A LIVING PROJECT: Take a virtual tour of our state's important and distinctive architectural sites. Keep returning as more locations are added frequently.
Community centers, fire stations, courthouses, libraries
Chaco Culture National Historical Park is a UNESCO World Heritage Site located in Northwest New Mexico. The earliest Great Houses were begun in the mid-800s AD, and all were abandoned by 1250 AD. Chaco is the most extensive pre-European architectural site north of Mexico.
Spaceport America, located 30 miles southeast of Truth or Consequences in the Jornada del Muerto desert, is the first commercial spaceport built in the world.
The architecture of Mesa Public Library is composed of two major elements: a long, wedge-shaped volume pointing north, and a segment of a circle that emphasizes the panorama of the Jemez Mountains.
The White Rock Visitor Center provides a gateway to near by national monuments and preserves. The building uses materials that recall natural bluffs and mountain cabins.
Erna Fergusson Library is composed of three types of volumes: a low rectangular box; high, half-arched volumes; and a tower. Each of these shapes has a different form and function.
The Old Albuquerque Municipal Airport building was an important stop in the early transcontinental flights between Chicago and Los Angeles. It was the only major airport in the nation built in the Spanish Pueblo Revival style.
The architecture of ¡Explora! is colorful and playful. It beckons children of all ages to come in and have fun learning.
On a hill at the edge of the Moreno Valley in northern New Mexico, two
curved, white planes soar toward the sky. Where the surfaces almost meet is the Peace
and Brotherhood Chapel, the major feature of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
The Nob Hill District was Albuquerque’s first suburban shopping area based on the automobile. Central Avenue, a part of historic Route 66, is the backbone of this district. Catering to the 1930s residential area that developed east of UNM, the Nob Hill commercial area fostered a wide range of architectural styles.
This handsome public building provides an important cultural focus for the developing West Side of Albuquerque.
The City of Rocks State Park’s Visitor Center enhances the natural resource without competing with it. The dramatic rock façade is camouflaged to match the landscape.
This 1930 courthouse was the first one built in Albuquerque that acknowledged a southwest architectural heritage by using earth-toned exterior materials and artistic details taken from Native American motifs.
The Albuquerque Museum has served as a major attraction for the city since it outgrew its first home, at the Sunport, becoming more dynamic over the years . . .
Designed to accommodate a wide variety of uses—from fitness to art classes and more—for citizens of all ages, Manzano Mesa was the first such facility . . .
The Pete V. Domenici U.S. Courthouse, a major public building in Albuquerque, employs time-honored Southwestern architectural traditions . . .
Albuquerque’s Open Space Visitor Center introduces visitors to the Rio Grande Bosque, nature-related art, a native-plant demonstration garden, agricultural fields, the Piedras Marcadas Pueblo archaeological site, and stunning views….
George Pearl, FAIA, the designer of Albuquerque Public Library’s current Main Library, was a leader in the effort to find a modern architecture that spoke of the special qualities of the Southwest, what we now call “Regional Modernism.”…
The National Hispanic Cultural Center (NHCC) is dedicated to the preservation, promotion, and advancement of Hispanic culture, arts, and humanities. The campus is composed of five buildings and a number of landscape features. The new buildings and landscapes are contemporary interpretations of a variety of styles related to the U.S. Southwest, Latin America, and the Iberian Peninsula. . . .
The Guide to New Mexico Architecture 