The UNM General Library is pleased to announce the opening of a new exhibition in the West Wing of Zimmerman Library: Facing Southwest: The Houses of John Gaw Meem. This exhibit features photographs by Ansel Adams, Laura Gilpin, Ernest Knee, Robert Reck and architectural drawings by John Gaw Meem and George Pearl.
This exhibit opens today, Feb. 27, with a book signing at 5:30 p.m. in the Center for Southwest Research, Zimmerman Library. The exhibit is a companion to the newly published book, "Facing Southwest: The Life & Houses of John Gaw Meem," by Chris Wilson, with photography by Robert Reck. Chris Wilson is the J. B. Jackson Professor of Cultural Landscape Studies, School of Architecture and Planning at UNM and wrote "The Myth of Santa Fe: Creating a Modern Regional Tradition." Both Robert Reck and noted local architect, George Pearl, are featured speakers on the opening program.
"The exhibit gives the library the opportunity to show off its John Gaw Meem archival collection and photos," says Beth Silbergleit, Center for Southwest Research archivist and co-curator with Chris Wilson.
The archive, named for long-time UNM architect John Gaw Meem, documents the built environment of New Mexico and the Southwest. Materials in the collections also record the works of art historians and architectural firms. Meem, born in Brazil, worked on designing the New York subways and briefly as an international banker in Brazil. In 1920 he came to Santa Fe to regain his health after contracting tuberculosis. He began practicing architecture in New Mexico in 1924.
His interest in the concept of regional architecture, and his role in the historic preservation of mission churches, is reflected in the buildings he designed. The original Zimmerman Library, now the West Wing, was inspired by the church at Acoma and is considered "the most beautiful building that Meem designed for the University" (Bainbridge Bunting). The tranquility inspired by these walls has sustained thousands of students over the years.
John Gaw Meem is best known for a style of architecture known variously as "Santa Fe style," "Spanish-Pueblo style" or "Pueblo revival." The style incorporates notable aspects of New Mexico's vernacular and Spanish-influenced architecture, such as earth colors, massive walls, and flat roofs. Long recognized for public buildings in Santa Fe and Albuquerque - including Zimmerman Library, Scholes Hall and the Alumni Chapel on the UNM campus. "Facing Southwest" provides the first book dedicated to the residences designed by Meem. It focuses primarily on the blend of modernist aesthetics and regional tradition into which Meem's great houses fit. Probably most recognizable among Meem-designed houses are La Quinta and Los Poblanos, both of which are in Albuquerque's North Valley.
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One of the more formative design influences for residences was his early interest in reconciling the regional architecture with modernism, "notably in his innovative solar adobe houses," says Wilson. In 1945 he designed a prototype adobe solar home for the Libby Owens Ford Co., who commissioned a solar designed home for each of the forty-nine states and then publicized those designs extensively.
Meem was involved with the Historical American Buildings Survey in the 1930s, acting as the regional director beginning in 1934. From 1933-1959, John Gaw Meem's architectural firm designed every building on the UNM campus. After retiring in 1959, Meem continued to pursue an interest in saving the historic structures of New Mexico. With his wife, Faith Bemis Meem, he founded the Historic Santa Fe Foundation in 1960 and was also active in many preservation and environmental organizations. Meem died in Santa Fe on August 4, 1983, yet his legacy continues through his architectural collection in Zimmerman Library.
by Frances C. Wilkinson
General Library Columnist
Francis Wilkinson is the acting dean of Library Services and has been employed at UNM for more than 20 years, previously as Deputy Dean of Library Services. She is the author of two books and more than forty articles, primarily focusing on her research interests in management, competitive procurement, acquisitions and computer ergonomics.
