlfriends and
I met for women’s group once a month.
It’s super comfortable and warm, has
great light and feels like “home.”
I finally got it. By looking at archaeology
as an applied science, instead of just a
recording of history, we can take lessons
from the old ways to make the new work
better. We can look at what lessons our
region has to offer us in archaeological
building. The first lesson was from my
ah-ha moment. Earth shelters work.
Have you been to Mesa Verde or
Bandelier and climbed down into a kiva
on a hot summer day? The kiva is at least
20 degrees cooler than outside and, in
winter, it
can be 20
degrees warmer. And it can be warmed even more
with just a small fire.
And we were not alone. Just about every culture in every
time period around the world utilized earth-sheltering
techniques. From the Jomon houses in Japan to Viking
pit houses in Denmark to the Vaodong complexes in
China to the troglodyte complexes in Guadix, Spain.
And even to the Hotel Sidi Driss, designed as a
traditional, Berber troglodyte underground building
in Matmata, Tunisia.
Do you recogniz e that
building? Does it look
familiar? You have probably
seen it, but it might have been
a while. It is the Skywalker
family home from Star Wars!
Yep, it is a real place in Tunisia.
If Luke Skywalker can live in
a “primitive” earth shelter and
still drive a spaceship and
save the galaxy, then what is
stopping us from doing that?
I am only half-way joking.
The lesson is twofold: study
and learn from the past, and
apply the lessons.
This is a modern pit house—
the Black Pyramid House
in Saijo, Japan, designed
by Suppose Design Office.
There is nothing “granola”
about this pit house; it is
sleek and modern and full
of light. Imagine what we
could do if we married these
old building ideas with the
new forms our great local
architects and designers are
using today.
© Seth Roffman
Another lesson that New Mexico archaeology can teach us about building is about
adobe; it’s just a handful of mud and a dash of clay, some water and straw, and
add some sunshine and you have a variation on sun-dried mud brick made first in
Mesopotamia some 4,000 years ago. First, we plastered our pit houses with mud;
then, we figured out we could pour it in lifts and make walls. Later, we started massproducing adobe bricks.
Today, we can
google “adobe and
stone structures”
and find examples
from around the
world that show
new ways of
building—ways
that other cultures
finessed for their
place and time.
We can take a
El Rancho de las Golandrinas, La Ciénega
little of this good
idea and a little of that good idea and put them together in new ways that reflect our
values and our access to information. New Mexico has evolved. We can invent new
architectures, based on traditional buildings, and honor the past by leaving it intact.
The hacienda—a courtyard house—was a gift to us from the Spanish, who got the idea
from the Moors, who got it from the Romans, who got it from the Egyptians, who
got it from the Mesopotamians. It was an idea that was used everywhere. Courtyard
houses are great because they are easy to build; you can start with one room and
build new rooms as your family grows until you enclose the central space. The wraparound portals are cool in summer and will keep your boots dry in the winter. The
courtyard, with its trees and wells, is a form of natural evaporative air-conditioning.
The Hispanic settlers who built these spaces knew they were creating an ecosystem
and building microclimates to help facilitate living and working in the less-thanhospitable desert. That is why the first thing built in an area was the acequia system.
It was not just
about growing
food. It was
about creating a
place to live that
worked for the
people.
And, again, we
can learn from
the past and
embrace change
along the way.
A hacienda
This is a modern courtyard house in a high-rise designed by Korean architects
IROJE KHM. The tiny courtyard is a lightwell. Another designer—like me—might
install flower boxes and planters into
the edges of the space to grow fruits
and veggies, or they might have a
roof catchment and collect water
and then use aquaponics to clean
the water and grow veggies. Really,
there are all kinds of ways to make
this small space a green asset.
There is another lesson we can learn
from our past, too.
Old New Mexico buildings used
earth roofs. Builders worked,
although sometimes they would
leak and grow weeds. They did not
realize then that they could harness
that. But in other places around the world, they did and still do. Today, green roofs
are a staple of great green design. They can take many different forms, depending on
where they are. They can be modern or ancient. They can even be colorful, depending
on the climate you live in. In New Mexico, we have learned how to make modern
versions work for us, too.
What the past tells us about green design is that
it is local, simple, natural and efficient.
The reality is, we can have truly green design without technology. We can honor
our roots without only copying the old. And, if we choose to, we can find a way of
being that we can honestly call sustainable.
If you would like to figure out one thing you can do today to use old ideas to improve
your own space, go out and get five healthy deciduous trees, as large as you can afford.
If they are native heirloom fruit trees, that’s even better. Plant them far enough
away from the south and west corner of your building so the roots will not bother
the foundations when they are fully grown. Love them, water them, sit with them,
watch them grow, harvest their fruit and see what happens. I bet you will love the
difference you feel. And when it comes time to pay the bills, your pocketbook will
love the change, too.
If you would like to see
more archaeologically
inspired architecture,
please check out the
Archinia Pinterest
board we created for
this project, titled
Archaeo-Architecture
a t h t t p s : / / w w w.
pinterest.com/
archinia/archaeo
-architecture/ i
17
Cañada de Apodaca Trail Nominated to the
National Register as part of the Old Spanish Trail
Rachel Preston Prinz and Mark Henderson
I
n a nondescript drainage on Bureau
of Land Management (BLM) land
just west of Dixon, one of northern
New Mexico’s stories comes to life in a
landscape that has changed little since
indigenous people used these pathways
as far back as 600 years ago to move
between the pueblos of Picuris and
Taos and points further. This is the story
of the Cañada de Apodaca, a historic
trail recommended for nomination
to the National Register of Historic
Places as a contributing intact segment
of the Old Spanish National Historical
Trail (OST). Cañada de Apodaca is
one of two routes into Taos on the 70mile commercial-goods pack trail and
livestock driveway that connected the
Mexican territorial center in Santa Fe
to the wool production and weaving
industry in the Spanish Colonial towns
in the Española Valley, to the agrarian
plazuelas in the Taos Valley, and on to
other markets in Nuevo México and
beyond, during the Spanish Colonial,
Mexican Territorial and early U.S.
Territorial periods.
The landscape remains
largely intact and
shares the same
amazing vistas
witnessed by the first
European settlers.
Prior to being used as a formal trail
between Santa Fe and Taos, the only
trail to or from Taos was a network of
prehistoric aboriginal footpaths along
the Río Grande. The more formalized
18
trail of the Hispanic settlers followed
those paths and then turned slightly
eastward to avoid the fragoso, or rugged,
Río Grande Gorge (La Caja del Río)
and the gorge’s embudo, or funnel/
chokepoint. Just outside Dixon, the trail
split into two routes. The High Road,
known as the Camino Alto or summer
route, is the same route that visitors
taking the High Road to Taos enjoy
today. This passes through the Colonial
settlements of Chimayó, Truchas, Ojo
Sarco, Las Trampas, Chamisal and
Picuris Pueblo. The 3-mile-long Cañada
de Apodaca National Historical Trail
occurs on the Low Road alignment,
the Camino Abajo or winter route.
The natural drainage is associated with
the North Branch of the Old Spanish
National Historical Trail and was
heavily used between 1829 and 1848 as
a pack trail from Taos on New Mexico’s
northeastern frontier with the United
States.
Historic documents offer us a glimpse
into life along the route both before
and after the Mexican period. One of
the first known records of travel on the
route between the Española Valley and
the Taos Plateau was made as part of
DeVargas’ reconquest expedition of
1694, where De Vargas and his cadre
apparently traveled to Taos via Picuris
on the High Road.
Historic trails are as much a concept as
a reality. Many factors dictated regular
shifts in the path of travel. Where in
one season a user might traverse the
path in a certain manner, a flooding
Picuris Range and the Río Grande
Gorge. The trail travels north from
the Española Valley, where the Río
Grande emerges from the gorge to
flow through soft pinkish sediments
of the Tesuque Formation, through
the community of Embudo. Here, the
trail parallels Highway 68 up the Rito
Cieneguilla to the Río Vista hill, with
its commanding view of the Llano
de Taos, or Taos Valley, an expansive
plain formed from 3- to 5-millionyear-old basalt lava flows. The upper
part of the Apodaca Trail trace, called
the Spur Ridge, is currently one of
the few identified segments of intact
historic pack trail that has not been
substantially altered by later wheeledvehicle use or grade construction on
the entire OST.
A number of natural landmarks and
features are visible from the trail. At
the entrance to the Cañada to the south
Looking back toward Apodaca
stream, a fallen boulder, or an unknown
visitor sharing the road might cause the
user to adjust the path accordingly. So,
what we know of today as a trail, when
all the routes are mapped, looks more
like a corridor of interwoven paths
along a general way. We can see this
illustrated in historic documents. In
1705, Roque Madrid was ordered by
interim New Mexico Gov. Francisco
Cuervo y Valdez to lead a military
expedition against the Navajos. Madrid
led a force of 100 soldiers and militia
with 300 pueblo auxiliaries into the
contemporary core of Eastern Navajo
territory. Madrid’s account infers that
Picuris Pueblo and Taos Pueblo are the
gateway settlements of the northern
frontier, and he discusses in some detail
the challenges of utilizing a small and
rugged pack trail for moving a large
force of men. He had to adapt to the
conditions of the path.
Looking west toward the Gorge
In 1776, Friar Francisco Atanasio
Domínguez conducted an inspection of
the Catholic missions of New Mexico,
including those at Taos and Picuris. He
wrote specifically about each of the two
routes to Taos in his account, reporting
that the “best highway leads through”
the “Cañada de Apodaca.” In 1779,
Gov. Anza returned from the campaign
against the Comanche via the Camino
Real to Embudo along the same wellused pack trail.
The Cañada de Apodaca Trail
negotiates a drainage between the
are Cerro de Arriba and Cerro Abajo,
upper and lower hills, respectively,
with Mesa de la Cejita, a dark-colored
volcanic basalt-capped mesa beyond.
Around the corner of the upper and
lower hills, just beyond view, is a natural
pillar from the Santa Fe Formation,
which was used as a landmark for
travelers to know they were on the right
path. To the southwest is the distinctive
flat-topped Pedernal. To the west are
a cluster of hills known as Cerro Azul
and the three-pinnacled hill Tres
Orejas, both of which emerge from the
19
volcanic tablelands of the Taos Plateau.
Looking slightly southwards, the traveler
sees the Jémez Mountains, the volcanic
peaks on the north margin of the Valles
Caldera. To the northwest, the ridge of
the Tusas Range, and towards the east,
Picuris Peak comes into view at the crest
of the historic trail. To the southeast are
Trampas Peak and the Truchas Peaks,
the second-highest peaks of the Sangre
de Cristo Range.
The complicated topography of the
Cañada de Apodaca illuminates the
isolated frontier outpost landscape at
the Taos trade center in the early historic
period around the 1600s. Taos emerged
as the information center of northern
New Mexico, where knowledgeable
guides could be engaged to navigate the
complex networks of trails from New
Mexico to California, which most often
passed through vastly varied and often
extremely complicated terrain. These
guides were often able to help travelers
to connect with—or avoid—the different
indigenous peoples encountered along
the way.
The Cañada de Apodaca Trail was
known as a particularly difficult
obstacle between Taos on the northern
frontier and the core settlements and
governmental administration at Santa Fe
in the Mexican Territorial period in the
19th century. By this time, the Española
Valley had become the most populous
settled region in Mexican Territorial
New Mexico, and it developed homespun
workshops of exportable goods, or efectos
de país, including woolen woven outer
garments called serapes and woven
blankets for bedding called fresadas.
The trail passes through
vastly varied and
often extremely
complicated terrain
Meanwhile,Taos continued to transition
as a center of commercial activity in the
Santa Fe trade, based on the activities
of trappers and Indian traders like the
iconic Kit Carson and the lesser-known
Antoine Robidoux. Information and
isolation were critical pieces of the puzzle
in answering why people would make
Taos a central place in commerce.The use
of the Taos route was probably less about
transporting woven goods to California
than it was about Taos being the source of
knowledgeable guides, scouts and traders
20
who had geographic
knowledge required
by the merchants
and packers, or
arrieros, that
were transporting
already-procured
woven woolen
goods to California
and herding
thousands of mares
from California for
breeding stock to
produce Missouri
mules.
By 1821, when México declared
independence from Spain, the frontier
trade center and commercial functions
at Taos Pueblo were being supplanted
by commercial trapping, particularly
for beaver pelts harvested from the
Great Basin by Spanish-, English- and
French-speaking entrepreneurs and
guides based in the agrarian settlements
in the Taos Valley. Traveling the trail was
part of doing business. By the American
Territorial period, the pre-Colombian
aboriginal network of footpaths had
been reorganized to accommodate pack
animals—mules, horses and donkeys—
for transport of commercial items.
Charles Bent, Kit Carson, Antoine
Robidoux, William Wolfskill, Isaac
Slover and William Workman all built
on the business- and family-friendly
policies of the Mexican government
as trappers. It is probable that all were
regular users of the Apodaca Trail.
The only known historical accounts that
specifically document the trail during
the Old Spanish Trail period of 18291848 are related to the “Insurrection
Against the Military Government in
New Mexico.” In 1847, the multinational
war hero George A. F. “Fredrick” Ruxton
left military service and embarked upon a
voyage to explore the frontier territory in
what is now New Mexico and Colorado.
He describes his trip from Santa Fe to
Taos:
We crossed, next day, a range of
mountains covered with pine and
cedar; on the latter grew great
quantities of mistletoe, and the
contrast of its bright green and the
somber hue of the cedars was very
striking. The snow was melting on
the ascent, which was exposed to the
sun, and made the road exceedingly
slippery and tiring to the animals.
Cañada de Apodaca Trail continued from page 18
Looking southwest over the Embudo Valley
On reaching the summit a fine
prospect presented itself. The Rocky
Mountains, stretching away on each
side of me…whose isolated peaks
stood out in bold relief against the
clear, cold sky. Valleys and plains lay
between them, through which the
river wound its way in deep cañons.
In the distance was the snowy summit
of the Sierra Nevada, bright with the
rays of the setting sun, and at my feet
lay the smiling vale of Taos, with its
numerous villages and the curiously
constructed pueblos of the Indians.
In the middle decade of the 19th century,
W.W.H. Davis, a decorated officer from
the Mexican War, was appointed to the
New Mexico Territory as U.S. attorney.
With a great curiosity about the territory
and its people, he traveled around the
state, keeping a prolific diary. In 1856,
Davis described the Apodaca route and
its landmark features, including the
natural pillar formation that identified
the trail’s southern boundary.
Portions of the route were improved
sometime after Davis’ account, and the
Apodaca Trail was effectively abandoned
with the completion of the Military Road
through the Río Grande Gorge in 1876.
Lieutenant George Ruffner of the U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers described
what remained of the road as follows:
Between Taos and Santa Fé there
formerly existed a very disagreeable
passage by a steep and bad road
over a mountain spur reaching from
the main chain to the cañón of the
Río Grande. Freight, except such
as could be carried by burros, was
almost prohibited…Now, however,
through the munificence of the
General Government, a new road
has been constructed down the cañón
of the Río Grande, and a level route,
straighter than either of the old roads,
can accommodate all possible travel.
By the early 20th century, the Cañada de
Apodaca route was relegated to “historic
trail” when the route to the Harding
and Copper Hill mines and the modern
highway from Dixon to Peñasco were
developed on a bypass to the south. This
realignment of the major transportation
corridor has helped to protect the historic
road to some degree.
The Cañada de Apodaca Trail was
first recognized and described by Taos
matron, artist, and historian Helen
Blumenschein in 1968. Since that
time, field historians John Ramsey and
Charles “Corky” Hawk, along with
their collaborators, have mapped and
documented the various pieces of the trail
from Taos to the Española Valley. While
the landscape remains largely intact and
shares the same amazing vistas witnessed
by the first European settlers from
400 years ago—and even before—our
understanding of the importance of this
arterial network from Santa Fe to Taos
continues to evolve.
The intact historic landscape includes
a contributing structure of braided
trail that features an intact historic
pack-trail alignment. This unique site,
unknown to most and protected on
BLM property, provides visitors with
the opportunity to experience a setting
that has changed little since its original
travelers transported goods, services and
people to markets near and far. i
N e w M e x i c o ’s M a r k
Henderson is a career
archaeologist with over
30 years’ experience in the
f ield and on the ground.
The mission of his f irm,
Chupadero Archaeological
Resources, is to encourage public participation in
archaeological research.
Nominating Sites for
the National Register of Historic Places
The Need to Preserve Both Historic Architecture and Wilderness
Preserving amazing
wild places and telling
the story of how we
evolved as a country
Recently, I was asked to be part of a team
brought together to produce nominations
of six high-potential route segments of
the Old Spanish National Historical
Trail (OST) for the National Register
of Historic Places. Each site would be
located in and approved by the State
Historic Preservation Offices, Tribal
Historic Preservation Offices and U.S.
Department of the Interior sections—
Bureau of Land Management (BLM),
Forest Service and Park Service—in
Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada,
New Mexico and Utah.
What made this project unusual and
challenging was that, of the entire
1,300-mile length of the OST, which is
actually a network of many trails—only
one location had absolute, undisputed
evidence—a short series of rock steps
cut into an impossibly steep canyon
wall in Arizona—of the trail passing by
a particular point during the period of
significance. As the only architectural
historian on the team, I watched as
period historians and archaeologists
tried and failed to document this historic
trail system by traditional means.
Archaeologists, who were discovering
new data that would throw the accepted
history on its end, accused historians,
who were retelling the old stories,
of perpetuating verbal myths. They
were confirming that, due to seasonal
variations in water flows, flooding,
drought, rockslides, trail failure and
any number of other impossible-toaccount-for physical phenomena, the
trail was regularly bypassed, moved,
modified and restored again and again.
The trail started to become anathema.
Battles ensued, and the more evidence
we received, the more difficult it
became to propose what we were
putting on the register at all.
Enter fieldwork.
One of the first things that became
clear at the several potential sites in
each state was the importance of the
transportation route in the development
of the West as we know it. The paths the
Spanish traveled followed, in large part,
along previously established routes of
aboriginal American natives. After the
Spanish brought their horse and mule
trains, American wagon caravans, early
settlers and mapping expeditions would
use the trails or at least follow the path of
least resistance closest to them. This was
followed by the development of train and
road networks in the 19th century and the
interstate highways system in modern
times. The transportation infrastructure
W
e chose this place to live for a
reason. Preserving some of the
last pristine, northern New Mexican
historic and environmental (wild)
viewsheds is one way that we can
preserve this beautiful and rugged place
for our grandchildren.
Pilar landmark on the south edge of the trail
often obliterated any trace of the period
trail and, most often, that damage started
during evolutions of the trail during the
period of significance. We came to realize
that the trail was a concept much more
than any reality.
After hiking many miles along the
traces, we also realized that the trail was
a direct response to its environment.
It hugged secure mountain edges,
traversed slopes at specific intervals
based on the use (i.e., wagons utilized
easy slopes, where horses could manage
much steeper sections) and traversed
waterways, so that forage, camps
and water could be had at regular
intervals, approximately 22 miles apart,
which happened to be the distance a
From the Old Spanish Trail Association Website
For traveling Mexican caravans between
1829 and 1848, the Old Spanish National
Historic Trail (OST) was known as the
shortest path to riches between Los
Angeles and Santa Fe. It was a trail of
commercial opportunity and western
adventure, as well as slave trading,
horse thieving and raids. The OST
was established along a loose network
of Indian footpaths that crossed the
wide expanse of the Colorado Plateau
and the Mojave Desert. With time,
this newly established trade corridor
attracted frontiersmen and U.S. military
expeditions.
For a lucky few, the OST represented
fortune. Quality woolen goods produced
in New Mexico were traded for a surplus
supply of horses and mules raised on California’s ranchos. These valued stock animals commanded premium prices in New
Mexico and the western frontier of the United States. Traders and their mule caravans typically began their annual journey from
New Mexico in late fall to take advantage of low-water river crossings and cooler temperatures across the hot Mojave Desert.
The map above illustrates the variant routes that developed as merchants developed their trade with the Rocky Mountain and
Mojave Desert peoples and the rancheros of coastal California. In 2002, the OST received designation as a National Historic
Trail, and today it is widely known as the longest, most arduous and crooked pack-mule route in America. All who took the
trail—frontiersmen and young boys with a winter to spare, a handful of hardy families moving west, military expeditions, Indian
guides and conscripts—shared the adventure of a lifetime in the Southwest’s rugged backcountry.
The 2,700 miles of trail that linked Santa Fe with Los Angeles pushed mule caravans to the limit. During the first week on the
trail, the mules scrambled, swam, or dragged their handlers through more than a dozen river crossings. By the time the pack
trains reached Los Angeles, they had crossed dune fields in California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico and Colorado,
found their way around the Grand Canyon, skirted the continent’s harshest deserts at Death Valley and slaked their thirst at
Stinking Springs, Salt Creek, Alkali Canyon, Bitter Spring and the Inconsistent River.
Learn more about the Old Spanish Trail at www.oldspanishtrail.org/index.php
21
National Register continued from page 21
We realized we were not just dealing
with a thing—the trail—but were
also rediscovering the trail’s place,
that is, everything in the landscape
that was used to identify the trail,
including views to and from it. The
trail responded to its environment.
Up, over, around—bypass cuts in the
landscape were on the south and west
for the most part—suggesting that
those were intentionally located in the
sun’s path to alleviate ice issues. Trails
veered off on gentler slopes where
there was jagged and hard rock that
might undermine the horses’ and mules’
footing. In other places, the trail went
straight up treacherous slopes where
spring floods would make the ground
too soft to travel along the river. Long
scratches on rocks suggested wagons
had been dragged up the slope without
wheels by teams of horses instead of
being allowed to roll back down should
an unlucky horse lose its footing. The
difficulty of travel along the trail was
so apparent, it was physically painful
to consider as we stood together in
amazement taking in all this new
information. We immediately realized
that we would have to include the
trail’s place—its landscape and its
context within that landscape—in the
nominations. If we didn’t, all we would
be protecting would be an illusion, that
is, a line on a map that represented a
figment of a memory of something
that may have existed once upon a
time. That is just not acceptable for the
National Register of Historic Places.
We also realized that, if we did not
include the entirety of the passable
area around the trail trace, it was
possible that one day a developer could
read that line on the map, build to its
30-foot easement—or whatever the
state approved on either side of the
approved trail trace—and obliterate our
ability forever to conduct a responsible
archaeological investigation of, say,
a rediscovered camp site that was
located when a lost map was found in
some dusty family archive in México.
If we could choose the sites selectively
and protect the most significant and
22
likely intact sections of the trail, a
visitor could vicariously experience an
authentic sense of travel through the
roughs and wilds of the 19th-century
American West. We could accomplish
something truly great; we could make
it real for people. We could preserve,
at least in experience, another of our
amazing wild places. And we could
tell the story of how we evolved as a
country.
horseman could travel in a day before
he and his horse needed to eat, drink
and rest. In the period, the trail’s
location was confirmed by identifying
natural landmarks, including pillars
and unique rock formations, as well as
canyons and passes.
Applying This Realization
in New Mexico
When I arrived home and started
on the redocumentation of Taos’
Historic District and the rehabilitation
plan for its acequias, I couldn’t stop
thinking about what we’d learned in
our fieldwork and realized that these
projects, one linear—a water trail,
if you will—and one structural—an
assortment of buildings—were exactly
like the trail. They were conceived in a
specific place, and responded to cultural
impulses and traditions as well as the
physical constraints of the landscape
and environment.
We realized that we
would have to include
the trail’s context
within the landscape in
the nominations.
I was immediately confronted with
two astonishing examples of the
danger of not using the holistic way
of looking at a preservation project.
The first was witnessing the context
destruction of the only existing intact
torreón, or secure watch tower, in Taos,
which had a protected area around it
A torreón restoration, before and after, on Paseo del Pueblo Norte in Taos, NM
upon which one could not build. An
extensive land-modification project on
the neighboring property came right
up to that protective edge, ravaging the
site around the historic structure. There
is no way, should it be determined that
a more extensive historic site existed
there, that there will be any chance of
discovery through archaeology after
all that earth was moved around. And,
the torreón, otherwise an architectural
treasure, now sits awkwardly in a site
devoid of context.
Then, while documenting the houses
along the now-famous Ledoux Street,
I realized that what we know as
Ledoux Street was actually an alley,
which provided access to the rear of
these homes during their period of
significance. That is not to say that the
new alignment along Ledoux Street, or
the façades of the buildings as they sit
now, are not significant today for new
reasons; they are. But because the back
door has now become the front door,
many people miss the most interesting
parts of the buildings. What’s more, the
homes on the south side of the street
overlook the edge of the mesa that
Back side of Ledoux Street, Taos, New Mexico
Historic Taos sits on, overlooking what
was once the town’s spring source. To
see the edge of Taos from this vantage
helps the visitor to understand the
security of being raised above the low
plain during a period in which such
security measures could mean life or
death; that is, it tells part of the why of
these homes, not just the what. It also
emphasizes the importance of access
to water. And no one knows it is there.
The site’s context has been lost. We
cannot continue to let things like this
happen without documenting them,
or else we lose the truth of our history.
We lose context.
We see this loss of context happening all
over the state, from the mandated fauxhistoric styles in our historic districts,
which diminishes the value of the truly
historic examples of those styles by
obscuring them in a sea of false history, to
the proposed development of the historic
sanctuary at Chimayó’s landscape into a
resort retreat center. We even see context
being lost in favor of mining development
at Mount Taylor. The question is, at
what cost? While the landowners can
and should have the right to make their
space into a profitable venture, don’t we
have some obligation to ask the owners
to preserve and protect a context-sensitive
view of the piece of cultural heritage for
the future? Because once these things
are lost, the truth of them is usually lost
for good.
It is time to start approaching
preservation in a way that treats not
only the monument itself but its site,
its site within a landscape, and the
views afforded from various historical
vantages within that landscape. That
way, we can capture and protect the
sense of place that gave the site a reason
to exist there in the first place. i
SERVICES
23
Scottish Rite Center
Space available:
• special events
• weddings
• meetings
24
505.982.4414
[email protected]
University of New Mexico–Taos
Skills Development in Sustainable Design
W
ithin a half-hour drive from the
University of New Mexico-Taos
Construction Technology Department’s
Green Trades Training Center, one
can find more than 900 years of living
architectural history ranging from the
historic Taos Pueblo—a UNESCO
(United Nations Educational, Scientific
and Cultural Organization) World
Heritage site—to the Earthship
Biotecture compound across the Río
Grande Gorge Bridge.
Even before the Chevron mine in Questa
closed last year, jobs in Taos County were
scarce. To best serve the local population,
UNM-Taos acts as both a community
college for northern New Mexicans,
providing traditional vocational education
(now called career technology), as well
as a pathway toward upper-division and
graduate coursework through UNM’s
main campus in Albuquerque. Housed
in the old vocational technology building
at the downtown campus of Taos High
School, the Green Trades Training
Center has a unique and varied program
designed to facilitate the development of
21st-century job skills.
is partnering with UNM-Taos to offer a
popular new class on Earthship housing.
Students can also register for Intro
to Green Business, Computer-Aided
Drafting and other courses.
This spring, the UNM-Taos Sustainability
Institute green-building class will be
engaged in a collaborative design-build
project on campus. After studying
affordable-housing challenges in Taos
County together in the Green Trades
Training Center, they will design and
build a mobile, tiny house. Materials
under consideration include conventional
stud framing and dense-pack cellulose
insulation, as well as radical alternatives
such as inoculated mushroom building
blocks that literally grow together
around a waste-fiber substrate to form
insulation and walls. For those interested
in following the institute or this project, a
link to a video blog will be posted at www.
SustainTaos.com
Like Earthship Biotecture’s founder
Michael Reynolds, Construction
Technology Department Chairman
and Program Director Mark Goldman
considers the Rocky Mountain Spine—
the bioregion that spans from the Pecos
River in north-central New Mexico to
the headwaters of the Colorado—an ideal
place to design and test solar housing
prototypes. This extreme environment
requires special design considerations.
Its harsh winters, hot dry summers, steep
mountain valleys and exposed plateaus
require reliable heating and adequate
cooling, sometimes on the same day.
The institute is developing intensives
both for local residents and for those
interested in “destination learning” in
Taos. Last August, a new venture, the
Humanitarian Design Seminar, featured
presenters from India, the Philippines
and the United Kingdom. More than 250
individuals attended four days of lectures
and field trips. Keynote speaker Brian
Bell, executive director of Design Corps
and the Public Interest Design Institute,
told the audience that, in his opinion,
nearly every problem in society can be
viewed as a design issue. Participants
explored topics from acequias and local
agriculture to upcycling and economic
development. The Trimble Corporation,
which owns SketchUp, a radical new
3D-design platform, sent one of its top
trainers to teach tips and tricks. On the
final day, some of Earthship Biotecture’s
global leaders gave an overview and tour
of Taos’ trademark off-grid development.
The seminar ended with a locavore feast
at the Farmhouse Café.
To address these challenges, Construction
Technology students can gain specific
skills, from welding, plumbing and
carpentry to introductory courses in more
complex disciplines such as sustainable
agriculture, green building and solar
hydronic systems. Earthship Biotecture
With the successful rollout of the UNMTaos Sustainability Institute, the Green
Trades Training Center is starting to get
national and international attention. This
year, the institute will offer one- and twoweek hands-on intensives with evening
gatherings and featured speakers in a
The Green Trades
Training Center teaches
21st-century job skills.
lecture hall. There will
be plenaries, discussion
groups and collaborative
design charrettes to
synthesize, cross-pollinate
and expand on the core
content. Tentatively
scheduled for late June,
subjects will include
sustainable agriculture,
UNM-Taos instructor Mark Goldman with students
tiny-house design and
of the old and the new. We are developing
construction, Earthship Biotecture, 3D
a unique higher-education hybrid that is
drafting with Trimble SketchUp, and
intended to be highly inclusive to anyone
electrical theory. Check www.SustainTaos.
interested in joining us.”
com for details and to confirm exact dates.
Mark Goldman said he is excited
that there is so much interest in these
issues. A veteran of over 25 years in the
construction industry in New Mexico,
the Distinguished Alumni of Boston
Architectural College member noted that
“we are in the perfect time and place here
at UNM-Taos to seek new solutions for a
variety of housing ideas that link the best
Information on summer classes will be
available on the UNM-Taos website:
www.Taos.unm.edu later this spring. i
Asha Stout serves on the faculty of UNM–Taos,
where he teaches hands-on building and design
courses in green technology. He views “safe”
housing as an unalienable right, ecological
restoration as a grave necessity, and is passionate
about the pursuit of Lomakatsi, or life in balance.
Hacking the Earthship
In search of an earth-shelter that works for everybody
by rachel preston prinz and contributors
400 pages with many photos; available in print or digital;
archinia.com
Built with recycled materials such as used earthpacked tires, honeycombed aluminum cans and glass
bottles, Earthships are designed to be cool in the
summer, warm in the winter, and to work with the
landscape in ways that have minimal impact on the
environment. They direct rain and snow from roofs
to cisterns. The water is filtered, pressurized and
pumped to a solar thermal heater on the roof. After it
is used in sinks, showers or bathtubs, it is directed to
greywater planters to be filtered and aerated. A pump
then moves it to toilets for flushing. Earthships
produce their own heating and cooling through
passive solar design, ventilation, photovoltaic arrays, wind turbines and
backup gas generators. They produce food via a “food forest” and indoor “salad bars.”
Hacking the Earthship: In Search of a Natural Earth Shelter that Works for Everybody,
builds upon the visionary legacy of Michael Reynolds’ trademarked Earthship
Biotecture designs. Rachel Preston Prinz loves the beautiful organic forms and
mindful intention behind Earthships—living off the grid, generating your own energy,
growing food and living self-reliantly. Living in Taos, New Mexico, the epicenter of
the Earthship phenomenon, and working as a local designer, Prinz often received
requests from people to help make their “ships” work better. When she posted common
problems on her firm’s website, clients started asking her to help them hack the design
to find a way to make their homes perform to the standard they were seeking.
Prinz and her collaborators surveyed Earthship owners, studied cases in 14 countries
and visited 20 sites in the U.S. They read thousands of pages of commentaries on
buildings, builders, materials and systems, dug into what research had been done
and collected weather data to see what tweaks could make the homes work well in
particular climates. This research is shared in Hacking the Earthship.
25
© Seth Roffman
Asha Stout
So Long, Big Oil and Big Coal
Stanley Crawford
I
started experimenting with solar in the early 1970s with the construction of
a Trombe wall, possibly the first in New Mexico. A Trombe wall is essentially
a very thin greenhouse with glazing applied vertically to a stone or adobe wall.
The glazing can be in the form of clear fiberglass, polycarbonate or glass, with
a two- to six-inch air space between glazing and wall surface, which is painted
black to absorb heat. Heat migrates through the mass of the wall in the course
of the day and radiates into the living space throughout the night. Being vertical,
Trombe walls collect solar radiation only in the winter, not in the summer when
the sun is high overhead.
Next came an attached solar greenhouse inspired by the work of solar pioneers
Bill and Susan Yanda; it consisted of an eight-by-30-foot structure attached to
the bedroom wing of our south-facing, homemade adobe house. The Yanda design
called for the glazing to be sloped at 45 degrees. We started out with polyethylene
sheeting because it was cheap, replacing it soon with Lascolite, semirigid clear
fiberglass panels. But the 45-degree angle presented several problems. As you
approached the south wall, headroom decreased, limiting easily usable indoor
space. And the greenhouse overheated in late spring, summer and early fall.
The PV net-metering system atop our guesthouse
generated almost enough electricity
to satisfy all our needs.
Twenty years later, in the fall of 2013, we completed version three, expanded
to 14 by 36 feet, with an insulated concrete floor replacing uninsulated cement
floor tiles. We were able to reuse the double-glazed window panels. The added
space allowed us to install a ping-pong table, which doubles as a dinner table for
large parties, and a stock-tank fish pond to maintain mosquito fish or gambusia
to replenish the pond of our outdoors-constructed wetlands, which is our own
little sewage-treatment plant. And we still have room for spring vegetable starts,
a dozen large potted tomato plants, a fig tree and a Meyer lemon, and room in
the fall for 20 bushels of winter squash.
But the attached greenhouse is not our only season-extending tool. About six
years ago, we had a 14-by-30-foot unheated hoophouse built. For the first years,
we used it to grow tomatoes. Our farm is in a cold spot in the Embudo Valley,
and we can have light frosts into early June and frost on the lawn in mid-August.
The hoophouse added a month at both ends of the growing season for tomatoes
and gave us a much better harvest. But there is quickly a glut of tomatoes each
season at the Santa Fe Farmers’ Market, where we sell most of our produce. So,
last fall, Scott Moore, who manages the farm now, tightened up the hoophouse
and planted various greens and several types of lettuce, which have thrived
through the winter.
In spring 2013, Sol Luna Solar, based in Dixon, installed a 3.65 kW photovoltaic
(PV) system atop our guesthouse, a net-metering system that, at the time, generated
almost enough electricity to satisfy all our needs. This and the new greenhouse
expansion led inadvertently to a solution of the problem of solar hot water in
the main house, in the form of a heat-pump water heater. Heat pumps work
26
like refrigerators, extracting
heat—or cold—f rom the
atmosphere. Our heat-pump
water heater pulls heat from
the greenhouse air and turns
it into hot water, a simple
and elegant solution to the
hot-water problem. Within
a year, savings in propane use
have essentially paid for it.
By contrast, solar hot-water
systems are complex and expensive in northern latitudes where freezing is an
issue, though our heat-pump water heater is fed by two simple solar tanks on the
roof. Rebuilt 1984 Cornell batch heaters, they are made up of two 30-gallon tanks
enclosed in insulated, reflective cabinets with triple glazing.
In the course of rebuilding the greenhouse in 2012, I had a 240-volt line installed
across the roof, to the end of adding an outlet in the garage for a plug-in hybrid or
electric car. This we acquired last fall, a 2012 Chevy Volt, which has a 30- to 40mile range on battery power alone, shifting to gas-powered electricity generation
thereafter. On a recent trip from Dixon to Española and back, the car ran at 199
miles per gallon. A Dixon-Taos round trip yields up to160 miles per gallon, and
Santa Fe and back, with four hours of recharging in the Railyard public garage,
about 85 miles per gallon.
All of this does not entirely free us from big oil or big coal, upon which everyone
will always be somewhat dependent, if only for the energy needed to manufacture
equipment for generating renewable energy (RE) such as solar panels and
windmills. We need a few more PV panels to completely cover our electricity
usage, but most of our space-heating needs and all of our hot water are provided
© Seth Roffman
The greenhouse has since gone through several iterations. In version two, we
tore down the 45-degree angle framing and replaced it with vertical framing
and double-glazed, glass patio-door inserts. Four feet of the roof was sheathed
with double-wall polycarbonate panels and four feet of insulated roofing, which
eliminated the overheating problem. But the greenhouse space, which opened
into the bedrooms via two sets of French doors and into the kitchen via double
windows, was too narrow for multiple uses. In the springtime, we started ten
thousand plants for the farm. In the fall, we cured some 50 bushels of winter
squash. In both cases, there was little room for anything else. And, throughout
the winter, much of the space was taken up by large pots of tomatoes.
What’s a Heat Pump?
by our attached greenhouse. More than half of our northern New Mexico driving
is powered by the electricity we ourselves generate. Propane still serves for cooking
and for a small, efficient space heater in our bedroom. We still use diesel for our
tractor at the rate of about 30 gallons a year and gasoline for the farm pickup,
which averages 20 miles per gallon.
John M. Onstad
S
ince the beginning of civilization,
people have heated their homes by
burning things: wood, coal, peat and,
more recently, fuel oil, kerosene, natural
gas and propane.
On the farm, we pay self-employment
tax but little or no income tax and,
thus, have been unable to benefit
from various RE tax credits. For the
PV system, these amount to about 30
percent of the cost of the system. For
a new Chevy Volt or other electric
car, the tax credit is $7,500. This leads
me to wonder why so many middleclass people fail to take advantage of
these subsidies, to the end of reducing
their carbon footprints and having
a positive effect on global climate
change. Inertia? Apathy? Ignorance
of new technologies?
An old argument is this: “Why pay
all of your electricity 15 or 20 years
in advance by investing in a PV system?” To which an obvious answer is, why not
radically reduce your carbon footprint while you can? Or, instead of installing PV,
are you willing to continue to add to carbon pollution these next 15 or 20 years?
© Seth Roffman
WWWW
Another argument is, “It will take a major catastrophe to change things,” which
is the litany of those who believe that it will take a major catastrophe to change
things. Another couple of Katrinas or Sandys, the failure of the Atlantic gulfstream,
the permanent flooding of Miami and New York, the drying up of Sao Paolo or
Los Angeles. This ignores the fact that we ourselves are already that catastrophe,
in the millions of gallons of petroleum and tons of coal we have used up over our
lifetimes for heating, cooling, lighting, transportation and consumer goods. The
operative term here is “it”—referring to out there, the forces of good and evil, the
political system, the oil and coal companies. What’s missing is “me” and “you.”
What? I can’t change without being driven by a major catastrophe? You can’t?
A heat pump makes
considerably more energy
than it consumes
So let’s discuss a home-heating device
that doesn’t burn anything: a hear pump.
A heat pump is a refrigeration machine
that extracts plentiful heat from the
atmosphere, even when it’s bitterly cold
outside, and uses this heat to warm your
home. Heat pumps also can extract heat
from the earth, underground aquifers,
lakes or ponds.
In my lifetime, we have gone from gas-guzzlers to relatively fuel-efficient vehicles,
from the typewriter to the computer, from the wall phone to the smart phone, from
ocean liners to jumbo jets, from fountain pens to ballpoint pens, from paper maps
to GPSs, from hot air balloons to drones. None of these technological changes
have been purely positive, but the shift away from largely fossil-fuel sources of
energy to largely renewable sources requires little more personal adjustment than
some of the technological changes of the past 75 years. With, however, one caveat:
the future of the human project is now at stake. If we wish to see our children
and grandchildren live in a world not driven by extremes of climate change and
resultant civil and international strife, then change we must—and fast.
Seem far-fetched? It did to me several
years ago when I first began to investigate
this technology.
Stanley Crawford has farmed and
written in the Embudo Valley of New
Mexico since 1969.
© Anna C. Hansen
In the present political and environmental climate, doing nothing is not an option.
As drivers of cars and consumers of food and fossil fuels, we are living lives that
we cannot morally or intellectually defend in a world of gross inequality and
unprecedented human-induced habitat destruction and species extinction.
Going solar—as much as you
can—may not save the world, but
it is doing something positive.
It’s setting an example, and, who
knows, if widely enough followed,
it may well end up helping save
the world in the long run. i
These fuels heat effectively and cheaply
because a lot of energy in the form of
BTUs (British thermal units) is stored in
a relatively small volume. A cord (4 ft. x 4
ft. x 8 ft.) of piñón wood contains about
22 million BTUs, a gallon of liquefied
propane about 90,000 BTUs and a cubic
foot of compressed natural gas about
1,000 BTUs. At 75 percent efficiency in
a wood stove, a cord of piñón will heat a
1,500-square-foot, well-insulated home
for about a month, if you don’t mind
hauling and splitting wood, tending the
fire all day and dealing with the smoke
and ashes, not to mention waking to a
cold home at 6 a.m. And, as cozy and
comfortable as a wood fire is, if we all
heated our homes that way, the air would
be considerably dirtier. Further, all of
the above energy sources produce the
greenhouse gas carbon dioxide (CO2) as
well as other pollutants.
Consider the freezer compartment
of your home refrigerator, where the
temperature is about –10° F. If you open
the freezer door to load your groceries
and then close it, the temperature might
rise to 0° F. The compressor turns on and
reduces the temperature from 0° F to –10°
F. and blows warm air on your feet. This
is a good example of how a heat pump
works, extracting BTUs from a frigid
environment and producing usable heat
as a byproduct.
I have stated that a heat pump doesn’t
burn anything, which is technically
correct. But it
is powered by
electricity from a
power company
(like PNM),
which burns
something like
coal or natural
gas to produce electricity.
Here’s where the “magic” of a heat pump
comes into play: it utilizes energy to
make considerably more energy than it
consumes.That is, for every kilowatt-hour
(kWh) of electricity purchased from the
power company—or produced by your
photovoltaic (PV) system—a heat pump
will extract 3 to 4 kWh of energy from
the outside air during the winter months
(1 kWh of electricity equals 3,415 BTUs).
If you research heat pumps on the
Internet, you’ll read numerous comments
that tell you heat pumps don’t work when
it’s cold outside. Don’t believe them!
That was true 30 years ago. I’ve installed
a couple dozen in the Santa Fe area, and
they heated just fine when the mercury
dipped to -20 ° F in 2011, and that’s
without any form of back-up heat.
So, what are the benefits of heat-pump
technology to you as a homeowner?
1. A heat pump heats in the winter and
cools in the summer.
2. Because a heat pump extracts energy
from winter ambient air, it’s a renewable
energy source like PV solar, thermal solar
and wind power. It will comfortably
heat your home at 2 a.m. in January.
3. If you’re currently heating with propane
or electricity, it can reduce your heating
bill by up to 75 percent.
4. A heat pump can be an affordable
heating and cooling system to install in
a small zone such as a converted garage,
sunroom, bonus room or addition, as
well as your whole house.
5. It can provide heating and cooling for
a home with a failed radiant-heating
system, as well as cooling for a home
with radiant heating.
6. Last but not least, a heat pump can
make chilled water for radiant-floor
cooling, a surprisingly affordable way
to air-condition your home.
John M. Onstad is the owner and general manager
of Hubbell Electro-Mechanical. His company has
designed, installed and repaired heating and
cooling systems in the Santa Fe area since 1980.
505.471.4221, www.hubbellmech.com
27
Territorial architecture was usually constructed of thick courses of sun-dried adobe
bricks and was sometimes framed, most often in one or two stories. In Santa Fe and
eventually elsewhere,Territorial architecture utilized newly available bricks at the top of
the parapet wall, at the roof, to reduce maintenance. These homes often used a central
hall plan, with rooms placed somewhat symmetrically across the hall from one another
to allow for better ventilation.
Small, unassuming wooden pediments were placed over exterior doors and windows,
ostensibly to shed rain. The trim, which might have included square rather than round
porch posts, as well as cornices, corbels and brackets, was almost always painted white,
although blue and turquoise are also common now. In all likelihood, this was an
architectural practice that was purely sentimental in value; using these milled-wood details
would mean the houses looked more homey. Interior spaces often had whitewashed walls
to bounce light into the space, with gingham or similar fabric wainscot to dampen sound
and hide scratches, or they might have used brightly painted upper walls with a neutral
base at the wainscot in the more native style. While earthen floors were still predominant
on the exterior spaces, interior floors were almost always planed wood.
We also see this architectural style start to open up to the street. Doors and windows
are larger because they have the tools and access to glass needed to make them so.
Windows are double hung, and both top and bottom sashes are actively opened and
closed to improve natural ventilation. The front doors often utilized sidelights and an
operable transom at the top, to provide better daylighting and natural ventilation. Porches
faced the street. We also see the first wood-burning stoves, which allowed people to
warm the spaces now cooled by the larger windows. Like homes on the East Coast,
brick fireplaces are located outboard of the structure, placed centrally on the building’s
end walls. A wooden mantle completes the homey conversion of the fireplace, and a
mirror above effectively bounces more daylight through the space.These buildings start
to feel more open.
Places like Las Vegas, New Mexico, which were removed from large populations of
indigenous and Hispanic settlers, became highly Americanized. Builders in these areas
followed Colonial and subsequent design styles, adding pitched roofs and fine shingle
details to framed buildings, while Santa Fe and other more historically connected locales
preferred dirt-covered flat roofs and brick details.
Northern New Mexico Architecture
Because of the scarcity of skilled crafters and the lack of railroad access in northern
New Mexico, when
Territorial in other
locations was getting
quite decorative, the
style of architecture
in the north was
minimalist, with
a central-hallway
floor plan, a singlefaçade portal facing
the street, simplified
Territorial-style trim
and door decoration
and no use of brick. The architectural style of the north was most often modified
with a pitched metal roof. It can be assumed that at least part of the cause for
this change was weather-related, because a pitched roof will shed snow, maximize
winter solar gain, and protect the earthen walls from needing as much repair each
year. The uniquely northern combination of old and new was given its own style,
called Northern New Mexico style.
28
Queen Anne and Victorian Architecture
By 1879, the asymmetrical Queen Anne style—unrelated to the queen for whom
it was named—had already been vastly popular in the eastern U.S. for more than
20 years. When the
railroad arrived in New
Mexico that year, so did
change. The rails made
access to materials and
labor more manageable,
so large expanses of
glass, metal, milled
lumber and milled
and fabricated details
became commonplace.
With the introduction
of Queen Anne style
into New Mexico,
Ufer House, Taos
various infusions of
the Victorian style came into vogue: steep scalloped-metal shingle or clay tile roofs,
wrap-around porches with elaborate, turned wooden details, like those added to the
green and white Walter Ufer house on Des Georges Lane just east of the Taos Plaza;
shingle details and pure Queen Anne details, like those found on the Miramon house
on the northeast corner of Morada Lane and Kit Carson; and corner towers, dormers,
bays, and turrets. The Victorian was a particularly embraced fashion of building in the
Territories because it encouraged individuation and experimentation with materials,
two skills for which the territorialists were renowned.
© Anna C. Hansen
Early efforts to introduce the ancient Grecian temple-influenced style to New Mexico
were deeply affected by the existing architecture of the region and its inhabitants’
propensity for ignoring trends of style. The resulting architectural form—a fusion of
vernacular models and Greek-influenced parts and pieces—is called Territorial. In this
period, wealth was not grandiose. Wealth was indicated by having good woolen blankets
and rugs, iron locks on the doors and larger rooms.
Beginning in the early 20th century, New
Mexican architecture began to transform again.
Those styles that are a hodge-podge of Victorian tastes are referred to by the state’s
Historic Preservation Division as Folk Victorian. Other styles were introduced
after the arrival of the railroad, including Italianate and Romanesque.
The Railroad’s Influence on NM Architecture
By this time, the rails were bringing ideas from the eastern and western states, and the
timing of the influx of Anglos was like an invasion of sorts—everything that represented
the “old ways” or the New Mexico Style was admonished. Some of the churches in
northern New Mexico were modernized with details of the Romanesque and Gothic
Revivals popular in the East. This updating was dictated by the European architecture
enthusiast Bishop Lamy of Santa Fe, who was French and a Francophile, as were the
mass of missionaries he brought to serve the peoples of his bishopdom. Our historic
religious architecture was forever changed by these dictates.
Beginning in the early 20th century, New Mexican architecture began to transform
again. By the time of its acceptance into statehood, in 1912, the Territorial period was
literally—and figuratively—complete.
Three trends emerged: one group of
settlers went for the “all new,” merging
new forms with old or replacing old
forms entirely; another group of artists
arrived from the Western art world
and began building entirely new fusion
homes of their own; while the third
group started looking backwards to
the “old way.”
Architectural firms like Greene and
Greene, based in California, were
changing the way people looked
at building and inventing a wholly
American style of architecture, much
of which was a response to what was Details at the Fechin House in Taos
Sustainable NM
Beneficial Farms
seen as overly decorative architecture of the Victorian age, and blended with an
Indian—as in the subcontinent between the Orient and Europe—concept of a low
structure with a veranda, called a bungalow. The California and bungalow styles—
simple one-story plans with large porches, squared wooden beams, horizontal
emphasis and stone detailing—were in vogue in the West. When people came from
California, they brought these ideas with them. Russian-American artist Nicolai
Fechin borrowed bits and pieces of all the styles mentioned above, including the
new California-influenced methodology, and merged them with wood-carving
influences from his home country and ours, creating a style at his home and studio
on Paseo del Pueblo Norte in Taos, that defies a single architectural attribution.
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Merchants and traders, as well as some who had performed military service,
found themselves quite rich during this period. Prospecting and other interests
made others even richer. Affluence was demonstrated and, as happens, separations
between the haves and have-nots became obvious in architecture as in life. This
was when the first elaborate lodges were built in the hunting and ranching areas,
and New Mexico’s first mansions were erected in the cities. Some of the larger,
historic haciendas were mansions, in many ways, but they remained true to their
working ranch/farm roots.
[email protected]
505-470-1969
Spanish Pueblo-Revival
Style Architecture Traits
© Anna C. Hansen
Within 30 years of statehood, New
Mexican architecture had evolved
dramatically. Where, before, structures
were nearly purely vernacular, being
heavily influenced by the ideals of
simplicity and economy, buildings in the
early 20th century became, essentially,
architectural. They were formalized,
codified and elaborated upon to
John Gaw Meem building at UNM-ABQ
distinguish the frill and fluff from the
necessary. Those who could afford to emphasize grand design did so, and those
who would not or could not opted for various adaptations of the precedent styles,
often using them in new and innovative ways.
Those who would look backwards were
led by the talented architect John Gaw
Meem and the architectural firm of
Rapp and Rapp. These two powerhouses
of great design fused a revival of both
the Pueblo and the Spanish Colonial
styles into a style unique to New Mexico
called Spanish-Pueblo Revival.
S pa n is h P u e bl oRevival architecture
is characterized by
a return to adobe
construction, often
with battered walls;
an undulating
stepped, parapeted
roofline; rounded
corners; earthcolored cementitious
Old Martínez Hall in Rancho de Taos was restored in 2011 stucco on the exterior;
as Old Martina’s Hall.
stepped facades on
multistory buildings that rest on at-grade and above-grade foundations. A lowpitched or flat roof is supported by exposed vigas or faux vigas. Corner fireplaces
and built-in seating and storage make for inviting, interior respite places. We begin
to see painted and stained glass used in windows. And they returned to the days
of beautifully hand-carved details, reintroducing carved wooden details on doors,
window grilles and corbels. i
29
Eco-Delivery Services • 505.920.6370
Estevan Arellano continued from page 28
NM Acequias continued from page 15
The Zanjeras continued from page 25
30
A Tribute to Linda Pedro
Advocate for People with Disabilities
Alejandro López
© Alejandro López
constant struggle to obtain justice for
those it most often eludes. It is not
an exaggeration to say that Linda was
a consummate warrior in defense of
human dignity and the values of nature,
community, love and compassion.
I
remember how happy my elderly
mother was each time she returned
f rom retablo-painting workshops
conducted by Linda Pedro at the local
senior citizen’s center. My mother,
like so many from every walk of life,
was enthralled and deeply inspired
by this larger-than-life woman who
did so much—often, the seemingly
impossible—from within the confines
of a wheelchair and a seriously
compromised body. Without a doubt,
Linda Pedro was one of the great souls
who have inhabited the mountainous
community of Chimayó in northern
New Mexico. She lived there for over
40 years, before passing away on Jan.
13th of this year.
Linda left a permanent imprint on
practically everything she touched
and everyone who knew her. Together
with a long line of people who played
essential roles in her epic journey,
she embraced the world with flair,
magnanimity and gusto.
After surviving a horrendous car crash
in the 1960s, when she was in her
early 20s, Linda was left a paraplegic
but, surprisingly, she was inwardly
unshaken. Doctors did not give her
long to live. But Linda summoned
her enormous will, not just to live
but to live powerfully for another
40 years—like a fire about to go out
at any moment but doesn’t. During
those years, she dedicated herself to
the service of community and to the
Linda faced a multitude of severe
physical and economic hardships and
upheavals of her own and became
a staunch advocate for people with
disabilities and for those living on the
margins of society through no fault
of their own. She was dealt an early
lesson in this nonpaying role soon
after her accident, when government
agencies sought to deny her the right
to raise her son because of her physical
impairments. She responded by taking
the government to court, demanding
that, as the child’s mother, she be
allowed the right to decide the future
of their relationship. Not only did she
win the case to retain care and custody
of her son, Daniel; over many years, her
home became a haven for many tribal
youth from across the country who
lacked family or home.
A consummate warrior
in defense of human
dignity
In spite of the goods and services
she so freely shared, Linda found
herself having to wrestle with powerful
agencies in order to procure even the
most minimal resources with which to
sustain herself—a telling commentary
on our country’s social services system.
In the end, her advocacy work for
people with disabilities provoked a
radical shift throughout the nation
in the level and kinds of services our
government and society are willing to
provide to its most helpless citizens.
L i n d a w a s a h i g h l y re s p e c t e d
community leader, spokesperson and
outspoken proponent for a heroinf ree community. She led marches
down the dusty roads of Santa Cruz
and Chimayó. She was a member
of the Rainbow Coalition, the Raza
Unida Party and the Native American
Church. She was also an accomplished
artist.
One of the highlights of Linda’s life
took place in 1984, when she was asked
to introduce presidential candidate
Jesse Jackson at the Democratic
National Convention in San Francisco.
Because there was no way for a person
in a wheelchair to get on the stage,
a special platform had to be erected.
The entire country was able to witness
an unprecedented act of kindness
and consideration being extended to
someone who, having survived a major
catastrophe, had managed to transmute
tragedy into triumph.
Because Linda required continuous
care and assistance for so many years,
family, friends and even strangers
rallied to provide her with the support
she needed. This made it possible
for her to accomplish the work that
brought great meaning and satisfaction
to her life and healing to the world.
Although she was the recipient of much
care, Linda nevertheless simultaneously
functioned as a trainer in the art of
caring for people with disabilities. She
became an informal teacher in a wide
range of subjects she had mastered. Her
subtle embodiment of the archetypal
wise woman-teacher ultimately may
have been her greatest accomplishment
and contribution to the world.
I will never forget the time when, on
World Prayer Day, a pleasant summer
day in June, a friend and I hoisted
Linda, seated in her wheelchair, onto
a platform at a Sikh camp deep in the
Jémez Mountains. There, on a richly
brocaded cushion sat Amma, the
“hugging saint,” a Hindu holy woman
who embodies boundless love and
compassion and had traveled all the
way from India. Hour after hour, many
hundreds of people inched their way up
to see her to receive her blessing. When
the ecstatic Linda finally reached
Amma’s welcoming arms, upon contact
these mighty women both seemed
instantly to grow in stature and beauty,
uniting in a wave of mutual recognition,
joy and unconditional love.
In her final years, Linda mounted an
extraordinary effort to remain afloat
upon a tumultuous sea of increasing
physical complications. It was a heroic
struggle, and when it was not possible
to fight any longer, she peacefully
surrendered to the forces that ultimately
decree our deaths.
Kevin McCourt, one of the many who
attended Linda’s memorial service in
Chimayó, said, “We left Linda’s home
feeling blessed, trying to not forget
the beautiful images of four fires
surrounding each speaker, the smoke
carrying their words and songs to the
four winds along with Linda’s spirit.
There was Calvin Magpie with his
beautiful songs, the bagpiper, the man
in the wheelchair and many others
who shared memories of a triumphant
Linda gone home at last. Indeed, it was
a joy to see her take flight on the back
of this most beautiful
ceremony.” i
Alejandro López is a
writer, photographer and
educator.
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Anna Hansen: 505.982.0155
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31
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32
Sustainable Santa Fe Update
Bianca Sopoci-Belknap
L
ast month NASA released a report that warns that the United States is headed
toward a megadrought the likes of which has not been seen in 1,000 years. If
nothing is done to reduce the carbon load released into the atmosphere by human
activity, NASA’s climate models show megadroughts forming over much of the U.S.
by the end of this century that could last 20, 30, even 40 years. That’s two, three, or
four times the length of the drought that resulted in the Dust Bowl in the 1930s. If
immediate action is taken to reduce carbon buildup, droughts will still happen but
won’t be as severe. Meanwhile, in New Mexico, 65 percent of the state is experiencing
moderate to severe drought, and the average precipitation is at 83 percent for the
year, according to the state’s New Mexico Drought Monitoring Working Group.
Has anyone noticed how uncannily warm it was in February? What you’re noticing
is the steady trend toward higher average temperatures. And in late February, the
East Coast was hit with record-low, freezing temperatures. Extremes on both ends.
This is what climatologists are predicting and what we are already experiencing.
Given the climate alarms firing daily, it is no wonder that energy policy has become
one of the most discussed issues in local media outlets and public forums in New
Mexico. Especially, given our unprecedented opportunity to drastically cut our
dependence on coal by replacing the San Juan Generating Station’s units 2 and 3 with
renewable energy (RE). The city of Santa Fe was one of 15 parties to the replacement
power case before the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission. The city was one
of 11 parties to oppose the Stipulated Agreement between PNM and PRC staff, which
proposes to replace the lost energy supply with nuclear imported from Arizona and
the purchase of additional shares in the remaining San Juan coal units.
As the record closes on the case and the hearing examiner contemplates his decision,
the Santa Fe community is considering how to reduce its energy footprint, regardless
of the outcome of the case. A resolution directing city staff to explore the legal and
financial possibilities and limitations for a municipal electric utility, as well as a
potential partnership with the county, passed the city council on Jan. 28 with a
deadline for staff to report back to the council with their findings within 45 days. The
resolution, introduced by Councilor Joseph Maestas and cosponsored by councilors
Chris Rivera and Peter Ives, is meant to equip councilors and the community with
the information needed to determine what the next steps for public power and RE
deployment should be, given that the city does not have the authority to condemn and
use its powers of eminent domain to take over the electric grid. The city is therefore
looking for creative ways to flex its muscles—using its home rule authority—to break
open opportunities to bring the economic and environmental benefits of RE to its
residents and achieve its climate change mitigation goals.
The Sustainable Santa Fe Commission voted to support Councilor Ives’ ordinance
establishing the city’s authority to create a Municipal Electric Utility. If passed, the ordinance
would open the door for the city to entertain competitive bids from energy suppliers (many
of whom could offer significantly greater percentages of renewables) for new developments
within city limits and a 5-mile radius around the city. It would also open the door for the city
to explore financing and wholesale energy supply to expand its own RE projects.
Meanwhile, the city continues to try to
push PNM to provide more RE through
the city’s recent intervention in the
replacement power case in opposition
to the utility’s coal and nuclear proposal
and through the city’s inclusion of PNM
in the Climate Action Task Force. The
company’s investments and energy plans
make it hard to imagine how Santa Fe
Protestors at PNM’s replacement power hearing
will achieve its goal of carbon neutrality
by 2040 without somehow breaking free from PNM’s monopoly offerings.
The city’s Climate Action Task Force recently voted to include a caveat in its
recommendations for RE action steps to the city council. The caveat points out that
many of the RE proposals will be stymied by PNM’s current rate-case proposal,
which includes significant disincentives for solar.
PNM’s proposal, which includes significant disincentives for
solar, would stymie Santa Fe’s goal of carbon neutrality.
Under the current rate-case proposal, solar users will be charged a $6/kW/month
access fee that will increase the cost for a typical residential installation (4.4kW) by
$317 per year. PNM projects that this will reduce the rooftop solar business by 83
percent by 2017. This would be an estimated $28 million per year impact on New
Mexico’s economy. PNM’s proposal also seeks to eliminate the energy-banking option
for distributed generation solar producers, which would further reduce solar benefits
to owners by approximately $100 per year. While these barriers to solar largely impact
residential customers with the privilege of access to homeownership and the capital
needed for the up-front costs associated with solar, the overall rate-case proposal will
disproportionately impact working families. The proposal includes a 16.3 percent
overall rate increase. The total increased cost to ratepayers is $63 million, with the
greatest increases targeting residential ratepayers. If approved, residential ratepayers
will have seen their rates increase by 64 percent since 2008! PNM is also proposing
to increase its monthly fixed customer charge by 256 percent, raising it from $5 to
$12.80, which is 59 percent higher than the average customer charge of the investorowned-utilities (IOUs) in the region. PNM is also proposing to increase the Return
on Equity, the policy that enables it to recoup 100 percent of capital expenditures
plus a guaranteed rate of return (i.e., profit) from 10 to 10.5 percent. Critics of the
rate proposal—and there are many; more than a dozen parties have intervened—are
attacking the proposal on both economic and environmental grounds. To learn
more about these efforts and how you can get involved, visit sustainablesantafe.
wordpress.com
Bianca Sopoci-Belknap is program director for New Energy Economy, director of Earth Care
and chair of the Sustainable Santa Fe Commission.
33
r
34
NEWSBITEs
Green Buildings Get Lower Interest Rate Loans
Taos County Courthouse App
Rick Fedrizzi, chief executive and founding chair of the U.S. Green Building Council,
which administers the LEED green building rating system, says this is both an incentive
to build green and an incentive for existing buildings to achieve certification.
MIX Santa Fe Wins Bright Ideas Award
for Innovations in Government
The U.S. Federal National Mortgage Association—Fannie Mae—will for the first
time provide lower interest rate loans to green multifamily residential buildings.
Fannie Mae will grant a 10-basis-point interest-rate refinance reduction for the
acquisition or supplemental mortgage loan for buildings with a green building
certification. For example, if the market interest rate is 4 percent on the loan, with
this pricing break the new rate is 3.9 percent. On a $10-million dollar loan amortizing
over 30 years, the owner would save $95,000 in interest payments over a 10-year term.
In addition to having a smaller carbon footprint, green buildings cost 19 percent
less to maintain than their conventional counterparts, according to a U.S. General
Services Administration study.
Earthen Materials Architecture
Construction Conference
The Eighth International Conference on Architecture and Construction with
Earthen Materials will take place in the St. Francis Auditorium of the New Mexico
Museum of Art in Santa Fe from Oct. 2-4. The field of interest for this year’s
conference will include adobe, rammed earth, compressed earth block (CEB) and
monolithic adobe (COB). Any method that uses clay as a binder will be considered.
Abstract submissions are being accepted through April 10. Full papers from
accepted presenters are due on Aug. 21. Conference activities will include podium
presentations and poster sessions, tours to local earthbuilding sites of interest,
and preconference and postconference earthbuilding workshops. The conference
organizer is Adobe in Action, an approved Continuing Education Systems provider
through the American Institute of Architects. Earthusa.org
Industrial Revenue Bonds
Approved for Solar Plant
A company planning to build a solar-power generating plant next to a wind farm near
San Jon, New Mexico, will receive a tax break from the Quay County Commission’s
approval of industrial revenue bonds. The county may receive more than $84,000 a
year in payments in lieu of taxes over the life of the bonds. Much of that funding would
support San Jon schools. The plant, which is to be built by Infigen, could produce up
to 55 megawatts of power. Construction costs are estimated at $33 million.
Consolidated Solar Now Supplies Home Depot
An Albuquerque-based solar power supply and installation company, Consolidated
Solar Technologies, has become the only solar service provider to Home Depot stores
throughout New Mexico, southwest Colorado and western Arizona. CST has solar
displays at all Home Depot locations in Albuquerque, Farmington, Gallup, Los
Lunas, Río Rancho and Santa Fe. CST is in the process of expanding further west
into other Home Depot markets.
Founder Institute to Cultivate
Santa Fe Entrepreneurship
On Feb. 17, the Founder
Institute, a business accelerator
program based in Silicon Valley
with chapters in 40 countries,
held a kickoff event at Warehouse
21 to showcase the kinds of ideas
it is bringing to Santa Fe. The
institute presented a panel of
five technology and creative
leaders to talk about mentorship,
funding, design, capital and
more. The panel included TV
producer Lee Zlotoff; Fast
Company magazine founder/entrepreneur Alan Webber; SportXast co-founder
Molly Cernicek; Nik Seet, founder of SIVI.com and Auditude; and entrepreneur
Shawn Patrick, who is helping bring the Founder Institute to Santa Fe to inspire
collaboration and local entrepreneurship. The institute will provide teamwork
training and other startup services. Applications are being accepted through May
3. The program will launch on May 13.
To make the courthouse history available to visitors before the building’s
rehabilitation is completed, the history team is developing an app that will share
historic photos, a description of all the periods of the courthouse history and the
stories of the murals and mural artists. Funding to complete the app is being sought
from governmental, private and foundation sources, as well as by building advertising
partnerships with local museums. The free app will be available for download, easily
done with the wi-fi accessible on Taos Plaza. To sponsor, donate or advertise within
the app, contact Rachel Prinz: [email protected]
MIX Santa Fe, an economic and community development initiative that provides
entrepreneurial support, has won the coveted Bright Ideas award from the Harvard
Kennedy School of Government.
MIX provides professional development opportunities including marketing,
communications, product testing and business development assistance. The initiative
hosts open community networking and showcasing events every third Thursday of
the month at a variety of locations from 6 to 8 p.m. through November. MIX’s events
are designed to explore “creating the Santa Fe we want to live in” through interactive
opportunities to launch projects promoting entrepreneurship, neighborhood
revitalization, talent development and public policy. Event locations are announced on
Facebook and Twitter, through an online newsletter and on the website MIXSantaFe.
com. MIX also sponsors an annual startup business plan competition.
MIX is a facilitated through the city of Santa Fe and Santa Fe Chamber of Commerce.
“Santa Fe’s creative workforce is one of the greatest assets we have,” said Mayor
Javier Gonzales. “It’s great to see that unlocked by empowering individuals to make
connections and bring forward ideas. Creative design and development initiatives
allow our community to thrive by cultivating talent.”
Legislation Introduced to Create
Statewide Río Grande Trail
Outdoor recreation
contributes over $3.8
billion and 47,000 jobs
in New Mexico alone.
Last month, a group of
bipartisan legislators
from across New
Mexico introduced
legislation to establish
the Río Grande Trail,
a statewide trail from
Colorado to Texas that
would connect iconic Rep. Jeff Steinborn, D-Las Cruces (right) introduced the
l a n d s c a p e s a n d Río Grande Trail Commission bill with bipartisan support.
cultures, create jobs
along the route and provide a new high-quality recreation opportunity.
HB 563 would create a commission, made up of stakeholders along the Río Grande,
including cities, counties, tribes, federal agencies, conservancy districts and citizens
to help define the best routes and reach the necessary agreements to designate a path
through the many jurisdictions. The trail would cross land only with the agreement
of its owners. The commission would operate, as per state law, under the authority of
the Secretary of Energy, Minerals, and Natural Resources Department, who would
make the various appointments to the commission.
Currently there are segments of existing trail along the Río Grande including Taos,
Elephant Butte, in and around Las Cruces, and the bosque in Albuquerque.
CORRECTION:
In the January 2015 edition of GFT, on page 26, the photo
in the Creative Startups article was not identified correctly.
Internationally acclaimed fashion designer Patricia Michaels,
who is from Taos Pueblo, designed the model’s silkscreened
dress and hand-painted parasol. Michaels, who appeared in
a season of Project Runway (coming in second), is known for
her innovative creations made from sustainable, earth-friendly
Photo © Anna C. Hansen
materials.
35
G.L. Runer Electric Inc.
Honest Quality Work at Competitive Prices
505-471-3626
We provide testing, and
troubleshooting for Santa Fe, NM
and the surrounding areas.
www.glrunerelectric.com
910
Thank you Green Fire Times...!
James H. Auerbach, MD
Supporting Independent Media
Green Fire Times is available at
many locations in the metropolitan
Albuquerque / Río Rancho area!
For the location nearest you,
call Nick García at 505.203.4613
36
37
What's Going On!
Events / Announcements
March 10, 7-9 pm
The Art of Food
National Hispanic Cultural Center
ALBUQUERQUE
March 1-31
Women & Creativity
Multiple Locations
Collaborations, performances, workshops
and events across disciplines that showcase
innovation and leadership of visionary community women. [email protected], www.
womenandcreativity.org
March 4, 5:30-7 pm
Green Drinks
Hotel Andaluz, 125 Second St. NW
Network with people interested in doing
business locally, clean energy alternatives
and creating sustainable opportunities in our communities. Presenter: Restaurateur
Roy Solomon will discuss
the Green Jeans Farmery
project on Carlisle and Cutler. Presented by the ABQ and Río Rancho
Green Chamber. info@nmgreenchamber.
com, www.greendrinks.org
March 5-6, 9 am-7 pm
Joe Sando Symposium on
Pueblo Indian Studies
Nativo Lodge
6000 Pan American Freeway N.E.
Presentations by scholars on Pueblo history
and life. Presented by the Institute of American Indian Arts. $50/$15 students.
March 6-8
Startup Weekend Women ABQ
FatPipe ABQ, 200 Broadway NE
Speakers, coaches, mentors and community entrepreneurial leaders $99. www.up.co/
communities/usa/albuquerque/startupweekend/4659
March 7, 9 am-3 pm
Ecological Restoration Project
Valle de Oro Natl. Wildlife Refuge
Volunteers can join the ABQ Wildlife Federation working in the South Valley. Clean
up debris, dismantle old structures and remove invasive vegetation. rioscial@gmail.
com, http://abq.nmwildlife.org/
March 7, 10:30 am
NM’s Pueblo Baseball League
Indian Pueblo Cultural Center
2401 12th St. NW
Lecture/booksigning by co-authors Herbert
Howell and James D. Baker. 866.855.7902,
www.indianpueblo.org
March 7, 10-11 am
Home Composting Basics
Open Space Visitor Center
6500 Coors Blvd. NW
Learn the science, materials and methods of drought-proofing your garden soil.
Free. Registration: 505.897.8831, register@
nmcomposters.org
38
Marie Yniguez of Bocadillos will prepare a
multi-course pop-up dinner. The evening
entertainment will feature the 2015 EKCO
poets: Valerie Martínez, Michelle Otero, and
Shelle Sánchez, who will share excerpts from
their poetic performance as part of Women
& Creativity. www.ediblepopup.com
March 14, 1 pm
Pueblo Women Leadership
2401 12th St. NW
Discussion with former pueblo governors
Verna Teller of Isleta and Lela Kaskalla of
Nambé. Moderated by U.S. Congresswoman
Michell Lujan Grisham. Free. www.indian
pueblo.org
March 17, 7-9 pm
The Art of Food
Westbund West
Lois Ellen Frank of Red Mesa Cuisine and
David Sellers of the Street Food Institute
will serve a prix fixe menu amongst Westbund
West’s collaborative, engaging industrial
design, graphic design, furniture design, architecture and landscape architecture. www.
ediblepopup.com
March 19, 5:30 pm
LaDonna Harris: Indian 101
2401 12th St. NW
Screening of award-winning film followed
by Q&A with Harris and the film’s producer.
Free. www.indianpueblo.org
March 19, 6-8 pm
Santolina Community Forum
South Valley Multipurpose Center
2008 Larrazolo Rd. SW
The Contra Santolina Working Group says
the development would negatively impact
the river, bosque, farmers, acequieros, ranchers and communities. https://contrasant
olina.wordpress.com, www.gofundme.com/
denysantolina
March 26 19, 1:30 pm
Bernalillo County Commission
ABQ City Hall, City Council Chambers
Santolina Master Plan hearing
March 28, 8 am-4 pm
Guadalupe Ruin Excursion
Meet at Maxwell Museum
Archeological/cultural tour of Guadalupe
Ruin and Village in the Río Puerco valley. $70. 505.277.4405, [email protected],
maxwellmuseum.unm.edu
April 11, 10 am-5 pm
Vegetarian Food Festival
ABQ Rail Yards, 777 1st St. SW
10 am-12 pm: Tasting ($30/$10 ages 12 & under) General admission: $10. Local restaurants,
chefs, cooking demos, seminars, yoga classes,
vendors. 505.510.1312, Dean@BlueRiver
Productions.com, www.nakedfoodfair.com
Through May 31
El Agua es Vida: Acequias in
Northern New Mexico
Maxwell Museum of Anthropology,UNM
Groundbreaking, multidisciplinary exhibit.
Free. 505.277.4405, maxwellmuseum.unm.edu
Daily
Our Land, Our Culture,
Our Story
2401 12th St. NW
Historical overview of the Pueblo world and
contemporary artwork and craftsmanship
of each of the 19 pueblos. Weekend Native
dances. 866.855.7902
SANTA FE
March 1-31
Women & Creativity
Multiple Locations
Collaborations, performances, workshops
and events across disciplines that showcase
innovation and leadership of visionary community women. [email protected], www.
womenandcreativity.org
March 1-31
DIY Santa Fe:
A Creative Tourism Journey
An immersive cultural arts experience;
month-long celebration of workshops and
events offered through Santa Fe Creative
Tourism, a program of the SF Arts Commission. An opportunity for visitors to learn
from experienced artists and artisans while
enjoying world-class restaurants, sites and accommodations. 505.792.5746, santafecreative
[email protected], www.diysantafe.org
March 4, 2-4 pm
Home Kitchen Certification
WESST-Santa Fe, 3900 Paseo del Sol
An overview of the steps required to be able
to legally create food products to sell. Free.
505.474.6556, [email protected]
March 5, 4-5:30 pm
Eldorado/285 Recycles
Open House
Vista Grande Library, Eldorado
Displays and presentations on recycling and
composting, including Adam Schlachter of
the SF Solid Waste Management Agency on
city and county recycling projects and policies. [email protected]
March 5, 6 pm
Stanley Crawford
Collected Works Books, 202 Galisteo
The author reads from and signs copies of
The Canyon: A Novel.
March 7, 14, 1-3 pm
Fruit Tree Pruning
Railyard Park Community Room
Horticulturalist/arborist Tracy Neal teaches
this 2-part workshop presented by Railyard
Stewards. The second day is hands-on. eric@
railyardpark.org
March 8, 11 am
NM Legislative Water Issues
Collected Works Books, 202 Galisteo
Presentation by river conservationist Steve
Harris on the proposed Gila River diversion, watershed restoration and more.
505.988.4226, journeysantafe.com
March 9-10
Banff Mountain Film Festival
The Lensic
The world’s best mountain films. Presented by the SF Conservation Trust. $16/
night; $28/two nights. 505.988.1234, www.
TicketsSantaFe.org
March 10, 4-6pm
Eldorado/285 Recycles
ECIA Conference Room, Eldorado,
Eldorado area recycling advocacy group
monthly meeting. All welcome. 505.466.9797,
[email protected]
March 10-May 12, Tues., 5:30-8 pm
Climate Masters Class
1413 Second St., Ste. 3
Ten sessions. Learn how to reduce your
carbon and water footprint from experts in
transportation, energy, conservation, consumption and waste, food and water. $65.
March 12-13
SW Jemez Mtn. Collaborative
Forest Restoration Project
Workshop
SFCC Jemez Rooms
3/12, 8:30 am-5 pm: All-hands monitoring
presentations. 3/13, 8:30-2:30: Discussion of
2016 project implementation. Presentations
on fire thinning, fire and riparian restoration.
Presenters include Valles Caldera Natl. Preserve, Nature Conservancy, SF Natl. Forest,
many others. 505.946.2038, [email protected]
March 13, 5-7 pm
SITE 20/20 Opening
SITE Santa Fe
Anniversary exhibition and public programs
continue through May 31. 505.989.1199,
sitesantafe.org
March 13, 7 pm
Round Mountain
The Lensic
The folk duo, SF Youth Philharmonia, Turquoise Trail Charter School Chorus and
SFUAD Chorus present “Beginnings Where
the Endings Be.” A benefit for the SF Youth
Symphony. $20/$5 students. 505.988.1234,
TicketsSantaFe.org
March 14, 10 am-5 pm; March
15, 10 am-4 pm
Santa Fe Home Show
SF Convention Center
Northern NM’s only home improvement consumer show. $5. Sponsored by
the SF Area Home Builders Association.
505.982.1774, www.sfahba.com
March 14, 4-9 pm
Benefit Art Auction/show
Warehouse 21, 1614 Paseo de Peralta
Benefits Michael Soto’s family. Michael
was killed by a drunk driver earlier this year.
Donations and art contributions welcome.
[email protected]
March 14-15, 7 pm
The Vagina Monologues
SF Women’s Club, 1616 Old Pecos
Trail; IAIA, 83 Avan Nu Po Rd.
Eve Ensler’s play. Benefits SF Mtn. Center.
Saturday: $35 adv; Sunday: $25 adv. Tickets:
ripetolife.com. Info: www.ripetolife.com/
performances
March 16, 6 pm
Living the Ancient Southwest
Hotel Santa Fe
SW Seminars lecture by David Grant Noble.
$12. Benefits Archaeological Conservancy.
[email protected],
Southwest
Seminars.org
March 18, 7 pm
Noam Chomsky
with David Barsamian
The Lensic
Lannan Foundation Reading and Conversation. 505.988.1234, TicketsSantaFe.org
March 19-22
Bead Fest Santa Fe
SF Convention Center
Artists, workshops, expo
March 21, 25
Movies That Matter
Jean Cocteau Cinema
418 Montezuma Ave.
Open Sesame: The Story of Seeds (www.
opensesamemovie.com). 3/21, 2pm: screening only; 3/25, 6:45 pm: Screening with panel
discussion and Q&A. Presented by the SF
Farmers’ Market Institute. Weds: $10/$8/$6;
Sat: $7/$5/$6. Tickets: 505.466.5528, www.
jeancocteaucinema.com/buy-tickets/
March 22, 4-9 pm
World Water Day
El Museo Cultural
Presentations, performances and displays
about water. Film screening of Last Call at
the Oasis, about the global water crisis. Art
exhibit, info and product tables. To have a
table or to volunteer, call 505.231.0221, to
display art, call 505.795.4365, general info:
575.770.1228, https://waterawarenessgroup.
wordpress.com/events-and-calendar/
March 23 Application Deadline
FANTASE Fest 2015
NM Arts grant up to $5,000 will support art
light/video/media installations of NM residents for the festival presented by Creative
Santa Fe on June 20. Artworks should expand
the definition of SF’s unique identity and
foster a sense of place. 505.989.9934, info@
creativesantafe.org, www.creativesantafe.org
March 24, 7-9
The Art of Food
SF Art Institute
Lois Ellen Frank of Red Mesa Cuisine and
Kai Harper of Sugar Nymph’s Bistro will
prepare a multicourse menu featuring ancestral New Mexican food with a contemporary
twist. View SFAI’s work and hear why food
justice is such a critical issue today. www.
ediblepopup.com
March 27, 10 am
NM Acequia Commission Meeting
Bataan Memorial Bldg., Rm. 238
Info: 505.603.2879, molinodelaisla@gmail.
com. Agendas: 505.827.4983, www.nmace
quiacommission.state.nm.us
March 27, 7-9 pm;
March 28, 9 am-5 pm
Local Energy
Technology Transfer
SF Community College
Learn from experts about local, low-cost decentralized energy production. 3/27: lecture
($10); 3/28: workshop ($99), scholarships
available. Info: 505.819.3828, Registration:
www.carboneconomyseries.com
March 28
9:30 am-5 pm
Matsuri 2015
SF Convention
Center
Annual
Japanese
cultural festival presented by Santa Fe Jin.
$5/12 & under free.
Santafejin.org
March 30, 6 pm
New Perspectives
on Colonialism and Disease
Hotel Santa Fe
SW Seminars lecture by Dr. John A. Ware.
$12. Benefits Archeological Conservancy.
[email protected],
Southwest
Seminars.org
March 31, 7 pm
Arlo Guthrie
The Lensic
Folk-music icon. $55/$25. 505.988.1234,
TicketsSantaFe.org
Through March 31
City of Santa fe Economic
Development Survey
The city’s Economic Development Division
is looking for input from businesses. Results
will target needs and opportunities. www.
santafenm.gov/economic_development
April 1, 7 pm
Mary Chapin Carpenter
The Lensic
Singer/songwriter. Benefits the Española Valley Humane Society. $55/$25. 505.988.1234,
TicketsSantaFe.org
April 2
Business Expo & Job Fair
SF Place Mall
12th annual event. One of the largest of its
kind in NM. Presented by the SF Chamber
of Commerce. 505.988.3279, www.santa
fechamber.com
Through April 26,
Th.-Sun., 11 am-3 pm
Morphing Nature
SF Botanical Garden, 715 Cam. Lejo
Students from IAIA and SFUAD have created site-specific sculptures made from
recovered plant materials from the garden and found objects. Free. 505.471.9103,
santafebotanicalgarden.org
First Saturday of Each Month,
10 am-12 pm
Santa Fe Citizens’ Climate Lobby
Various Locations
“Creating political will for a livable world”
[email protected]
Saturdays, 8 am-1 pm
Santa Fe Farmers’ Market
1607 Paseo de Peralta (& Guadalupe)
Northern NM farmers & ranchers offer
fresh greenhouse tomatoes, greens, root veggies, cheese, teas, herbs, spices, honey, baked
goods, body care products and much more.
www.santafefarmersmarket.com
Through April
Virgin of Guadalupe Exhibition
Museum of Spanish Colonial Art
750 Camino Lejo, Museum Hill
Retablos, bultos and three-dimensional
nichos. Admission: $5./under 16 free/NM
residents free on Sunday. 505.982.2226
Become a Site Steward
Santa Fe National Forest
Monitor archeological and historical sites on
a regular basis for evidence of natural deterioration or vandalism. www.sfnfsitestewards.
org
Santa Fe Creative Tourism
Workshops, Classes and
Experiences
http://santafecreativetourism.org/
TAOS
April 15 Application Deadline
Chautauqua Program
Statewide
March 13-15
Taos Pueblo Artists
Winter Showcase
Millicent Rogers Museum
3rd annual showcase & sale. 17 artists. 3/13,
5:30-7 pm: Private preview reception. Museum admission fee. 575.758.2462, ext. 212.
www.millicentrogers.org
March 19-20
Taos Shortz Film Fest
Taos Community Auditorium
150 juried global short films from 34 countries and students from the Institute of
American Indian Arts (3/19, 12 pm). Parties, filmmaker’s lounge, viewings. $5$12 per program. [email protected],
tasosshortz.com
HERE & THERE
March 5 Opening
Iron Tribe 2015
NMHU’s Burris Hall Gallery
903 National Ave., Las Vegas, NM
International group show of sculpture featuring work by Highlands University fine
arts professor David Lobdell. Accompanying events run through March 7.
March 10, 7-8:30 pm
Jump-Start Your Gardening
PEEC Nature Center, Los Alamos
Natali Steinberg will explain how to
start from seed indoors. $40/$32 for twopart program. Registration required.
505.662.0460, [email protected],
www.PajaritoEEC.org
March 13-14
Adult Literacy Tutor Training
Española Public Library
Lucero Center, Española
The NM Humanities Council is looking
for individuals who perform living history
and/or deliver a talk on an intriguing humanities topic. The free programs take place
at nonprofit organizations. Applications:
505.633.7371, [email protected], www.
nmhum.org
Tuesday-Friday, 10 am-1 pm and
Saturday
Pajarito Environmental
Education Center
3540 Orange St., Los Alamos, NM
Nature center and outdoor education programs. Exhibits of flora and fauna of the
Pajarito Plateau; herbarium, live amphibians, butterfly and xeric gardens. TuesdaySaturday. Free. 505.662.0460, Programs@
PajaritoEEC.org, www.pajaritoeec.org
Chama Peak Land Alliance
Benefit Raffle
Supports responsible land stewardship in the
San Juan-Río Grande Watersheds of Colorado
and New Mexico. Tickets: $100/$50. Drawing
May 1, 2015. www.chamapeak.org/raffle/
april 10 deadline
Call for Papers
Earth USA 2015
8th Annual International Conference on
Architecture and Construction with Earthen Materials. Abstract submission form
online closes April 10. Conference will be
held at the NM Museum of Art in Santa Fe,
Oct. 2-4. Organized by Adobe in Action.
Earthusa.org
“Transforming lives through literacy.” Volunteer opportunity. Río Arriba Adult Literacy Program serves adults in the Española area who read below the 6th grade level.
March 19, 7 pm
Wetland Restoration
in NM Desert Grasslands
PEEC Nature Center
3540 Orange St., Los Alamos
Karla Sartor will discuss birds and plants
where habitat is threatened by overgrazing and climate change and how restoration techniques can be applied to the Pajarito Plateau. Free. 505.662.0460, Programs@
PajaritoEEC.org, www.PajaritoEEC.org
March 28, 9 am-4:30 pm
Composting Workshop
Old County Courthouse,
811 Camino del Pueblo, Bernalillo
Comprehensive workshop. Home composting basics and soil amendment, composting with worms, bucket composting with
the Bokashi Method. Sandoval County
Extension Service. Free. 505.867.2582,
[email protected], sandovalma
stergardeners.org
March 28, 10 am-5 pm; March
29, 10 am-4 pm
Río Rancho Home
and Remodeling Show
Santa Ana Star Center
250 booths. Renowned experts in remodeling and home improvement. Free admission
until 11 am. $5 for the rest. Kids under 12
free.
39
40

SuStainable new Mexico architecture

Transcription

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