ABSTRACT
This introduction discusses the key concepts covered in the subsequent chapters of this book. This book on Pueblo style and regional architecture brings together some twenty scholars and thinkers of diverse persuasions from many parts of the country to explore the complex interplay of culture and design in New Mexico. The richness of the interdisciplinary mix sees architects and archaeologists, Pueblo Indian scholars, art historians, planners, critics, and cultural investigators come to grips with one of the thorniest architectural problems of our century. Cultural variety is vanishing along with rain forests, stratospheric ozone, healthy oceans, and innumerable plant and animal species. Like the nascent international economy of the nineteenth century, the marketplace of the future will be leavened by tourism and its exotic products. Unique human habitats will be looked upon as antidotes to the miseries of competitive existence. The economy of the future, however, is more likely to devour cultural localities than to preserve them.
