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FeedDesigns on the Future
Photo by Ben Tremper
Contemporary design with rich, warm granite and colors by Michael Hurlocker
JOY BRAMS • interior designer • Joy Brams Interiors
Coming full circle. Modern architecture, from its inception, has been strongly influenced by the simplicity of the original adobe houses of the Southwest. My design preference is “timeless modern,” and local architects are creating beautiful modern structures that, despite their sharp corners, have more in common with our indigenous adobes than much of what is now considered to be Santa Fe style, such as extreme curves, heavy vigas, ornate columns, or carved doors. I like the work of Trey Jordan and Robert Zachry. Using environmentally friendly materials. Beautiful structures are also being created to incorporate systems to save energy. Designers are nestling homes into the landscape when possible, planting xeriscape gardens, and installing water catchment systems for irrigation. The Railyard community project blows me away; it is a gem to celebrate.
MICHAEL HURLOCKER • builder • Hurlocker Homes
Good design/building practices. There’s a lot of “green” stuff on the market that may or may not work. We’re looking for quality materials and systems that will last a long time and not just earn points, so to speak. For example, photovoltaic is really expensive, and unless you’re building off the grid, to add an array would not be cost effective. A thermal solar-energy system makes more sense: The collectors have liquid in them and the sun heats the liquid, which is then used for heat in the house. Elements indigenous to the Southwest. Taking these and bringing them into modern form: We still have mud floors, except now they’re cast concrete; and wooden ceilings, but they have square beams instead of vigas. Connecting houses to the earth. This is more than just siting. It has to do with topography, light patterns, available views, existing flora, the drainage, and rock formations. Typically, a Santa Fe–style house takes all of those elements into account; we don’t do subdivisions here like they do in Southern California, where they just mow down the hills. Warm, organic materials. Tiles, lighting (we get ours from Albright & Lockwood), fixtures, and surfaces: Even in a sharp-edged contemporary space, you can be surrounded by rich cherry-wood cabinetry and warm granites that keep things from feeling cold and stark. Very dark and rich exterior colors. Light beige houses tend to pop out against the landscape, but dark browns and greens disappear.
KURT FAUST • builder • Tierra Concepts, Carpinteros
More efficient, smarter homes. The ability to manufacture and insulate both walls and glass surfaces to let more light enter the home is really a 20th-century occurrence, but has been integrated so completely that we now take it for granted. But beyond better insulation, this requires controlling the whole environment of the home, including conditioning all the air (humidity and filtration), as well as mitigating the myriad chemicals and other pollutants that enter through the materials that make up the home, the air, and the furnishings. Solar heating. Solar systems to heat the domestic water as well as the home in winter are very efficient at converting the sun’s energy into heat. One of the best local vendors is Cedar Mountain Solar. At left, a home that exemplifies Faust's ability to let more light enter the house. Photo courtesy Tierra Concepts.
KRIS LAJESKIE • interior designer • Kris Lajeskie Design Group
Reshaping the traditional vernacular. I believe Santa Fe is going into a Renaissance period. Many entities are simultaneously coming together, bringing new creativity and vision to the life of our city. We revere and pull from our roots in culture, history, and architecture, and at the same time push forward to create a stimulating environment that touches just about everyone. The Railyard master plan promotes community living, design, and art in a contemporary setting. Within the Railyard, the architecture of Devendra Contractor is also exemplary of moving and reshaping the traditional vernacular, and the Lofts have done such a good job with the live/work concept. Plus, their Art Yard is LEED Gold Certified. Organic and reclaimed materials. I use these almost exclusively in my interior and furniture designs. I never want to lose the old, and I pay homage to it every day—but it sure is great to be able to foster new ideas and infuse them into each project.
ROBIN GRAY • architect • Robin Gray Architects
Mixing open and intimate spaces. It’s very “contemporary” to have solid glass walls, but I think creating more intimate spaces helps for both energy savings and not having the sense that you live in a fishbowl. It gets old after a while to be that exposed. Open floor plans. A lot of people don’t want the formal dining room that was once popular. Combine those spaces. It may mean using sliding walls so you can close off the kitchen. Putting overhangs above windows. On the south and west sides, this shades them from direct sun for passive solar regulation. Planting deciduous trees goes along with that, although that’s not new. Water wisdom. This can be done using native plants and plants that don’t need a lot of water, which Donna Bone does a lot of at Design With Nature. Also, people are now utilizing 10,000-gallon cisterns to collect water for landscaping. At right, native plants that require little water in a garden designed by Donna Bon. Photo courtesy Donna Bone.
BOB KREGER • builder • Kreger Design Build
It’s not about adapting Santa Fe style to fit the requirements of 21st-century life; it’s the inverse of that. There’s a reason traditional Santa Fe style first enchants us, then embraces us: It roots us to the land, reminding us of the historically sustainable materials and methods that were originally employed here as we adapted to living on a high-altitude mesa. Its aesthetic was already practical and environmental, but in order to maintain our collective celebration of this style, we started using less costly (and less practical and less environmental) systems to accommodate growth. Achieve sustainability with each home. The tools for sustainability within stylistic context—including the context of traditional Santa Fe style—are already well developed. We can accommodate growth with creative interpretations, with zero carbon footprints, and with joie de vivre: solutions such as super-insulation, airtight construction, high-performance boilers, and active solar inputs.
EDY KEELER • interior designer • Core Value, The Core Collection
Bold yet natural color. The massing of contemporary homes here is reminiscent of traditional Santa Fe style, but with cleaned up lines, and not brown. Bold-colored exteriors can still always relate to the colors found in nature. Using strong color on one large interior area has also proven popular and provides a beautiful art backdrop. Indoor/outdoor living. Possible many months here, this is one of the biggest trends I see. Robert Zachry, AIA, and Hurlocker Homes are opening up whole walls with retractable glass doors, making living spaces double in size. Since summer nights are cool here, when we add a fireplace to the outdoor living room the space is even more enticing. Vertically mounted solar panels. The use of solar panels on homes for radiant heating and hot water has been a challenge to incorporate attractively. This can be accomplished by mounting them vertically and framing them like windows, as they need to get the low winter sun. The result is a handsome south facade with a Japanese feel that actually highlights the Zen-like plantings of a xeriscaped yard. Left, an example of how retractable glass doors can double the size of a living space. Photo courtesy Edy Keeler.
CATHERINE CLEMENS • landscape architect • Clemens & Associates
Using less traditional materials. Glass, metal, and concrete are being incorporated into design in creative ways, both architecturally and in the built landscape. Resins and acrylics are available in more products designed for outdoor use. Fade-resistant outdoor fabrics offer opportunities to introduce color and pattern outside. All these alternatives provide more tools to respond to practical concerns. Designing for conservative water use. The desire to approach our work from a greater environmental perspective offers a welcome challenge. We have sought to address this by distilling the essence of what is appealing about being in the garden. The answers have less to do with plants than with site planning for exposure, providing texture, creating vignettes and framing vistas, accommodating personal lifestyles, and offering sensual appeal.
PAGE KELLEHER • furniture designer • Santa Fe Modern Home
Traditional materials in a modern context. We are using New Mexican tin—but doing a more minimal take on it—or taking traditional Mexican elements like tin headboards of the Hacienda style, and making the stamp patterning more contemporary. Robin Gray is working on a line of rugs with me, taking design elements from the Navajo tradition and modernizing them by manipulating them to make them more abstracted. We did a cross rug, for instance, with the crosses a little out of shape, bunched up; the surfaces are raised; we changed the color, the attitude. And I’m using that really chunky, rustic wood for furniture and putting it on contemporary glass or metal bases. I aso use a lot of animal hide—mostly cowhide. That’s a great material that’s totally underused. There is a lot that can be done with it that’s not just your hide on the floor; you can take pieces of it and make ottomans and chairs.
ALAN HOFFMAN • developer • Oshara Village
Creating mixed-use districts for greater walkability. Present zoning codes keep uses separated, thus maximizing the miles that must be driven for everyday needs. Yet all over the world,it is natural for homes on busy streets to be converted to shops, restaurants, and offices. Even in Santa Fe this happens; Don Gaspar and Canyon Road were both residential streets in the past. Neighborhoods along Osage, Rodeo Road, and elsewhere could be rezoned, making most homes in the city within walking distance of small, locally owned places to eat, shop, work, and meet up with our friends—things we drive for now. Increased building density. This dramatically reduces the energy needed to survive. The numberof cars would decline, bus systems could expand and be profitable, and bike trails would proliferate. Over the last ten years the Santa Fe Planning Department, led by Jack Kolkmeyer, has been creating the Community College District through the CCD Ordinance, which has no maximum density and encourages light commercial uses—all within walking distances of homes. With the creation of Oshara Village, it even has a town center with a plaza.
JON DICK • architect • Archaeo Architects
Opening up to views and light. Santa Fe style is based on authentic historical adobe construction that was, due to the material, wall-dominated with very few openings. The architecture was fortresslike, to keep out inclement weather and unfriendly neighbors. With sensitive respect to energy and the environment, we now have the ability to add drama to spaces while at the same time blurring the distinction between the interior and exterior. Innovative doors and windows. Weiland, available through Brother Sun, makes sliding pocket doors that meet at a corner so that in the open position two “walls” of a room can disappear. Loewen, also at Brother Sun, is making off-center pivot doors and picture windows that slide up and out, starting to redefine how we view the world from our homes. Right, one of Jon Dick's dramatic designs. Photo courtesy Archaeo Architects.
MARK W. CHALOM • architect
Return to the values of the past. Simple and clean, with basic materials used in their true state, and little processing or refinement—local, renewable, using low embodied energy. The beauty of this has always come from its honesty. Solar planning. Real adobe homes in Santa Fe do not need air conditioners. Long before the Spanish arrived and before the Santa Fe Planning Commission, Native peoples knew to orient their homes to the sun. We have a lot to catch up with before it is forgotten.
