Archinect - News

Former AIA Gold Medalist Antoine Predock passes away aged 87

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

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

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

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

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

Predock also operated an office in Taiwan ...

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Albuquerque mayor declares June 24th Antoine Predock Day

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

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

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

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

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

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

Antoine Predock donates property and archives to University of New Mexico

2017-12-06T15:17:00-05:00

A renowned architect and longtime Albuquerque dweller, Predock recently donated the Downtown property where he once lived and practiced to UNM – the school that helped turn the once-budding engineer into an artist. In the more than 60 years since he matriculated at UNM, Predock has designed projects all over the world [...]. But he has maintained ties to UNM, even designing the building that houses its School of Architecture and Planning.

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

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

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

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

Heart of the Community program selects six new cities to receive placemaking grants

2015-04-22T13:11:00-04:00

This morning, Southwest Airlines announced that non-profit organizations in six U.S. cities will receive Placemaking grants to help them reimagine and reactivate important but underutilized public spaces in their city. [...] Albuquerque, New Mexico: Civic Plaza Ft. Myers, Florida: Lee County Regional Library Jacksonville, Florida: Hemming Park Milwaukee, Wisconsin: 4th & Wisconsin Area Portland, Maine: Congress Square Park St. Louis, Missouri: Strauss Park

Get Lectured: University of New Mexico, Spring '15

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

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

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

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

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

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

Jan 23
Stefan Behnisch / Behnisch Architekten

Jan 30
Alberto Perez-Gomez / McGill University

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

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

Feb 20
Gregg Pasquarelli / SHoP Architects

Feb 27
Martin Stupich / Photographer - Albuquerque, NM

March 6
Ruth Wilmore ...