One of Archaeo’s primary concerns is creating architecture that is one with its landscape. In this way we pay great respect to the historical vernacular buildings of every locale in which we build. We have developed a deep appreciation for the lean simple humility of early architecture found throughout the west and the world, and from this we derive our inspiration.
This respect for the landscape – wherever it may be – is the product of our having worked for years in the richly historical region of the American Southwest, with its Anasazi ruins dotted across the sunlit landscape, echoing the shadows of memory of a noble people. We pay particular attention to the character of the light and work with it as a form-defining element to sculpt the architecture. This, combined with close attention to the details of the client’s program, gives birth to buildings that feel “right” in their particular landscape – something that is deeply felt by our clients.
Another architect, James Logan Abell, FAIA, said of our work “They have successfully translated the language of centuries-old southwestern residential design into contemporary values of spatial simplicity, sculptural form, and honesty of materials. There is repose and quietude that envelopes their architecture, conveying a Zen-like austerity that is not impoverished nor vacuous, but rather spiritually transformative.In an age where New Mexico residential architecture too often is slavishly imitative of historical precedents, their clean and refreshing statement of high elevation living is a recapitulation of time-honored southwestern design principles: lean and horizontal in expression, integrative topographical intentions, distant views framed and honored from within, and an unapologetic building expression that elevates the nobility of human habitation within the natural landscape.Ordered with clarity, imbued with sculptural subtlety, enchanted with a southwestern legacy, their work is a touchstone of the new century’s regional architectural heritage”.
