Architecture as a Community Undertaking and a Cultural Activity

On Sunday, August 16, 2026 at 2:00 p.m., the Albuquerque Historical Society welcomes Leslie Naji for “Architecture as a Community Undertaking and a Cultural Activity.” The buildings and neighborhoods around us are more than places where we live and work. They are tangible records of the people, cultures, traditions, and changing circumstances that have shaped our communities over time. Drawing on her extensive experience in historic preservation and her travels in India, Nigeria, Denmark, and the Middle East, Naji will explore how architecture reflects the history and cultural identity of communities, and why preserving that heritage is important to understanding where we have come from and how our communities continue to evolve.

The program will be held at the Albuquerque Museum at 2000 Mountain Rd. NW in Old Town. Parking is free in the lot south of the Museum. Admission to the Museum and the AHS program is also free.

Leslie Naji‘s path to historic preservation began not with a love of old buildings, but with a fascination for architecture itself. As a university student during the early years of Post-Modernism, she found the movement more compelling as an idea than as a style — and it was this curiosity that led her toward something deeper: the study of cultural architecture, and the countless ways different societies shape their homes and communities.

That curiosity took her abroad, to India, Nigeria, Denmark, and the Middle East, where she came to see American architecture with new eyes — not as a single tradition, but as a rich set of regional and cultural variations. It is this cultural dimension of the built environment that Leslie has spent a career working to protect: not just structures, but the layered identities and traditions they represent.

In Albuquerque, Leslie has worked to safeguard the character of the city’s historic areas, from its earliest settlements to its more recent neighborhoods, while helping residents see their own communities in a new light. She has worked through the City to shield neighborhoods from demolition and out-of-scale development, and has long championed a simple but powerful idea: that safety comes not from tall fences, but from neighbors who know each other and look out for one another. Through this work, Leslie has helped Albuquerque residents rediscover the value — and the possibility — of more connected, dynamic neighborhoods.