Oreste and Maria Bachechi's KiMo Theatre holds the northeast corner of Central Avenue and Fifth Street in Albuquerque, a Pueblo Deco landmark since 1927. Built in 1927, the KiMo is an extravagant example of Pueblo Deco—a deliberate blend of adobe-style Pueblo Revival forms with decorative motifs drawn from indigenous cultures and the soaring lines and linear repetition of American Art Deco. The story of this building is personal: it was conceived by Italian-American entrepreneur Oreste Bachechi (c.
1860–1928) and his wife, Maria Franceschi Bachechi (c. 1865–1959). Mrs. Bachechi wanted to give a tribute to the Native Americans who had embraced their family.
After much travel and meetings with various architects in both New Mexico and California, the design was accepted from Carl Boller of the Boller Brothers; Boller conducted an extensive investigation into the cultures and building styles of the Southwest before submitting his design. Stand close and take in the three-story stucco massing, the stepped forms that echo native pueblo architecture, the recessed spandrels and the strong vertical thrust that lifts your gaze. From the textured stucco to the ornament above, Pueblo Revival curves and Art Deco lines meet on one façade at the corner of Central Avenue and Fifth Street.