Kayla Duncan

Strata: Portraits of the Alvarado & the Southwest

History isn't the past; it is a continuing unfolding of the moment. We can see traces of age within architecture through what remains: ruins and fragments. The Alvarado Transportation Center, formerly the Alvarado Hotel, has been adapted, re-adapted, largely demolished, and reimagined in response to the dynamic modes of tourism and infrastructure throughout the Southwest. The iconic hotel was filled with artwork and crafts made by indigenous communities surrounding Albuquerque, in this way the hotel helped create the image of the Southwest known throughout the country, constructed and reconstructed through an interplay of exoticism via tourism and cultural appropriation. In 1970 the Alvarado was demolished and its contents sold at auction. These leftovers serve as the indicators of a lost time, and objects from that era will be displayed as an archive alongside their modern siblings via contemporary and distinctly identifiable recreations. This allows visitors  to exist alongside history, dining with the pie stool of the past. This re-imagination is steeped in the existing building, atmosphere, and age of the Alvarado Hotel to suggest the story of a long ago place and our connection to that place which was erased. The century of history held within the objects from the hotel, the juxtaposition with their successors’ fading memories, and the distant recreation of its architecture will tell the story of the Southwest. How millions of acres and thousands of years of history throughout New Mexico was imagined, constructed, and broadcast through the story of this particular building.

The strata began at the site through the changing footprint of the building. The layers in this model explore the changes at the place that we call the Alvarado. Beginning in 1891 the relationship between road and train tracks was already clearly established. The most distinct changes correlate with the relationship between automobiles, pedestrians, and the train tracks. In the 1930’s we began to see the first round of grade changes to accommodate the heavy traffic of Route 66. These changes remain today, with the road dipping below the bridged train tracks held by reinforced retaining walls. Those same walls still anchor the tracks nearly 100 years later. Further in the 20th century the streets widened while sidewalks narrowed. The car travel created a new primary entry on First Street, as opposed to the originally planned railroad facade. Pedestrians nor train passengers were no longer prioritized.

Alvarado Kitchen + Bar Perspective: The Dining Room

Alvarado Kitchen + Bar Perspective: The Dining Room is the heart of the design, where historical objects exist in their intended use creating a historical and conceptual underpinning for the design. The ceiling trim, new furniture, and architectural interventions all come from the investigation into the history of the Alvarado, culminating at the Alvarado Transportation Center.

Alvarado Hotel & Transportation Center Timeline

Dining Chair Design

Dining Table Design

Lighting Design Approach

First Floor Plan

Interior Elevations