Romance of the Mission: Decorating in the Mission Style - Softcover

Baca, Elmo

9781586851040: Romance of the Mission: Decorating in the Mission Style

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1586851047 ISBN 13: 9781586851040

Publisher: Gibbs Smith, 2001

Mission style conjures up the cultures of Morocco and North Africa, Spain, and Mexico. It blends seamlessly with the artistic genius of southwestern, Native American, and a utopian Californian vision. In looking at the style, it is difficult to remember that the Pueblo Indians first crafted expressions of Spanish Mission architecture under the supervision of Franciscan friars in the 1600s.

Even if the Pueblos didn’t recognize the timeless beauty they created, we recognize it now, and this book artfully puts it into perspective. Picking up where Elmo Baca’s Rio Grande High Style left off, this book focuses solely on Mission style and goes into vivid detail both historical and current. The stylish interiors, beautiful gardens, solid furnishings, and graceful architecture continue to make an impact today.

Elmo Baca is the author of Rio Grande High Style: Furniture Craftsman, Native American Style, Santa Fe Design, and Mabel’s Santa Fe and Taos. A historic preservationist, he has been directly involved in the rehabilitation of twenty buildings listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Currently director of Community Development for the State of New Mexico, he is a frequent contributor to West, Southwest Art, and New Mexico magazines.

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From the Inside Flap:

No other American decorating or architectural style can claim as long or as rich a tradition as the Mission style. The first expressions of Spanish Mission architecture in New Mexico were painstakingly crafted in the 1600s under impossible conditions by Pueblo Indians with the design, engineering, and supervision of Franciscan friars.

The Mission style has been woven into the tapestry of American design ever since its humble beginnings and is currently experiencing renewed interest. It is a style especially suited to the 1990s. After the 1980s, decade of excess and glamour, many Americans are seeking the basics of sturdy, quality housing; refined design; and comfortable, durable home furnishings. The Mission style embodies these qualities and also fulfills another intangible longing for tradition and romance.

Because the Mission Revival styel flourished in the late 1800s and coincided with the Arts & Crafts movement, the two style are often confused. They are both styles that embrace simple and pure design, natural materials, and honest craftsmanship. The ideals and aesthetic of the Craftsman movement complemented the Mission tradition as it was being reinterpreted by architects, writers, and designers in the West. Still, western designers produced distinctive furniture, which incorporates oriental and Spanish elements, and it evolves with each passing decade.

The result is an exciting new school of Mission design that includes the talents of Berkeley Mills Studio, Arroyo Design, Randolph Laug, Jesse L. Nausbaum, Warren Hile Studio, Chaparral Studio, and many more. In this groundbreaking book, Elmo Baca updates and redefines Mission style, marrying tradition with the latest innovations of the nineties.

From the Back Cover:

The mission style conjures memories of the exotic and distant cultures of Morocco and North Africa, the splendor of the Spanish empire, the artistic genius of the southwestern Native Americans, the magnificent churches of Mexico, and the unspoiled California's visions of paradise on earth. Just as the Missions have overcome the ravages of time, conflicts, and the elements, Mission style endures in the hearts, minds, and homes of its devotes, a group that expands yearly with the growing interest in the romance of the Mission.

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