Autotroph

Autotroph is pleased to announce that we have broken ground on this innovative food / beverage, retail and entertainment complex in Rio Rancho. This design incorporates re-purposed shipping containers around a Central Park green space with a lawn, stage and video wall for entertainment. An Eatery is connected to the outdoor spaces with roll up garage doors and will provide a variety food offerings. An upper level bar, Top of the Block, will serve exquisite cocktails while offering amazing sunset views of the Sandia Mountains. This will be the spot for family and adult entertainment in Rio Rancho! Coming in 2023. Learn more at https://www.theblock-peh.com/

New retail development coming to Rio Rancho The Block will be a new retail development located in the Enchanted Hills shopping center in Rio Rancho.

Construction has begun on our renovation of the Jean Cocteau Cinema. Santa Fe's best little performance space is getting an upgrade! This remodel will preserve the Jean Cocteau’s beloved art deco charm, while making the theater much more comfortable and inviting for guests. New seats, improved sight lines, better sound + lighting and a more flexible space will make this the go to theater and performance space in the City Different.

Autotroph is pleased to announce that our Starship proposal is featured in this new publication! This collaboration with Tim Schwartz is a sustainable, mobile community hub. Land Art of the 21st Century Fly Ranch documents the notable submissions to a LAGI sponsored Design Competition for innovative off-grid infrastructure ideas for Burning Man's Fly Ranch Property. It can be purchased here: https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/distributed/L/bo120140891.html

Another day at the office with Autotroph! When you spend time on the site and work to understand it, good things happen. We believe that architecture should be a collaboration with the land, not an imposition.

Concrete naturally absorbs CO2 through a process called carbonation. Not as much CO2 as it takes to make it, but a carbon sink none the less. There are people and companies are looking at ways of increasing it's CO2 absorption potential. Wouldn't it be great if someday the buildings we construct absorb and sequester more CO2 than it takes to build them? Then the built environment can be part of the solution rather than part of the problem.

Concrete construction "offsets around one half" of emissions caused by cement industry Around half of the carbon emissions from cement production are reabsorbed by the material used in buildings and infrastructure, according to the latest IPCC climate report.

Fly Ranch is a truly spectacular place. It is set in a seemingly inhospitable desert site surrounded by mountains, dried up lake beds and scrub brush. But the presence of water makes it an oasis. This former ranch is blessed with artesian springs, natural (and manmade) hot springs and abundant wetlands. It serves as a natural habitat for wild horses, birds, sheep, mountain lions, scorpions and even freshwater snails. It is also overrun with invasive plant species and has the scars of human occupation. Fly Ranch Guardians are in the process of managing invasive species and ecologically restoring significant areas on the property. Also set within the site are pieces of art. Built for Burning Man’s past as well as site specific pieces. Wandering the site, you wonder if you are in a fairy tale. Baba Yaga’s House, the Pier, and the Narwal are art installations that are at once alien and at home in such a landscape.

While there, firm Principal Alexander and his family, experienced extreme temperatures related to the heat wave that hit the Pacific Northwest in late June: 105 deg. or higher each day of their trip. It reminds us of the delicate balance of nature in which life can thrive. A few degrees warmer, make sites like this exponentially less habitable. This trip was a visceral reminder of the effects of climate change and how we should tread lightly on the land, especially in places like this.