The ancient exigencies of our high-desert climate gave birth to a fascinating architectural vocabulary that is adapted constantly by architects and designers working in a modern context. Gabe Gomez extends our “Seeing New Mexico” series into the built environment by speaking to Santa Fe Modern author Helen Thompson, and other contemporary creatives.
Author Helen Thomspon Talks Modernism in Santa Fe Architecture
When designer Charles Eames said, “recognizing the need is the primary condition for design,” one immediately conjures up what the human mind has mind-designed in reaction to the exigencies of the high desert. This beautiful, yet merciless environment inspired builders to create dense adobe walls sculpted in angular cubes, spiritual kiva circles, and flat roofs. These capture rain and snow and serve to sun-dry maize and chile.
Design details that emerged from necessity eventually evolved into the “Santa Fe” style, a term coined in the 1920s and widely embraced over time. Venerated architect John Gaw Meem emulated and incorporated Pueblo and Spanish Colonial architectural styles in his designs. He led the charge for New Mexico’s first architectural preservation ordinance in 1957.
In time, driven by both economics and rising concerns about sustainability, building materials would evolve from earthen to faux adobe, mud plasters to stucco exteriors, and vigas or wooden beams, once used as ceiling joists, rendered as decorative effects. Nevertheless, Meem’s vision to preserve the alignment of place and architecture is clearly evident 66 years later.
Despite the evolution, diversions, and interpretations behind Southwestern architecture, we can still see clear pathways to its spiritual provenance; ancient tethers continue to ground us in place. From his book The Mythic Modern: Architectural Expeditions into the Sacred Space, architect Travis Price, who studied at St. John’s College in Santa Fe and the University of New Mexico, notes, “we need a new way to explore our emerging architecture inspired by the ancients, a way to live in buildings that evoke enduring primordial wisdom.”
A High-Desert Is Aesthetic Born
In her most recent book, Santa Fe Modern, Helen Thompson explores the instincts of architects. They tap into this ancient wisdom and an expansive conversation about modern and minimalist design.
The book is a survey of contemporary design by architects and designers who “draw from the New Mexican architectural heritage. They use ancient materials such as adobe in combination with steel and glass. They also apply this language to the proportions and demands exacted by today’s world.”
“We are in a very unforgiving landscape and climate, and modern does not seem like the type of architecture that would work here,” says Helen. She explores the unlikely pairing of contemporary design with Southwestern sensibilities.
A trip to Georgia O’Keeffe’s home at Ghost Ranch in Abiquiu 30 years ago shaped her worldview about modern design and the environment. It has for so many others. Noting the home’s angular lines, spare interior features, and light moved Helen to conceptualize the first inclinations of what would become Santa Fe Modern. The inspired spark ignited by the ochre mesas of Abiquiu fueled her curiosity to unearth ancient underpinnings.
“The Southwest has the largest collection of Indigenous architecture in the United States. The architecture emphasizes people’s relationship to the earth and sky. Most of the ancient Indigenous architecture like Chaco Canyon and Mesa Verde had a modernist profile. I thought that this is why modern design works here because it has always been here!”
The bridge between ancient dwellings and modernist sensibilities is harmony and balance. Helen notes that ancient architecture, like the White House Ruin in Canyon de Chelly, “merges with the landscape. It doesn’t fight it. It doesn’t distract from it. It’s just part of it.”
See the Past and Present Intertwined
Santa Fe Modern features the Trey Jordan-designed home of Eddie Nunn, retired vice president of creative services and brand steward for Neiman Marcus. “When I was first contemplating owning in Santa Fe, I was torn between restoring a historic adobe or building a modern home that would reflect the adobe vernacular,” he said.
“Both would offer what I sought: clean, undemanding architecture that would quiet my mind and give my overactive eye a rest. I chose to build on acreage, where neighbors are scarce, as the vast, peaceful environment was as important to my serenity as the calming interior spaces and unobtrusive lines of the structure.”
When we accept Helen’s notion that modern design has always existed within the heart and soul of the Southwest, we also recognize something deeper. Our innate response to nature isn’t to conquer or control it—but to become an extension of it. This perspective shifts how we view our built environment. The adobe walls and portals that define our landscape lean naturally toward minimalist sensibilities. They should inspire and reinvigorate our sense of place. Here in the Southwest, as we see simply by looking around, less truly is more.
A Visibly Modern Design
If your family roots trace to the 1500s or if you recently moved to New Mexico within the last few months, a deep acknowledgment of our past is a part in all our daily lives. Helen Thompson recommends these special buildings and houses that deserve a look with modern eyes.
- The Oldest House Museum, 215 East de Vargas Street
- Garcia House, 524 Alto Street
- El Zaguan, 545 Canyon Road
- Gustave Baumann House, 409 Camino de las Animas
- St John’s College, 1160 Camino De Cruz Blanca. Note Alexander Girard’s work throughout campus: tubular chandeliers, murals, padded benches, terrazzo floors, and aluminum handrails.
- La Fonda Hotel on the Plaza, 100 E San Francisco Street. Exterior designed in part by John Gaw Meem.
Award-winning architect Robert Zachry, AIA, brings his renowned contemporary Southwest homes to the spotlight in Santa Fe Modern. Since 1985, Robert has been based in Santa Fe, where his architectural practice focuses on residential work.
His work focuses also on residential master planning, multi-family projects, and retail shops among others. His projects typically incorporate passive or active solar considerations into the design. Robert Zachry recommends:
- Chaco Canyon
- Santa Fe River
- Canyon Road
- Acequia Madre
- Santa Fe Railyard
- Santa Fe Art Institute, 1600 St. Michael’s Drive #31. Designed by Ricardo Legorreta.
Story by Gabe Gomez
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