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The Evolution
of Settlement:
The Zuni are indigenous people who live in the high desert region of the southwest United States along the Arizona and New Mexico border. Over the centuries they have evolved a culture and architecture which reveals the "reasons and relations" of their natural and communal world. The Zuni have maintained and passed on their traditions to an extent greater than many other native cultures. These relationships are embodied in the physical form and material of their land and Pueblo, the "middle place" of their creation and origin narratives. Their religion is still strong and viable (the Pueblo is only 2% Catholic) and has been learned and passed down with great care over the centuries. Almost all tribal members speak the Zuni language, which is now taught in the public schools, and participate in an extremely active ritual calendar. The human experience, expression, symbolism, and values expressed in these physical forms comprise a significant cultural resource. Although relatively stable
and strong, the Zuni culture is threatened by the surrounding dominant
culture and social and material problems within the Pueblo. With the advent
of the automobile and poorly designed housing built by U.S. Government
agencies, the settlement has "suburbanized," with the depopulation
and gradual erosion of the historic core. Many of the Zuni would like
to reinforce the center and rehabilitate the Pueblo, find culturally appropriate
methods of new construction, and conserve their natural landscape and
tribal resources. The Zuni culture has survived
and continues in many of its original forms, perhaps because of its remote
location, somewhat autonomous economy, and the historic conservatism of
its leaders. The architectural form of the Pueblo has never been static
– rather it has evolved through many changes of materials, density,
occupation and social relations while keeping the same general plan and
pattern of settlement. The loss of defensive requirements and the overwhelming
technological forces of the twentieth century have dramatically altered
the outline, massing, and form of the habitation structures, but kiva
locations, dance plazas, and religious pathways have maintained their
integrity and position over time. In 1995, ’96, and ’97,
at the request of the Zuni Tribal Council, the Department of Architecture
at the University of Pennsylvania and a New Mexico-based community preservation
organization called Cornerstones Community Partnerships undertook a project
to document the most historic part of the Pueblo, in hopes of finding
the cause and proposing solutions for the many structural and material
problems that were in evidence at the time. In the process of this assessment,
a record was made of the Pueblo’s form and condition in the late
twentieth century, which can be compared to prior assessments, descriptions,
and drawings by Mindeleff (1891), Kroeber (1916), Stubbs (1948), and the
Ohio State University for the Historic American Buildings Survey (1972),
among others. During the course of the survey, many aspects of the Pueblo’s unique spatial and temporal aggregation were revealed. These attributes demonstrate the continuation of certain settlement configurations that tie the Pueblo to its extraordinary site and embody Zuni history and culture. The tribal lands contain many abandoned archeological sites, some of which have been excavated and documented (e.g., Hawikuh, Village of the Great Kivas), but Halona, site of the present Zuni village, is still occupied and forms the center of Zuni life and identity. The Zuni Pueblo has been extensively photographed beginning in the mid-nineteenth century and examination of these records reveal that the surface structures and elements have constantly been remodeled. However, the contemporary pueblo literally rests on the ancient structure and spatial typologies, and the Pueblo form continues as the locus of Zuni cultural memory and practice.
Tony Atkin is Adjunct Associate Professor in the Department of Architecture at the University of Pennsylvania and principal of Atkin Olshin Lawson-Bell Architects in Philadelphia. He is a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects, and his work has won many awards for design, including citations from the American Institute of Architects, the Pennsylvania Society of Architects and Progressive Architecture (now Architecture) Magazine. Work of the firm has been published in national and international journals and numerous books on design. Atkin acted as principal in charge for the firm’s recent work for an addition to the RISD Museum of Art, a new sanctuary for the First United Methodist Church in Waynesville, North Carolina, and the Collis Center at Dartmouth College. He is now working on an addition to the University Museum of Archeology and Anthropology (now under construction) at the University of Pennsylvania, a visitor center and education facility for the Duke Gardens at Duke University, and a new PreK-8 School in West Philadelphia. The firm is also currently associated with the Olin Partnership in making a Comprehensive Development Plan for the University of Pennsylvania campus.
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