"By Design": Santa Fe style

For our special broadcast titled "By Design," Charles Osgood has left our studio to hit the trail . . . the Santa Fe Trail:

It is a luminous landscape in northern New Mexico. Mountains and streams, canyons and hilltops, all bathed in a special light -- La Luz, as the Spanish call it.

This is the homeland of the Pueblo Indians, builders of America's original high-rises. The mud-and-straw (or adobe) brick homes of the Taos Pueblo have been continuously inhabited for some 1,000 years. It has been designated a World Heritage Site by the United Nations.

In 1610, the Spanish established their colonial capital nearby, a town dedicated to the holy faith of St. Francis: Santa Fe.

The end of the fabled trail of pioneer days, Santa Fe is today the oldest state capital city in our nation. And if its earth-tone structures hark back to the Pueblo originals, well, that's by design.

Almost a century ago, city fathers mandated use of the style all over town, predicting -- accurately, as it turned out -- that it would be good for the tourist trade.

Today, even fast food outlets and big box stores are clad in Santa Fe style.

But at day's end, the man-made pales in comparison to something larger here . . . something that brings so many back to this land under the sun: the beauty of nature, a grand design indeed.

Among the sites and locations featured in our broadcast:

Canyon Road -- A guide to local artists' galleries and other attractions.
Canyon Road at Paseo de Peralta

Georgia O'Keeffe Museum -- Open since 1997, and dedicated to the artistic legacy of O'Keeffe and to American Modernism.
217 Johnson Street
Santa Fe N.M. 87501

Thanks to guitarist Joaquin Gallegos, and to the dancers (Janira Cordova, Mikayla Garcia, Jaylena Lujan, Alexandria Martinez and Brianna Montijo) who gifted us with their performance.

Museum of Indian Arts & Culture -- A premier repository of Native art and culture.
710 Camino Lejo
Santa Fe, N.M 87504

Santa Fe Opera -- The company, founded in 1957, is recognized as presenting one of the world's leading opera festivals. (Here's information on their 2014 season.)
301 Opera Drive
Santa Fe, N.M. 87506

Santa Fe Plaza -- The downtown center hosts Indian and Spanish markets and annual cultural events.
Bordered by San Francisco and Washington Streets, Palace and Lincoln Avenues - the end of the Old Santa Fe Trail

Santa Fe Railyard -- Originally a stopping-point on the Santa Fe Trail, it was revived in the 21st century as a community and cultural center.
Corner of Guadalupe Street and Cerrillos Road

Taos Pueblo -- a living Native American community, and the only one designated as both a World Heritage Site by UNESCO and a National Historic Landmark.
120 Veterans Highway
Taos, N.M. 87571

El Zaguan (James L. Johnson House) -- A Spanish Pueblo-style villa originally constructed in the mid-19th century by a Santa Fe merchant, and now owned by the Historic Santa Fe Foundation.
545 Canyon Road
Santa Fe, N.M. 87501

La Casa Sena Restaurant
125 East Palace Avenue
Santa Fe, N.M. 87501

La Fonda Santa Fe Hotel -- Designed by Santa Fe architect John Gaw Meem and Southwest designer Mary Elizabeth Jane Colter.
100 E. San Francisco St.
Santa Fe, N.M. 87501

Earthship Biotechture -- Sustainable design and construction.
#2 Earthship Way
Taos, N.M, 87571

Ohlhausen DuBois Architects -- Designers of the Klein House.