About Stefan Merdler
Stefan Merdler was, and effectively still is, the passion, inspiration and driving force behind ArcoVerdi.
At the start of the 1970s, Stefan was a successful Research Geophysicist at Texas Instruments, with a long and rewarding career ahead of him. However, the lure of Corporate America just didn’t seem that appealing to Stefan anymore. He was passionate about design. He was passionate about Architecture. And as the impact of the oil crisis of the early 1970s began to take hold, he became increasingly passionate about the environment and the world in which he was living.
Stefan admired the work of Frank Lloyd Wright. Wright believed in designing in harmony with humanity and the environment, a philosophy he called organic architecture. Inspired by Wright, Stefan began designing and creating furniture for the buildings he was sketching at the time. In 1971, he took that one large and significant step further. He resigned from Texas Instruments. He bought a plot of land just outside Austin, TX. Then he set about designing and building his first contemporary modular residence. A home for his new wife and himself.
Ironically at the tender age of 11, prior to emigrating to the United States in 1953, Stefan won a scholarship at a prestigious technical grammar school in London, England, specializing in Architecture and Design. It was as if architectural design had always been in his blood.
Stefan had found his new vocation in life...
Energized by his first project, Stefan relocated to Santa Fe in 1973 and established his own ecological architectural design practice, becoming a pioneer of the solar revolution in residential and commercial property design. Stefan set the standard for energy harnessing and conservation through the use of solar panels, adobe walls, operable clerestory windows, and trombe walls. Focusing on how a building responded to the site and the environment allowed Stefan to create functional and pleasing designs for his clients.
Stefan took further inspiration from the work of architect Paolo Soleri, who first coined the term Arcology in 1969. Soleri believed that a completed arcology would provide space for a variety of residential, commercial, and agricultural facilities while minimizing individual human environmental impact.
In 1982 Stefan was recognized for excellence in new dwellings by the Old Santa Fe Association and Santa Fe chapter of the American Institute of Architects.
In 1984, the national newspaper of France, Le Monde, published an article about Stefan’s progressive environmentally sensitive design with which he had become synonymous. The article focused on Stefan’s own residence, ArcoVerdi, which incorporated many of Stefan’s innovative ideas for ecological design.
Stefan drew every plan and detail by hand, a method rarely undertaken anymore. His drawings were displayed on the walls of the permit office in Santa Fe for many years as an example of best practice to all Architects submitting plans.
These were just some of the numerous awards and accolades Stefan received for his passive solar designs. Stefan was even inducted into the Santa Fe chapter of the AIA. He politely declined however, not wanting to be constrained by the confines of traditionalism.
It was around this time that Stefan started referring to himself as an ‘Ecotect’. A term that aptly describe his environmentally conscious design philosophy.
“Innovation & creativity are not born out of the constraints of conformity”
Stefan Merdler
This philosophy is shared by his daughter Kristi, who joined her father on many site visits from an early age. During the 1990s Kristi assisted her father throughout the design and built process on multiple projects before going off to develop and establish herself in her own right.
During his professional career, Stefan was responsible for designed over 350 unique and stylized properties, encompassing a broad range of residential homes with projects ranging from small kitchen upgrades and portal additions, to grand residences, as well as small / medium sized commercial properties, restaurants, and resorts.
Sadly Stefan passed away unexpectedly at the Rio en Medio (Santa Fe Ski Area) leading a hike to Lake Peak on 10 October 2019. However, he left us with an indelible legacy of unique monuments to his ideas and passions, his dreams and desires that continue on in the safe hands of his beloved daughter, Kristi…
