The Dar Al Islam Mosque built in 1981 by the Egyptian architect Hassan Fathy. This building is part of a complex originally planned as a residential community for American Muslims it now provides housing for residents, education, retreats and a most beautiful spot of almost 1000 acres along the Chama River near Abiquiu.
Plaza Blanca on the property of Dar Al Islam. And wonder of white stone that O’Keefe painted and the most spectacular site amongst all the other colors of the area.
The cloth covered box on an altar is called a tabernacle in Catholic and some Anglican Lutheran churches and the consecrated bread the Eucharist is stored inside. George Nakashima designed and built this box.
The Monastery of Christ in The Desert, a Benedictine monastery with a church designed by George Nakashima including all the furniture inside. It is 13 miles by dirt road from the nearest highway. As one of the monks said - it is a long driveway. It was founded in 1964 by Father Aelred Wall and two monks from Mount Saviour Monastery in New York. A truly beautiful visit. Thanks to @oliviawilliamsstudio for encouraging a visit.
I was surprised that she had amazing furniture by Eames and Saarinen and Mies van der Rhoe as well as a beautiful big Akari paper lantern sent to her by Noguchi. And many lovely spots of Girard as Alexander and Susan Girard were her closest friends and favorite traveling companions.
It took Georgia O’Keefe ten years to get her Abiquiu home. A Pueblo Revival style adobe that the Catholic Church acquired in 1941 that she convinced them to sell it to her in 1945. It had not been lived in for ten years and was almost a ruin but it had a large garden with irrigation on almost 4 acres. Her friend Maria Chabot supervised the project while she was in NYC, after the death of her husband Alfred Stieglitz and then she lived in this home in the fall and winter upon her return to Abiquiu and never lived anywhere else for the rest of her life besides here and Ghost Ranch.
