City preview · ALBUQUERQUE
Fourth Street and Central Avenue mark Route 66 before and after its realignment. Market stalls now fill the old railroad blacksmith shop. Suitable morning winds can help balloons loop towards their starting point, while the Torreón’s fresco was made in sections before each patch of plaster dried.
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From a highway crossing to the air above the valley
Four complete stories and their public sources are shown here; the rest of the collection is in the app.
01 · Crossroads of Route 66
The crossroads joins two eras of the same highway.
Route 66 originally passed through Albuquerque north–south along Fourth Street. In 1937 it shifted to east–west Central Avenue. The old and new alignments cross here. From the intersection’s sidewalk, one direction follows the earlier route, while the other leads along the later, better-known motel corridor.
Source: visitalbuquerque.org
02 · Albuquerque Rail Yards
The Sunday market uses a former locomotive workshop.
Built in 1917, the railroad’s Blacksmith Shop repaired cracked locomotive frames and forged replacement parts. Large locomotive parts required a high, open workshop. The Sunday market now uses the same steel-framed, brick-walled building, with stalls beneath its high roof.
Source: chatterabq.org Source: railyardsmarket.org
03 · Sid Cutter Pilot's Pavilion
A balloon can sometimes borrow another wind to come back.
On a clear, calm morning, cold air close to the valley floor may flow south while winds above blow another way. Balloon pilots can ride the lower wind, then climb to another layer and try to drift back near their launch point. This pattern is called the Albuquerque Box; pilots can use the differing winds to adjust their direction. Winds change as the sun rises, and these conditions do not occur every day.
Source: weather.gov
04 · NHCC Torreón / New Mexico Mutual Welcome Center public approach
The continuous mural was painted into the wall in sections.
Inside the Torreón, the painting surrounds you along the curved inner wall. Frederico Vigil spent nearly ten years on Mundos de Mestizaje, researching and sketching before applying pigments to fresh, wet plaster. In fresco, color becomes part of the wall, and each working section is limited by drying time.
Source: artsandculture.google.com Source: nhccnm.org
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