World-renowned architect, writer, and professor Antoine Predock died this past weekend in New Mexico. He was 87. News of his passing was confirmed by a family friend and later reported by Albuquerque Journal.
For decades, Predock was a faculty member at the University of New Mexico (UNM) School of Architecture and Planning. “At the School of Architecture and Planning, we’re heavily mourning the loss of Antoine Predock, but we’re so fortunate to have established, with his guidance, the Predock Center for Design and Research, where we will share his vision with the world,” UNM Dean Robert Alexander Gonzalez told AN in a statement. “This is sited in the studio buildings and home where his team of over 300 collaborators and apprentices designed every single building he envisioned. He was an architect of international stature who could have practiced anywhere, but his strong regional roots kept him in New Mexico. It was a gift that he stayed with us for so long, and that our students’ breath his presence every day at George Pearl Hall.”
Predock was born on June 24, 1936, in Lebanon, Missouri. After high school, he studied engineering at the University of Missouri, but then transferred to the University of New Mexico. He graduated from Columbia University with a bachelor’s degree in architecture.
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.
