Southwestern Ornamentation and Design: The Architecture of John Gaw Meem - Softcover

Anne Taylor

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0865340692 ISBN 13: 9780865340695

Publisher: Sunstone Press, 2017

Synopsis

The archives of the Meem Room in Zimmerman Library at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque contain a wealth of drawings done by one of New Mexico's most renowned architects, John Gaw Meem. Meem's legacy is in part his contribution to the preservation and renewal of historic American Southwestern architecture. Much of the indigenous building and craft work which inspired Meem is gone now, but his work remains as our model for historic architectural details and design. This book lauds Meem's substantial use of crafted ornamentation and details such as gates, doors, corbels, fireplaces, metal work, light fixtures, etc., and shows his sensitivity to the cultural environment he in turn contributed so much to as an example for homeowners, builders, and designers everywhere.

About this title

About the Author:

Anne Taylor, PhD, is a University of New Mexico Regents professor and the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA) distinguished Professor Emerita. She was a professor at the School of Architecture and Planning, University of New Mexico, and is known internationally for her research on physical environments and their effects on learning and behavior, and the teaching of architecture and design to children. Taylor is the author of Linking Architecture and Education: Sustainable Design of Learning Environments and many journal articles on the same subject. Southwestern Ornamentation and Design can be used by teachers, architects and others to explore with their students symbolic architecture and design thinking in a unique part of the United States.

Review:

Anne Taylor offers a direct and knowledgeable analytical survey of one of New Mexico's most renowned architects. Black-and-white photographs drawn from the archives of the Meem Room in Zimmerman Library at the University of New Mexico help present John Meem's bold and visionary ideas to offer inspiration in their own right. A very highly recommended addition to professional and academic Architectural Studies collections. --Midwest Book Review

''It is rare indeed when one person can affect the appearance and image of an entire region, both carrying on and starting traditions that endure for generations. Architect John Gaw Meem was such an individual. His early appreciation of traditional Native American and Hispanic building forms led him both to preserve some of New Mexico's architectural treasures and to continue the use of these forms in a modern context. John Gaw Meem's vision is deeply etched on the built environment of New Mexico.

Although other books have focused on Meem's career, Southwestern Ornamentation & Design features the details--designs for doors, corbels, window grilles, light fixtures, wrought iron stair rails--that distinguished his southwestern style of architecture. Illustrated with sketches and photographs from the Meem collection in the Zimmerman Library at the University of New Mexico, along with new photographs by Lila DeWitt, the book will prove a good visual reference for craftspeople and builders who continue to work in the Meem tradition. In Meem's extensive resource collection at Zimmerman Library, the author and assistants have been able in some cases to identify the original image or object that Meem copies or abstracted in creating a particular detail.'' -- --New Mexico Historical Review

''This book is the perfect companion to John Gaw Meem, by Bunting. This book pays great attention to the detailing that went into Meem's work (doors, gates, corbels, light fixtures, spindles, etc.), while the Bunting book pays more attention to floor plans and entire structures. And it goes without saying that those interested in adobe construction must have this book about the father of the modern adobe structure, both commercial and residential.'' -- --Book Talk

About this edition

• Publisher: Sunstone Press
• Publication date: 2017
• ISBN 10: 0865340692
• ISBN 13: 9780865340695
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 104