3-08-2024 9:30am

New Mexico Architect Antoine Predock Passed Away at 87

Chris Edwards Editor

Architect, writer, and professor Antoine Predock dies at 87 first designs were in La Luz during the 60s (AlamogordoTownNews.com)

Antoine Samuel Predock was an American architect based in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He was the principal of Antoine Predock Architect PC, the studio he founded in 1967.

Predock first gained national attention with the La Luz community in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The first national design competition he won was held by the Nelson Fine Arts Center at Arizona State University. Predock's work includes the Turtle Creek House, built in 1993 for bird enthusiasts along a prehistoric trail in Texas, the Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery at Skidmore College, and a new ballpark for the San Diego Padres, the Petco Park. He also worked on international sites such as the National Palace Museum Southern Branch in Southern Taiwan and the Canadian Museum for Human Rights in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

Predock said his design was highly influenced by his connection to New Mexico.

In 1967 at age 31, Predock opened his architecture studio, Antoine Predock Architect, out of his home in Albuquerque, New Mexico. There, he designed all of his buildings. His permanent address would remain Albuquerque, and he considered himself a New Mexico native.

Predock’s first built work in New Mexico were a series of townhouses at La Luz, completed between 1967 and 1974. The townhouses were recently listed in the National Register of Historic Places in October 2023 and demonstrate the architect’s commitment to sustainability, and vernacular sensitivity.

In the early 1970s, Predock completed a bevy of his signature works, including the UNM School of Law building and George Pearl Hall; the latter houses UNM’s School of Architecture and Planning, where Predock has taught for decades, as well as the Albuquerque Museum.

Predock received a number of awards recognizing his contribution to architecture. In 1985, Predock was an American Academy Fellow in Rome, in 2006 he was awarded the AIA Gold Medal, and in 2015, he became a RIBA International Fellow. His noteworthy projects that came later in his career include the Canadian Museum for Human Rights in Winnipeg, Manitoba, and Austin’s City Hall building, among many others.

While teaching and practicing, Predock penned myriad books and articles. He played such an important role in Albuquerque, Mayor Tim Keller declared in 2021 that June 24 in Albuquerque will forever be “Antoine Predock Day.”

Predock’s entire collection, home, and studio were recently gifted to UNM, where officials are ideating how to preserve the late architect’s ephemera.