lamesadevenn: Part 6

In this series, trace the story of lamesadevenn, a green live/work space in Santa Fe, New Mexico, created for two community groups, La Mesita and La Resolana. Rather than simply becoming a building that addresses the structural needs of the groups, lamesadevenn seeks to embody their values of sustainability, experiential education, and community involvement. Part 6: The Foundation.

Twenty-seven months, thousands of late night studio hours, hundreds of intercontinental emails, several bottles of cheap whiskey, dozens of increasingly strained community conversations, a handful of visits from the county inspectors, and one tenuous construction loan later, lamesadevenn’s hallmark Rancho project finally broke ground.

Slideshow

lamesadevenn backstory building foundation

Excavating for most residential foundations takes a few days, maybe a couple of weeks. Due to the expansive soils and the lamesadevenn collaborative’s desire to mitigate erosion by impeding rain runoff, the bulldozers were chomping for nearly a month. In Santa Fe, earthwork averages around $800 a month, but through some dealing with two amenable local contractors, Su Hogar and Wingspan Construction, lamesadevenn managed to cut this price in half.

lamesadevenn: Part Three

A joyous moment: The site that Alba and Lopez discovered, on the developing southside of Santa Fe, offered the space, the views, and a promising pack of neighbors.
lamesadevenn: Part Four

Site in hand, lamesadevenn began developing a design and program that would be cutting-edge and strikingly original—and of questionable feasibility.
lamesadevenn: Part One

In this series, trace the story of lamesadevenn, a green live/work space in Santa Fe, New Mexico, created for two community groups, La Mesita and La Resolana.
lamesadevenn: Part Two

In this series, trace the evolution of lamesadevenn, an international collaborative of architects, product designers and communication specialists who are redefining how and why we design.
Steel and Magnolias

What sort of house might a man with the title “recycling coordinator” live in?
Dwell Home Venice: Part 9

In this series, Sebastian Mariscal designs a home in Venice, California, that brings the outside in. We track the project from start to finish with future resident Michael Sylvester.
lamesadevenn: Part Seven

In this series, trace the story of lamesadevenn, a green live/work space in Santa Fe, New Mexico, created for two community groups, La Mesita and La Resolana.
lamesadevenn: Part Five

In this series, trace the evolution of lamesadevenn, an international collaborative of architects, product designers, and communication specialists who are redefining how and why we design.