Resumé

2007
Parra is featured in a PBS Documentary by the Smithsonian Institute.  Featured on Masters of the Building Arts.

2006
Phase One of a four phase design, to coordinate, build and reconstruct a 300 year old winery and priest quarters in Old Town Albuquerque, New Mexico.

2005
Featured builder in the Albuquerque Journal, Home and Real Estate section.

2003/04
Selected by the Smithsonian Institute to work on a PBS Documentary on Earth Building in the Southwest

2002
Traditional mud plaster and mud floor repair, as well as maintenance at Morada de' Nuestra Senora de Los Dolores, Abiquiu, New Mexico

2001
Represented New Mexico, in the building project in Washington, DC for the Smithsonian Institute, part of the "Masters of the Building Arts" program.

1998
Featured Adobe Master in a Documentary on Adobe by Home and Garden TV

1992/93
Reconstruction of 300 year old Penitente Morada that was destroyed and desecrated by vandals.  Required to use only traditional means, old world methods and materials.  Abiquiu, New Mexico

1992
Parra designed, coordinated and build an adobe village project of New Mexican themes, for the Smithsonian Institute in Washington DC.

1991
Requested by a powerful broadcast family to build the largest of all residences to date, 15,000 square feet of adobe in Las Vegas, Nevada

1998/90
Built traditional adobes that were made on site for a U shaped hacienda built in Los Ranchos, NM.

1981
Parra designed, coordinated and build a "Colonial Period" Adobe, for the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, DC.

1980/79
The repair and renovation of the adobe rectory and sanctuary for Our Lady of Guadalupe, in Villanueva, NM.

1979
Built his own family residence, a 4000 square foot adobe with traditional methods and materials, setting the standard for adobe quality in Albuquerque.

1975
At age 20 he received his GB 98

1974
Was given charge of his first major project.  Plaza Don Gaspar at 404 San Felipe NW, in Old Town, Albuquerque, NM.

1965/74
Was the apprentice of Master Adobe Builder, Don Gaspar Garcia, and worked on projects throughout New Mexico.

According to many news articles, documentaries and testimonies, Albert D. Parra is a Master Adobe Builder from Albuquerque, New Mexico.  As a boy he loved the smell of the earth.  He grew up in Old Town Albuquerque, with his great-grandmother.  When he was about 9 years of age, he met Don Gaspar Garcia, one of the best adobe makers in the SouthWest.  Don Gaspar became Albert's mentor.  As Albert says, "He took me under his wing, and life was never the same again."

For Albert, building with adobe is not just another building technique.  It is a philosophy of life.  Adobe, he explains, is made of natural materials and is environmentally friendly.  It absorbs heat during the day, and releases it at night.  This cuts down on heating and cooling expenses as well as conserves energy.

For Albert, adobe buildings are also in tune with the landscape, their rounded walls and natural colors blend in with the land that surrounds them.
"Adobe is of the earth and built with earth, and when it's over with, it goes back to the earth.  It is a very simple way of living.  It's a clean way of living".  Albert D. Parra