The Plazas of New Mexico documents the rich heritage of New Mexico's plazas and the everyday life and community celebrations that help sustain them. It traces three distinct design traditions -- the Native American center place with kiva and terraced residential blocks, the Hispanic plaza with church and courtyard houses, and the Anglo square with courthouse and business blocks. This landmark volume has resulted from a multi-year research project involving 50 students, a half dozen faculty members, and outside experts working through the Historic Preservation and Regionalism program at the University of New Mexico School of Architecture and Planning. New Mexico's plazas, like urban spaces everywhere, are gaining renewed attention in this time when the challenges of sustainability have sparked the Smart Growth movement, urban revitalization and intensified historic preservation. Detailing the success of restoration projects, this book shows how to encourage heritage tourism in the service of, rather than at the expense of, local quality of life and community sustainability.

Photographs by: Miguel Gandert