Antoine Predock, an architect who made the American desert a virtue
13/03/2024.
[Albuquerque] USA EEUU
metalocus, ANTONIO CORREDERA
metalocus, ANTONIO CORREDERA
Antoine Predock, an architect who made the American desert a virtue, passed away on March 2nd at the age of 87.
Based in Albuquerque, New Mexico, his striking and award-winning structures always evoked the desert, a strategy of connection with the environment, which he generalized in buildings made in different parts of the globe.
Based in Albuquerque, New Mexico, his striking and award-winning structures always evoked the desert, a strategy of connection with the environment, which he generalized in buildings made in different parts of the globe.
Canadian Museum for Human Rights, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Photograph by Alex Fradkin.
Robert Hoag Rawlings Public Library Pueblo, Colorado 2000/2003, in association with Anderson Mason Dale Architects.
Antoine Predock, 1936–2024. Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0 DEED).
The Canadian Museum for Human Rights, Winnipeg. Photograph by Ken Lund/Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0).
La Luz, Albuquerque, New Mexico. Photograph by Jerry Goffe.
The CLA Building at Cal Poly Pomona. Photograph by TheMexicanGentleman/Wikimedia Commons (Public domain).
Spencer Theater, Alto, New Mexico. Photograph by Tim Hursley.
San Diego Padres Ballpark, San Diego, California. Photograph by Tim Hursley.
Luxe Lakes Arts Center, Chengdu, China. Photograph courtesy of Wide Horizons Development.
Luxe Lakes Arts Center, Chengdu, China. Photograph courtesy of Wide Horizons Development.
Luxe Lakes Arts Center, Chengdu, China. Photograph courtesy of Wide Horizons Development.
Trinity River Audubon Center, Dallas, TX. Photograph by Tim Hursley.
CLA Building at Cal Poly Pomona. Photograph by Super Hanz.
George Pearl Hall. Photograph of University of New Mexico, School of Architecture + Planning.
Recreation and Physical Activity Center, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH. Photograph by Brad Feinknopf.
Antoine Predock. Photograph courtesy of Antoine Predock Architect PC.
Antoine Samuel Predock was born in Lebanon, Missouri (June 24, 1936 – March 2, 2024) and lived in New Mexico the state that was a constant source of inspiration, and that he called his “spiritual home” over a four-decade career.
Predock studied engineering, emulating his father, and although he achieved good academic results, he decided to reevaluate his career options after attending a technical drawing course taught by Don Schlegel, an architecture professor at UNM, moving to Columbia University, where he obtained his B.A. in architecture.
Predock established his first office in Albuquerque, New Mexico in 1967, and other offices were established working on international sites such as his office in Taiwan, designing the National Palace Museum Southern Branch in Southern Taiwan, and the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canda.
The Canadian Museum for Human Rights, Winnipeg. Photograph by Ken Lund/Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0).
Outside of practice, he also held various teaching positions at many universities, leaving behind an indelible legacy at the University of New Mexico School of Architecture and Planning (SA+P). In 2017, the school named its new Predock Center for Design and Research in his honor after he donated his archive. He was likewise honored by the city of Albuquerque, which declared June 24th to be Antoine Predock Day in 2021.
His work, 100 buildings, and projects were shown in over 60 exhibitions, 250 books, and over 1,000 publications, culminating in the 2006 AIA Gold Medal, and a Lifetime Achievement honor from the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Awards (2007), Fellow of Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (2014), International Fellow of Royal Institute of British Architects (2015).
Predock studied engineering, emulating his father, and although he achieved good academic results, he decided to reevaluate his career options after attending a technical drawing course taught by Don Schlegel, an architecture professor at UNM, moving to Columbia University, where he obtained his B.A. in architecture.
Predock established his first office in Albuquerque, New Mexico in 1967, and other offices were established working on international sites such as his office in Taiwan, designing the National Palace Museum Southern Branch in Southern Taiwan, and the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canda.
The Canadian Museum for Human Rights, Winnipeg. Photograph by Ken Lund/Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0).
Outside of practice, he also held various teaching positions at many universities, leaving behind an indelible legacy at the University of New Mexico School of Architecture and Planning (SA+P). In 2017, the school named its new Predock Center for Design and Research in his honor after he donated his archive. He was likewise honored by the city of Albuquerque, which declared June 24th to be Antoine Predock Day in 2021.
His work, 100 buildings, and projects were shown in over 60 exhibitions, 250 books, and over 1,000 publications, culminating in the 2006 AIA Gold Medal, and a Lifetime Achievement honor from the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Awards (2007), Fellow of Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (2014), International Fellow of Royal Institute of British Architects (2015).
