Santa Fe, NM
2018

The site is located in the physical center of the City of Santa Fe and as such has opportunity to become a dynamic node for Santa Fe and to revitalize the former campus area as well as the surrounding urban fabric. It is important the new center celebrate the rich history of Santa Fe and reflects in a new way the unique identity of the City Different. Inspired by the Culture Connects initiative created by the City of Santa Fe in 2016, the new center should be inclusive. It should be a dense, vibrant and easily accessed destination for residents and tourists, with a variety of programs and uses to attract people across all demographic categories (age, race, economic strata, cultural identity and gender). As a dense magnet of spaces and activities at the geographic core of Santa Fe, it will also serve as a transportation link addressing motion of pedestrians, bicycles, and motorized vehicles including cars, scooters, buses, motorcycles, etc.

The focus on motion is both literal and figurative in that a successful city or mixed use neighborhood is always changing, perhaps growing, but certainly evolving. As a cultural hub, there will be motion of ideas, events, activities and relationships which will be reflected in the physical fabric of the area in subtle, or perhaps grand, ways.

We note that, over its history, America has moved away from its origins in communal land ownership. For many native peoples as well as the first European immigrants, land was a communal resource that was equally benefit and responsibility for all members of the community. Over time, land in America has become increasingly privatized resulting in a country where the public realm is largely restricted to the street right of way and public institutions. Cultural patterns have paralleled land ownership patterns; life has become increasingly isolated, privatized, and selfish, resulting in an “encapsulated life” (James Howard Kunstler, The Geography of Nowhere) as one moves from their house to their car to their work to car to the store to the TV at home. Manicured private outdoor spaces surrounded by retail are a sad facsimile of true public space. The resurgence of the common public realm is needed to create and foster community.