 There’s a latent power, a mystery about the desert that has always intrigued me. … it’s a hypnotic kind of place Welcome to the inaugural issue of the La Luz del Oeste Foundation’s (LLF) newsletter, The View. The Foundation, an independent 501(c)3 organization founded in 2021 by a handful of La Luz residents, seeks to promote long-term sustainability of La Luz del Oeste and the surrounding open space through education, outreach, preservation, and innovation. La Luz del Oeste is a special place. Designed in the late '60s by world renowned architect Antoine Predock, La Luz captures the magic that results when ecological consciousness is combined with New Mexico’s historical adobe building traditions in combination with modern materials—poured concrete and large glass windows. Who could dispute the beauty and harmony of watching sandhill cranes soar over our open space or a full moon rise over the Sandias.2 La Luz and the surrounding Bosque speaks to each of us in different ways; hence, our choice of “sense of place” as the overarching theme for our first issue. The term encompasses the diverse “emotional and psychological connections that individuals have with specific locations”3 in addition to honoring Predock’s creative design of La Luz that captures the alma de lugar, or “soul of a place.”4 In reading the newsletter articles, a good starting point is a re-read of Dr. Christopher Mead’s 2024 article for DocoMomo that details the journey of three young men in 1967, La Luz developers Didier Raven and Ray Graham III, and architect Antoine Predock, who envisioned an innovative, “new town” community that integrated nature, architecture, and ecological sustainability. The newsletter offers a diversity of articles — the genesis of the new town movement, community residents’ respective perspectives on sense of place, the importance of regenerative conservation in sustainability, and La Luz energy tips related to efficient use of passive solar and roof upgrades. Additional articles include tax credit updates from the New Mexico Register of Cultural Properties and an overview of grant funding requirements. Think about the positive impact that can be made when we teach children about ecosystems and building materials, offer hands-on opportunities for learning about sustainable design, provide new solutions for reducing water in an arid climate, and practice regenerative preservation and landscaping.5 We invite you to join us on this exciting journey! In 2023, fifty years after its completion, We wish to thank all contributors who graciously shared their time, insights, and ideas about sense of place and long-term sustainability of our larger Bosque community. ~ Co-Editors, Deb Kendall-Gallagher & Ginny Hautau The View: Volume 1, Issue 1
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La Luz del Oeste Foundation is a Non-Profit Corporation in the State of New Mexico and is organized exclusively for charitable purposes as defined by the section 501(c)3 of the IRS Code to promote education and preservation of the historic architectural development called La Luz del Oeste. US Tax ID 88-1904777
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