The incarnations of Central Avenue

Abstract

A street's primary role is to claim and compose territory. A review of the history of Central Avenue in Albuquerque, NM illustrates how that street has claimed territory during different periods from the Spanish era to its current incarnation as the ‘cultural corridor’. The street's relationship to the landscape (its topography), the street's form and position in the city (its morphology), and its architectural programme (character) are the primary physical factors in the street's constitution of territory.