Final Report: A Survey of Albuquerque’s Mid-Century Modernist Architectural Resources, September 2013

Dodge, William

From introduction: "This project focuses on a class of architectural resources that heretofore have not been systematically surveyed by architectural historians in Albuquerque. Starting in the early 1970s, historic preservation planners with the City of Albuquerque, with the assistance of the State Historic Preservation Division, have conducted systematic surveys of pre-World War II buildings in the city and nearby portions of Bernalillo County (DeWitt 1978). This has resulted in the listing of many individual historic properties and historic districts in the National Register of Historic Places and the State Register of Cultural Properties. In the 1990s and early 2000s, multiple property surveys have focused on specific historic themes such as, Auto-oriented Commercial Development in Albuquerque, New Mexico, 1916-1956 (Wilson 1996); Multi-unit Dwellings in Albuquerque, New Mexico (Kammer 1999); 20th Century Suburban Growth of Albuquerque, New Mexico (Kammer 2000); and most recently, Historic and Architectural Resources of Central Albuquerque, 1880-1975 (Dodge 2012). Except for the latter study, all previous surveys had as their end date the late 1950s. The reconnaissance survey by Dodge included properties constructed after 1960 (including Modernist architecture); however, was limited to a geographical area (“downtown” Albuquerque) that excluded the city’s East Mesa, which was the area of the major, post-World War II building boom. The present survey is specifically designed to gather information about Modernist architecture that is found both downtown and in the suburban-like, postwar developments located east of the city. Aware of this important gap in their inventory of the city’s historic resources, the City of Albuquerque applied for and was awarded a Certified Local Government (CLG) sub-grant by the State of New Mexico, Historic Preservation Division to conduct a reconnaissance field survey of mid-century Modernist architecture in Albuquerque within the time period of 1945 to 1975. The goal of this project is to develop a preliminary inventory of mid-century Modernist buildings and create a catalog of property types and styles to be used as a planning tool for future projects that may result in the formal evaluation and registration of specific historic properties. In summary, the project goals are to: Characterize the range of historic properties, including residential, commercial, industrial, and institutional properties, that reflect mid-century Modernist architecture; Identify architects or architectural firms associated with the Modernist Movement in the city; Identify the potential number of properties associated with this theme and historic context; Identify the potential number of historic districts; Identify properties that may have achieved historic significance within the past fifty years; and Incorporate the survey information into a planning narrative with recommendations for future study." Funding was provided in part by a 2012 Historic Preservation Fund grant to the City of Albuquerque (project number NM-12-018A) administered by the New Mexico State Historic Preservation Office (grant number 35-12-41938) and the State, Tribal, and Local Plans and Grants Division, National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior. Albuquerque, New Mexico is a Certified Local Government.

Final Report: A Survey of Albuquerque’s Mid-Century Modernist Architectural Resources, September 2013

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