architectural
Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing buildings o ...
structures, including entire sections of
Pre-Hispanic
In the history of the Americas, the pre-Columbian era spans from the original settlement of North and South America in the Upper Paleolithic period through European colonization, which began with Christopher Columbus's voyage of 1492. Usually, th ...
and colonial cities, have been designated
World Heritage
A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...
sites for their historical and artistic significance. The country has the largest number of sites declared World Heritage Sites by
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...
in the Americas.
Prehispanic Period
Important archaeological finds of the remains of structures built by the indigenous peoples of Mexico have been made in the country. The
Mesoamerica
Mesoamerica is a historical region and cultural area in southern North America and most of Central America. It extends from approximately central Mexico through Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and northern Costa Rica. W ...
n civilizations that arose there developed a sophisticated architecture that evolved from simplistic to complex forms; in the north it was manifested in buildings of adobe and stone, the multi-storied housing as seen in Paquimé, and the cave dwellings of the Sierra Madre Occidental.
Monte Albán
Monte Albán is a large pre-Columbian archaeological site in the Santa Cruz Xoxocotlán Municipality in the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca (17.043° N, 96.767°W). The site is located on a low mountainous range rising above the plain in the ...
was long the seat of the dominant political power in the Central Valleys of Oaxaca, from the decline of
San José Mogote
San José Mogote is a pre-Columbian archaeological site of the Zapotec, a Mesoamerican culture that flourished in the region of what is now the Mexican state of Oaxaca. A forerunner to the better-known Zapotec site of Monte Albán, San José ...
until the demise of the city, which occurred around the 9th century. The native name of this city founded by the Zapotecs in the late Preclassic is still the subject of discussion. According to some sources, the original name was ''Dani Baá''. It is known, however, that the local
Mixtec
The Mixtecs (), or Mixtecos, are indigenous Mesoamerican peoples of Mexico inhabiting the region known as La Mixteca of Oaxaca and Puebla as well as La Montaña Region and Costa Chica Regions of the state of Guerrero. The Mixtec Culture wa ...
called the city ''Yuku kúi'' (Green Hill) in their
language
Language is a structured system of communication. The structure of a language is its grammar and the free components are its vocabulary. Languages are the primary means by which humans communicate, and may be conveyed through a variety of met ...
.
Like most of the great
Mesoamerica
Mesoamerica is a historical region and cultural area in southern North America and most of Central America. It extends from approximately central Mexico through Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and northern Costa Rica. W ...
n cities, Monte Albán was a city with a multi-ethnic population. Throughout its history, the city maintained strong ties to other peoples in Mesoamerica, especially with the
Teotihuacan
Teotihuacan (Spanish language, Spanish: ''Teotihuacán'') (; ) is an ancient Mesoamerican city located in a sub-valley of the Valley of Mexico, which is located in the State of Mexico, northeast of modern-day Mexico City. Teotihuacan is ...
s during the early Classic period. The city was abandoned by the social elite and much of the rest of its population at the end of Phase Xoo. However, the ceremonial enclosure that constitutes the complex of the archeological site of Monte Albán was reused by the Mixtec during the Postclassic period. By this time, the Zapotec people's political power was divided among various city-states, including
Zaachila
Zaachila (the Zapotec name; Nahuatl: ''Teotzapotlan''; Mixtec: ''Ñuhu Tocuisi'') was a powerful Mesoamerican city in what is now Oaxaca, Mexico, from the city of Oaxaca. The city is named after Zaachila Yoo, the Zapotec ruler, in the late 14 ...
,
Yagul
Yagul is an archaeological site and former city-state associated with the Zapotec civilization of pre-Columbian Mesoamerica, located in the Mexican state of Oaxaca. The site was declared one of the country's four Natural Monuments on 13 October 19 ...
,
Lambityeco
Lambityeco is a small archaeological site just about 3 kilometers west of the Tlacolula city in the Mexican state of Oaxaca. It is located just off Highway 190 about east from the city of Oaxaca en route to Mitla. The site has been securely dated ...
and
Tehuantepec
Tehuantepec (, in full, Santo Domingo Tehuantepec) is a city and municipality in the southeast of the Mexican state of Oaxaca. It is part of the Tehuantepec District in the west of the Istmo Region. The area was important in pre Hispanic period ...
.
The Maya appear to have founded ''Lakam Ha'' about 100 B.C., during the Formative period (2500 B.C. – 300 A.D.), predominantly as a farmers' village favored by the numerous springs and streams nearby. The population of ''Lakam Ha'' grew during the Early Classic period (200–600) as it became a full-fledged city; during the Late Classic period (600–900) it was made the capital of the ''B'akaal'' ('bone') region in Chiapas and
Tabasco
Tabasco (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Tabasco ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Tabasco), is one of the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 17 municipalities and its capital city is Villahermosa.
It is located in ...
. The oldest of the structures that have been discovered were built around the year 600.
B'akaal was an important center of Mayan civilization between the 5th and 9th centuries, during which it formed various, shifting alliances, and fought numerous wars with its enemies. On more than one occasion it made an alliance with
Tikal
Tikal () (''Tik’al'' in modern Mayan orthography) is the ruin of an ancient city, which was likely to have been called Yax Mutal, found in a rainforest in Guatemala. It is one of the largest archeological sites and urban centers of the pre-Co ...
, the other great Mayan city of the time, to contain the spread of militant
Calakmul
Calakmul (; also Kalakmul and other less frequent variants) is a Maya archaeological site in the Mexican state of Campeche, deep in the jungles of the greater Petén Basin region. It is from the Guatemalan border. Calakmul was one of the large ...
, also called the "Kingdom of the Serpent". Calakmul won two of these wars, in 599 and 611. B'akaal rulers claimed that their royal lineage originated in the distant past, some even boasting that their genealogy dated to the creation of the world, which in Mayan mythology was in the year 3114 B.C. Modern archaeological theories speculate that the first dynasty of their rulers was probably of
Olmec
The Olmecs () were the earliest known major Mesoamerican civilization. Following a progressive development in Soconusco, they occupied the tropical lowlands of the modern-day Mexican states of Veracruz and Tabasco. It has been speculated that t ...
ethnicity.
During the Tollan phase, the city reached its greatest extent and population. Some authors estimate the urban area of Tollan-Xicocotitlan at the time was between 5 and 16 km2, with a population of between 16,000 and 55,000 people. During this phase the monumental space that constitutes the
Tula
Tula may refer to:
Geography
Antarctica
*Tula Mountains
*Tula Point
India
*Tulā, a solar month in the traditional Indian calendar
Iran
* Tula, Iran, a village in Hormozgan Province
Italy
* Tula, Sardinia, municipality (''comune'') in the pr ...
archaeological zone was consolidated in two pyramidal bases, two courts for the ballgame and several palaces occupied by the Toltec elite. By this time, Tollan-Xicocotitlan had become not only the nexus of the Mesoamerican commercial networks, it also hosted a military-theocratic elite who imposed their rule in various parts of Mesoamerica, whether by military
conquest
Conquest is the act of military subjugation of an enemy by force of arms.
Military history provides many examples of conquest: the Roman conquest of Britain, the Mauryan conquest of Afghanistan and of vast areas of the Indian subcontinent, t ...
or
political alliance
A political group is a group consisting of political parties or legislators of aligned ideologies. A technical group is similar to a political group, but with members of differing ideologies.
International terms
Equivalent terms are used differ ...
, or by establishing colonies in strategic places.
Teotihuacan
Teotihuacan (Spanish language, Spanish: ''Teotihuacán'') (; ) is an ancient Mesoamerican city located in a sub-valley of the Valley of Mexico, which is located in the State of Mexico, northeast of modern-day Mexico City. Teotihuacan is ...
was listed as a
World Heritage Site
A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...
by
Unesco
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...
in 1987. Teotihuacan archaeological excavations continue to this day, and have resulted in a gradual increase in the quality and quantity of knowledge of the city's history; even so, such important facts as its original name and the ethnic affiliation of its founders are still unknown. It is known that it was a cosmopolitan place, however, by the documented presence of groups from the
Gulf
A gulf is a large inlet from the ocean into the landmass, typically with a narrower opening than a bay, but that is not observable in all geographic areas so named. The term gulf was traditionally used for large highly-indented navigable bodie ...
town
A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world.
Origin and use
The word "town" shares an ori ...
of the same name, Tzintzuntzan was the ceremonial center of the
pre-Columbian
In the history of the Americas, the pre-Columbian era spans from the original settlement of North and South America in the Upper Paleolithic period through European colonization, which began with Christopher Columbus's voyage of 1492. Usually, th ...
Tarascan state
Tarascan or Tarasca is an exonym and the popular name for the Purépecha culture. It may refer to:
* the Tarascan State, a Mesoamerican empire until the Spanish conquest in the 1500s, located in (present-day) west-central Mexico
* the Purépecha p ...
capital. Its ruins are situated on a large artificial platform excavated into the Yahuarato hillside, with a commanding view of
Lake Pátzcuaro
Lake Pátzcuaro (Spanish: ''Lago de Pátzcuaro'') is a lake in the municipality of Pátzcuaro, Michoacán, Mexico.
Lake Pátzcuaro lies in an endorheic basin, which does not drain to the sea. A watershed area of 929 square kilometres drains into ...
. There, five rounded pyramids called "Yácatas" face the lake. The site has a small archaeological museum.
Puuc style
The buildings of Chichen Itza show a large number of architectural and iconographic elements that some historians have called Mexicanized. The influence of cultures from central Mexico, mixed with the
Puuc
Puuc is the name of either a region in the Mexican state of Yucatán or a Maya architectural style prevalent in that region. The word ''puuc'' is derived from the Maya term for "hill". Since the Yucatán is relatively flat, this term was ext ...
style of the upper peninsula, is visible in its Classic Maya architecture. The presence of these elements from the cultures of the
Mexican Plateau
The Central Mexican Plateau, also known as the Mexican Altiplano ( es, Altiplanicie Mexicana), is a large arid-to-semiarid plateau that occupies much of northern and central Mexico. Averaging above sea level, it extends from the US-Mexico border ...
was conjectured recently to have been a result of a mass migration to, or conquest of, the Mayan city by
Toltec
The Toltec culture () was a Pre-Columbian era, pre-Columbian Mesoamerican culture that ruled a state centered in Tula (Mesoamerican site), Tula, Hidalgo (state), Hidalgo, Mexico, during the Epiclassic and the early Post-Classic period of Mesoam ...
groups. However, recent studies suggest that they may have been the cultural expression of a prestigious and widespread political system during the Early Postclassic in
Mesoamerica
Mesoamerica is a historical region and cultural area in southern North America and most of Central America. It extends from approximately central Mexico through Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and northern Costa Rica. W ...
.
Oasisamerican style
Oasisamerica
Oasisamerica is a term that was coined by Paul Kirchhoff (who also coined "Mesoamerica") and published in a 1954 article, and is used by some scholars, primarily Mexican anthropologists, for the broad cultural area defining pre-Columbian so ...
n peoples, whose influence was marked primarily by commercial exchanges between the north and south of Mexico, had widespread contact with the other peoples of Mesoamerica in the Northern Hemisphere, leading to a unique style of building construction in the Americas. The archaeological record of this style is scant compared to that of
Chan Chan
Chan Chan was the largest city of the pre-Columbian era in South America. It is now an archaeology, archaeological site in La Libertad Region west of Trujillo, Peru.
Chan Chan is located in the mouth of the Moche Valley and was the capital of ...
in northern Peru.
Paquimé was a prehistoric settlement that had cultural influence in the northwest of the Sierra Madre Occidental, most of modern-day western
Chihuahua Chihuahua may refer to:
Places
*Chihuahua (state), a Mexican state
**Chihuahua (dog), a breed of dog named after the state
**Chihuahua cheese, a type of cheese originating in the state
**Chihuahua City, the capital city of the state
**Chihuahua Mun ...
and some areas of what is now the states of
Sonora
Sonora (), officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Sonora ( en, Free and Sovereign State of Sonora), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the Administrative divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. The state is d ...
,
Arizona
Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...
,
Utah
Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...
,
Colorado
Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...
and
New Mexico
)
, population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano)
, seat = Santa Fe
, LargestCity = Albuquerque
, LargestMetro = Tiguex
, OfficialLang = None
, Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ker ...
. Researchers estimate that the population probably grew to about 3,500 inhabitants, but their linguistic and ethnic affiliation is unknown.
The site is known for its
adobe
Adobe ( ; ) is a building material made from earth and organic materials. is Spanish for ''mudbrick''. In some English-speaking regions of Spanish heritage, such as the Southwestern United States, the term is used to refer to any kind of e ...
buildings and their "T" form doors. Only a fraction of its total length is fenced and less is excavated. Its buildings have traits of Oasisamerican culture and demonstrate the skill of the Prehispanic architects of the region who designed multifamily adobe houses up to four stories high utilizing wood, reed, and stone as supplementary building materials.
Colonial Period
In the first two decades of the 20th century, the nature of Mexican architecture and culture was at the core of a complex and rich dialogue of Mexican colonial architecture, with many of the best minds in this country paying attention to it. To various degrees, Baxter, Acevedo, Mariscals, García, and other intellectuals tried hard to organize the history of Mexican architecture, better define the whole industry, reform architectural teaching, preserve colonial architecture, and expand the understanding of the extraordinary architectural history of Mexico. These scholars and architects blended architectural history with beliefs about the ethnic cultural conditions, diversity and integration, the contributions of indigenous Mexicans to colonial architecture, and deep participation in the visual effects of Churrigueresque and Baroque architecture surfaces and facades. These are the roots of the development of modern architecture in Mexico.
With the establishment of Spanish rule in Mexico, the first churches and monasteries were built utilizing architectural principles of classical order and the Arabic formalities of Spanish
mudéjar
Mudéjar ( , also , , ca, mudèjar , ; from ar, مدجن, mudajjan, subjugated; tamed; domesticated) refers to the group of Muslims who remained in Iberia in the late medieval period despite the Christian reconquest. It is also a term for ...
ismo. Great cathedrals and civic buildings were later built in the
Baroque
The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...
and
Mannerist
Mannerism, which may also be known as Late Renaissance, is a style in European art that emerged in the later years of the Italian High Renaissance around 1520, spreading by about 1530 and lasting until about the end of the 16th century in Italy, ...
styles, while in rural areas estate manor houses and
hacienda
An ''hacienda'' ( or ; or ) is an estate (or ''finca''), similar to a Roman ''latifundium'', in Spain and the former Spanish Empire. With origins in Andalusia, ''haciendas'' were variously plantations (perhaps including animals or orchards), ...
buildings incorporated
Mozarabic
Mozarabic, also called Andalusi Romance, refers to the medieval Romance varieties spoken in the Iberian Peninsula in territories controlled by the Islamic Emirate of Córdoba and its successors. They were the common tongue for the majority of ...
elements. The
syncretic
Syncretism () is the practice of combining different beliefs and various schools of thought. Syncretism involves the merging or assimilation of several originally discrete traditions, especially in the theology and mythology of religion, thu ...
Indian-Christian mode of architecture developed organically as Indians interpreted European architectural and decorative features in the native, pre-Columbian style called ('laborer' or 'mason', from
Nahuatl
Nahuatl (; ), Aztec, or Mexicano is a language or, by some definitions, a group of languages of the Uto-Aztecan language family. Varieties of Nahuatl are spoken by about Nahua peoples, most of whom live mainly in Central Mexico and have smaller ...
).
Organizing local indigenous communities around monastic centers was one of the solutions devised by friars of the mendicant orders in the 16th century to convert the large number of indigenous non-Catholics in
New Spain
New Spain, officially the Viceroyalty of New Spain ( es, Virreinato de Nueva España, ), or Kingdom of New Spain, was an integral territorial entity of the Spanish Empire, established by Habsburg Spain during the Spanish colonization of the Am ...
. These were conceived of as
fortress
A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...
es, but based architecturally on the European
convent
A convent is a community of monks, nuns, religious brothers or, sisters or priests. Alternatively, ''convent'' means the building used by the community. The word is particularly used in the Catholic Church, Lutheran churches, and the Anglican ...
ual model, incorporating new features such as the open chapel and
atrium
Atrium may refer to:
Anatomy
* Atrium (heart), an anatomical structure of the heart
* Atrium, the genital structure next to the genital aperture in the reproductive system of gastropods
* Atrium of the ventricular system of the brain
* Pulmona ...
s with a stone cross at the center; they were characterized by different decorative elements.
Early in the history of the
Indian reductions
Reductions ( es, reducciones, also called ; , pl. ) were settlements created by Spanish rulers and Roman Catholic missionaries in Spanish America and the Spanish East Indies (the Philippines). In Portuguese-speaking Latin America, such red ...
(), the convents became community training centers, so to speak, where the Indians could learn various arts and trades as well as European social customs and the
Spanish language
Spanish ( or , Castilian) is a Romance languages, Romance language of the Indo-European language family that evolved from colloquial Latin spoken on the Iberian peninsula. Today, it is a world language, global language with more than 500 millio ...
, obtain medical treatment, and even hold funerals. These buildings, spread across the central part of what is now Mexico, contain superb examples of the indigenous mastery of architecture and the sculptural arts. Their work, created under the supervision of the Catholic friars, was done in the ' style, which originated in the architectural stone carving and decorative painting practiced by their ancestors before the Spanish conquest.
The first cathedrals in Mexico were built beginning in 1521 when New Spain was established; from that time onward ever more elaborate structures were built, a prime example being the
Mérida Cathedral
Mérida or Merida may refer to:
Places
*Mérida (state), one of the 23 states which make up Venezuela
*Mérida, Mérida, the capital city of the state of Mérida, Venezuela
*Merida, Leyte, Philippines, a municipality in the province of Leyte
*M ...
in Yucatán, built in the
Renaissance
The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...
architectural style and one of the oldest cathedrals in the New World.
Mexican Baroque
The dominant form of art and architecture during most of the colonial period was
Baroque
The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...
. In 1577,
Pope Gregory XIII
Pope Gregory XIII ( la, Gregorius XIII; it, Gregorio XIII; 7 January 1502 – 10 April 1585), born Ugo Boncompagni, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 13 May 1572 to his death in April 1585. He is best known for ...
created the
Academy of Saint Luke
The Accademia di San Luca (the "Academy of Saint Luke") is an Italian academy of artists in Rome. The establishment of the Accademia de i Pittori e Scultori di Roma was approved by papal brief in 1577, and in 1593 Federico Zuccari became its fir ...
with the purpose of breaking with Renaissance style. Its aim was to use painting and sculpture in and on churches to create iconography to teach and reinforce Church doctrine. In Spain, the first works in Baroque include the Patio of the Kings in
El Escorial
El Escorial, or the Royal Site of San Lorenzo de El Escorial ( es, Monasterio y Sitio de El Escorial en Madrid), or Monasterio del Escorial (), is a historical residence of the King of Spain located in the town of San Lorenzo de El Escorial, u ...
monastery.Rosas Volume 5, p.2-3.
Spanish Baroque was transplanted to Mexico and developed its own varieties from the late 16th to late 18th centuries.Rosas Volume 4, p.14. Baroque art and architecture were mostly applied to churches. One reason for this was that in nearly all cities, towns and villages, the church was the center of the community, with streets in a regular pattern leading away from it. This reflected the Church's role as the center of community life. Church design in
New Spain
New Spain, officially the Viceroyalty of New Spain ( es, Virreinato de Nueva España, ), or Kingdom of New Spain, was an integral territorial entity of the Spanish Empire, established by Habsburg Spain during the Spanish colonization of the Am ...
tended to follow the rectilinear pattern of squares and cubes, rather than contemporary European churches that favored curves and orbs.Rosas Volume 5, p.6.
The spaces of Mexican Baroque churches tend to be more introverted than their European counterparts, focusing especially on the main altar. The purpose was contemplation and meditation. The rich ornamentation was created to keep attention focused on the central themes. This was especially true of the main altar.Rosas Volume 5, p.7.
Columns and
pilaster
In classical architecture
Classical architecture usually denotes architecture which is more or less consciously derived from the principles of Greek and Roman architecture of classical antiquity, or sometimes even more specifically, from the ...
s were an important element of Mexican Baroque style, in particular the part of the column between the
capital
Capital may refer to:
Common uses
* Capital city, a municipality of primary status
** List of national capital cities
* Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences
* Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used f ...
and the base, which can be categorized in six types including
Salomonic
The Solomonic column, also called Barley-sugar column, is a helical column, characterized by a spiraling twisting shaft like a corkscrew. It is not associated with a specific classical order, although most examples have Corinthian or Composite cap ...
and
estipite
The estipite column is a type of pilaster typical of the Churrigueresque Baroque style of Spain and Spanish America used in the 18th century. In the late Baroque period, many classical architectural elements lost their simple shapes and became in ...
(an inverted truncated pyramid) in the later colonial period. Even if the rest of the structure was not covered in decoration, such as in the "purist" style, columns and spaces between doubled columns were profusely decorated.Rosas Volume 5, p.11.Rosas Volume 5, p.12-13.
As it developed in Mexico, the Baroque split into a number of sub-styles and techniques. "Estucado" Baroque was purely decorative and did not employ any architectural features. Features were molded from stucco with intricate detail and either covered in gold leaf or paint. This form reached its height in the 17th century in Puebla and Oaxaca. Surviving examples include the Chapel del Rosario in
Puebla
Puebla ( en, colony, settlement), officially Free and Sovereign State of Puebla ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Puebla), is one of the 32 states which comprise the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 217 municipalities and its cap ...
and the Church at Tonantzintla. One reason this style fell out of favor was that the stucco work eventually dissolved.Rosas Volume 5, p.8-9.
Talavera Baroque was a variety mostly confined to the states of
Puebla
Puebla ( en, colony, settlement), officially Free and Sovereign State of Puebla ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Puebla), is one of the 32 states which comprise the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 217 municipalities and its cap ...
and
Tlaxcala
Tlaxcala (; , ; from nah, Tlaxcallān ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Tlaxcala ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Tlaxcala), is one of the 32 states which comprise the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 60 municipaliti ...
. The main defining feature was the use of hand-painted ceramic tiles of the Talavera type. This style came into being here because of the pottery industry. Tiles are mostly found on the bell towers, domes and main portals of the exterior. They are also found interspersed on the rest of the facade as accents to brickwork. This type of Baroque first appeared in the 17th century and reached its height in the 18th. While wholesale use of this style is mostly confined to two states, elements of this tile work appear, especially in domes, in many other parts of the country.Rosas Volume 5, p.10.
In the late Baroque era artists in the provincial area of New Spain created intricately textured church facades and interiors similar to those of the major cities. It had a more two-dimensional quality, which led it to be called Mestizo Baroque or Folk Baroque. The two-level effect was less based on sculptural modeling and more on drilling into the surface to create a screen-like effect. This has some similarities to pre-Hispanic stone and wood carving, allowing elements of indigenous art tradition to survive.
Other Baroque styles in Mexico did not adorn all of the surfaces of the interior or exterior but focused their ornamentation on columns, pilasters and the spaces between pairs of these supports. Medallions and niches with statues commonly appear between columns and pilasters, especially around main portals and windows. Decorative patterns in columns after were wavy grooves (called ).
Another late Baroque style in Mexico is often called Mexican
Churrigueresque
Churrigueresque (; Spanish: ''Churrigueresco''), also but less commonly "Ultra Baroque", refers to a Spanish Baroque style of elaborate sculptural architectural ornament which emerged as a manner of stucco decoration in Spain in the late 17th c ...
after the Spanish Churriguera family, who made altarpieces at this time. However, the more technical term for this very exuberant, anti-classical style is ultra Baroque. It originated in Spain as architectural decoration, spreading to sculpture and furniture carving. In Spain, the definitive element of ultra Baroque was the use of the Salomonic column along with the profuse decoration.Rosas Volume 5, p.5. In Mexico, the Salomonic column appears as well but the main distinctive aspect of Mexican ultra Baroque is the use of the
estipite
The estipite column is a type of pilaster typical of the Churrigueresque Baroque style of Spain and Spanish America used in the 18th century. In the late Baroque period, many classical architectural elements lost their simple shapes and became in ...
column in both buildings and altarpieces. This is not a true column, but rather an elongated base in the form of an inverted, truncated pyramid. This can be seen in the
Mexico City Cathedral
The Metropolitan Cathedral of the Assumption of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary into Heaven ( es, Catedral Metropolitana de la Asunción de la Bienaventurada Virgen María a los cielos) is the cathedral church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Mex ...
in the Altar of the Kings and the main portal of the Tabernacle.
Ultra Baroque was introduced by Jerónimo Balbás into Mexico, whose design for an altar at the
Seville Cathedral
The Cathedral of Saint Mary of the See ( es, Catedral de Santa María de la Sede), better known as Seville Cathedral, is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Seville, Andalusia, Spain. It was registered in 1987 by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site, along ...
was the inspiration for the Altar of the Kings, constructed in 1717. Balbás used estípites to convey a sense of fluidity, but his Mexican followers flattened the facades and aligned the estípites, with less dynamic results. This is what Lorenzo Rodríguez did to Balbás design for the Altar of the Kings. He also created a stronger horizontal division between the first and second levels, which derived Mexican ultra Baroque from the Spanish version. The ultra Baroque appeared when Mexican mines were producing great wealth, prompting numerous building projects. Much of Mexican ultra Baroque can be seen in and the city of Guanajuato and its mines. For this reason, the style became more developed in Mexico than in Spain.
The combination of Indian and Arabic decorative influences, with an extremely expressive interpretation of the churrigueresque, could explain the variety and intensity of the Baroque in New Spain. Even more than its Spanish counterpart, the American Baroque developed as a style of stucco decoration. Twin towers facades of many American cathedrals of the 17th century have medieval roots.
To the north, the richest province of the 18th century,
New Spain
New Spain, officially the Viceroyalty of New Spain ( es, Virreinato de Nueva España, ), or Kingdom of New Spain, was an integral territorial entity of the Spanish Empire, established by Habsburg Spain during the Spanish colonization of the Am ...
, the current Mexico, was an architecture fantastically extravagant and visually frenetic that is Mexican
churrigueresque
Churrigueresque (; Spanish: ''Churrigueresco''), also but less commonly "Ultra Baroque", refers to a Spanish Baroque style of elaborate sculptural architectural ornament which emerged as a manner of stucco decoration in Spain in the late 17th c ...
. This ultrabaroque style culminates in the works of Lorenzo Rodríguez, whose masterpiece is the Sagrario Metropolitano in
Mexico City
Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...
(1749-1769). Other notable examples are in remote mining towns. For example, the sanctuary of Ocotlán (begun in 1745) is a first-Baroque cathedral, whose surface is covered with bright red tiles, which contrast with a plethora of compressed ornament applied generously on the front and sides of the towers. The true capital of Mexican Baroque is
Puebla
Puebla ( en, colony, settlement), officially Free and Sovereign State of Puebla ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Puebla), is one of the 32 states which comprise the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 217 municipalities and its cap ...
, where the abundance of hand-painted tiles and local gray stone led to a very personal and localized evolution of style, with a pronounced Indian flavor.
The New Spanish Baroque is an artistic movement that appeared in what is now Mexico in the late 16th century, approximately, which was preserved until the mid-18th century. From the Portuguese word ''barrueco'' meaning unclean, mottled, flamboyant, daring, the most striking example of New Spanish Baroque art is in religious architecture, where indigenous artisans gave it a unique character. Highlights include the
Metropolitan Cathedral of Mexico City
The Metropolitan Cathedral of the Assumption of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary into Heaven ( es, Catedral Metropolitana de la Asunción de la Bienaventurada Virgen María a los cielos) is the cathedral church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Mex ...
with his Altar of the Kings, the church of Santa María Tonantzintla in the Puebla State, the Jesuit convent of
Tepotzotlán
Tepotzotlán () is a city and a municipality in the Mexican state of Mexico. It is located northeast of Mexico City about a 45-minute drive along the Mexico City- Querétaro at marker number 41. In Aztec times, the area was the center of a do ...
in the State of Mexico, the Chapel of the Rosary in the church of Santo Domingo of the city of Puebla, the convent and the church of Santo Domingo de Guzmán in Oaxaca, and the church of Santa Prisca in
Taxco
Taxco de Alarcón (; usually referred to as simply Taxco) is a small city and administrative center of Taxco de Alarcón Municipality located in the Mexican state of Guerrero. Taxco is located in the north-central part of the state, from the cit ...
,
Guerrero
Guerrero is one of the 32 states that comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 81 municipalities and its capital city is Chilpancingo and its largest city is Acapulcocopied from article, GuerreroAs of 2020, Guerrero the pop ...
State.
The
Biblioteca Palafoxiana
The Biblioteca Palafoxiana is a library in Puebla City's historic centre, in the Mexican state of Puebla. Founded in 1646, it is recognized by the UNESCO for being the first and oldest public library in the Americas, It has more than 45,000 b ...
, considered by some historians the first public library in the Americas, was founded in 1646 by
Bishop
A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution.
In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...
Juan de Palafox y Mendoza
Juan de Palafox y Mendoza (26 June 1600 – 1 October 1659) was a Spanish politician, administrator, and Catholic clergyman in 17th century Spain and a viceroy of Mexico.
Palafox was the Bishop of Puebla (1640−1655), and the interim Archbisho ...
of Puebla, with a gift of 5,000 volumes to the ''Colegio de San Juan'' (which he had also founded), on the condition that they be made available to the general public, and not just to ecclesiastics and seminarians.
More than a century later,
Francisco Fabián y Fuero
Francisco Fabián y Fuero (7 August 1719, in Terzaga, Aragon – 3 August 1801, in Torrehermosa) was a Spanish Roman Catholic bishop.
Biography
He studied in Calatayud and Alcalá, and was at different times rector of the colleges of San Antoni ...
ordered the construction of the premises which currently house the library in the
vaulted
In architecture, a vault (French ''voûte'', from Italian ''volta'') is a self-supporting arched form, usually of stone or brick, serving to cover a space with a ceiling or roof. As in building an arch, a temporary support is needed while ring ...
hall on the Colegio's second floor. This was finished in 1773, and has two levels of bookshelves and a
retablo
A retablo is a devotional painting, especially a small popular or folk art one using iconography derived from traditional Catholic church art. More generally ''retablo'' is also the Spanish term for a retable or reredos above an altar, whether ...
, or altarpiece, a delicate work which houses an image of the
Madonna of Trapani
The Basilica-Sanctuary of Maria Santissima Annunziata (also called "Madonna of Trapani") is a Roman Catholic church and minor basilica, dedicated to Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Trapani, in Sicily.
It is included in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Tr ...
, an oil painting presumably modeled on the sculpture carved by the Sicilian master
Nino Pisano
"Euclid", panel from Museo_dell'Opera_del_Duomo_(Florence)">Museo_dell'Opera_del_Duomo,_ Museo_dell'Opera_del_Duomo,_Florence">Museo_dell'Opera_del_Duomo_(Florence)">Museo_dell'Opera_del_Duomo,_Florence_">Florence.html"_;"title="Museo_dell'Opera_ ...
in the mid-14th century. The bookshelves were the work of the viceregal cabinetmakers who carved in ayacahuite pine, cedar, and ''coloyote'' wood. The size of the collection continually increased, and a third level of bookshelves was added in the mid-19th century.
Neoclassicism
As part of the
Spanish Enlightenment
The ideas of the Age of Enlightenment ( es, Ilustración) came to Spain in the 18th century with the new Bourbon dynasty, following the death of the last Habsburg monarch, Charles II, in 1700. The period of reform and ' enlightened despotism' u ...
's cultural impact on New Spain, the crown established
Academy of San Carlos
The Academy of San Carlos ( es, Academia de San Carlos) is located at 22 Academia Street in just northeast of the main plaza of Mexico City. It was the first major art academy and the first art museum in the Americas. It was founded in 1781 as th ...
in 1785 to train painters, sculptors, and architects in New Spain, under the direction of peninsular Spaniard Gerónimo Antonio Gil. The academy emphasized neoclassicism, which drew on the inspiration of the clean lines of Greek and Roman architecture. Neoclassicism in architecture was directly linked to crown policies that sought to rein in the exuberance of the baroque, considered in "bad taste" and creating public buildings of "good taste" funded by the crown, such as the
Palacio de Minería
The Palace of Mining, also Palace of Mines, ( es, Palacio de Minería) is a building in Mexico City, Mexico, considered to be a fine example of Neoclassical architecture in the Americas. It was designed and built between 1797 and 1813 by Valencia ...
in Mexico City and the
Hospicio Cabañas
The Hospicio Cabañas or Museum Cabañas in Guadalajara, Jalisco was one of the oldest and largest orphanage and hospital complexes in the Americas. Now turned into a museum, the main hall hosts the magnum opus frescoes of muralist painter Jos ...
in Guadalajara, and the
Alhóndiga de Granaditas
The Alhóndiga de Granaditas (Regional Museum of Guanajuato) ( public grain exchange) is an old grain storage building in Guanajuato City, Mexico. This historic building was created to replace an old grain exchange near the city's river. The name ...
in Guanajuato, all built in the late colonial era.
19th and early 20th century architecture
Townscapes changed little during the first half of the 19th century in Mexico, until the French occupation during the
Second Mexican Empire
The Second Mexican Empire (), officially the Mexican Empire (), was a constitutional monarchy established in Mexico by Mexican monarchists in conjunction with the Second French Empire. The period is sometimes referred to as the Second French i ...
in the mid 1860s. Emperor
Maximilian I Maximilian I may refer to:
*Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor, reigned 1486/93–1519
*Maximilian I, Elector of Bavaria, reigned 1597–1651
*Maximilian I, Prince of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen (1636-1689)
*Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria, reigned 1795 ...
brought a new set of urban design ideas to Mexico. Drawing from the mid-century Parisian redevelopment plan of
Baron Haussmann
Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than a lord or knigh ...
, Maximillain administered the building of a broad new diagonal avenue-
Paseo de la Reforma
Paseo de la Reforma (translated as "Promenade of the Reform") is a wide avenue that runs diagonally across the heart of Mexico City. It was designed at the behest of Emperor Maximilian by Ferdinand von Rosenzweig during the era of the Secon ...
. This elegant boulevard ran for miles from the downtown National Palace to the lush
Chapultepec Park
Chapultepec, more commonly called the "Bosque de Chapultepec" (Chapultepec Forest) in Mexico City, is one of the largest city parks in Mexico, measuring in total just over 686 hectares (1,695 acres). Centered on a rock formation called Chapultep ...
where the Austrian ruler lived in the
Chapultepec Castle
Chapultepec Castle ( es, Castillo de Chapultepec) is located on top of Chapultepec Hill in Mexico City's Chapultepec park. The name ''Chapultepec'' is the Nahuatl word ''chapoltepēc'' which means "on the hill of the grasshopper". The castle has s ...
. Along the broad Reforma, double rows of eucalyptus trees were planted, gas lamps installed, and the first mule-drawn streetcars were introduced. The development was the catalyst for a new phase of growth from downtown Mexico City to the west, a direction that would define the city's structure for the next half century.
During President
Porfirio Díaz
José de la Cruz Porfirio Díaz Mori ( or ; ; 15 September 1830 – 2 July 1915), known as Porfirio Díaz, was a Mexican general and politician who served seven terms as President of Mexico, a total of 31 years, from 28 November 1876 to 6 Decem ...
's terms (1876–1880, 1884–1911), patrons and practitioners of architecture manifested two impulses: to create an architecture that would indicate Mexico's participation in modernity and the emphasize Mexico's difference from other countries through the incorporation of local characteristics into the architecture. The first goal took precedence over the second during most of the 19th century. Major infrastructure projects of building a railway network and a sanitation project to drain the central lake system (the ''desagűe'') near Mexico City necessitated the civil engineers and architects. Railway stations and bridges across ravines were designed and built. Old colonial buildings in the capital, such as the Nacional Palace, were refurbished, and the new penitentiary of
Lecumberri
The Palacio de Lecumberri is a large building, formerly a prison, in the northeast of Mexico City, Mexico, which now houses the General National Archive (''Archivo General de la Nación'').
Known in popular culture as ''The Black Palace of Lecumb ...
was designed, conforming to the precepts of
Jeremy Bentham
Jeremy Bentham (; 15 February 1748 Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates">O.S._4_February_1747.html" ;"title="Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="nowiki/>Old Style and New Style dates">O.S. 4 February 1747">Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.htm ...
's
panopticon
The panopticon is a type of institutional building and a system of control designed by the English philosopher and social theorist Jeremy Bentham in the 18th century. The concept of the design is to allow all prisoners of an institution to be o ...
.
A modern, sophisticated Mexico City was the goal of President Diaz.
Cast iron
Cast iron is a class of iron–carbon alloys with a carbon content more than 2%. Its usefulness derives from its relatively low melting temperature. The alloy constituents affect its color when fractured: white cast iron has carbide impuriti ...
technology from Europe and the United States allowed for new building designs. Italian
marble
Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or Dolomite (mineral), dolomite. Marble is typically not Foliation (geology), foliated (layered), although there are exceptions. In geology, the ...
, European
granite
Granite () is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies undergro ...
, bronzes and
stained glass
Stained glass is coloured glass as a material or works created from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant religious buildings. Although tradition ...
could now be imported. Diaz was determined to transform the landscape of the nation's capital into one reminiscent of Paris or London. It is not surprising that the most important architectural commissions of the
Adamo Boari
Adamo Boari (22 October 1863 – 24 February 1928) was an Italian Art Nouveau and Art Deco civil engineer and architect, he had a very active career in Mexico and he is known for the construction of notable Historicist architectural works in this ...
designed the
Postal Palace
Postal may refer to:
Places
* The Italian name for Burgstall, South Tyrol in northern Italy
* Postal, Missouri
* Postal Square
* Postal Museum (Liechtenstein), a postal museum in Vaduz, Liechtenstein
People
* Fred Postal, former co-owner of ...
built by Gonzalo Garita (1902) and the
National Theatre of Mexico
The Great National Theatre of Mexico was a large opera house in Mexico City.
Milestones in its history
The theatre was built between 1840 and 1844 by architect Lorenzo de la Hidalga in Mexico City. It was located at the end of Cinco de Mayo ...
(1904). The French architect
Émile Bénard
Henri Jean Émile Bénard (June 23, 1844 – October 15, 1929) was a French architect and painter.
Bénard was the winner of the 1899 International Competition for the Phoebe A. Hearst Architectural Plan to design the campus of the University of ...
, who worked on the Legislative Palace in 1903, founded an architectural studio where he took Mexican students. Silvio Contri was responsible for the Secretariat of Communications and Public Works (1902–11). Neo-Gothic designs incorporated into the monumental public buildings of the early 20th century. The two best examples were the Central post office and the
Palacio de Bellas Artes
The Palacio de Bellas Artes (Palace of Fine Arts) is a prominent cultural center in Mexico City. It has hosted notable events in music, dance, theatre, opera and literature in Mexico and has held important exhibitions of painting, sculpture and p ...
, designed by Italian architect
Adamo Boari
Adamo Boari (22 October 1863 – 24 February 1928) was an Italian Art Nouveau and Art Deco civil engineer and architect, he had a very active career in Mexico and he is known for the construction of notable Historicist architectural works in this ...
.
President Diaz had enacted a decree in 1877 that called for the placement of a series of political statues of Mexican heroes along the
Paseo de la Reforma
Paseo de la Reforma (translated as "Promenade of the Reform") is a wide avenue that runs diagonally across the heart of Mexico City. It was designed at the behest of Emperor Maximilian by Ferdinand von Rosenzweig during the era of the Secon ...
Monument to Cuauhtémoc
The Monument to Cuauhtémoc is an 1887 monument dedicated to the last Mexica ruler (''tlatoani'') of Tenochtitlan Cuauhtémoc, located at the intersection of Avenida de los Insurgentes and Paseo de la Reforma in Mexico City. It is the work of F ...
, the monument to
Benito Juárez
Benito Pablo Juárez García (; 21 March 1806 – 18 July 1872) was a Liberalism in Mexico, Mexican liberal politician and lawyer who served as the 26th president of Mexico from 1858 until his death in office in 1872. As a Zapotec peoples, Zapo ...
, and the
Columbus
Columbus is a Latinized version of the Italian surname "''Colombo''". It most commonly refers to:
* Christopher Columbus (1451-1506), the Italian explorer
* Columbus, Ohio, capital of the U.S. state of Ohio
Columbus may also refer to:
Places ...
Statue. Diaz's conviction about the importance of public monuments in the urban landscape started a tradition that has become permanent in Mexico: public monuments in the 20th century landscape.
In the 19th century, Neo-Indigenist architecture played an active part of the representation of national identity as constructed by the Porfirian regime. The representation of the local in Mexican architecture was achieved mainly through themes and decorative motifs inspired by pre-Hispanic antiquity. These representations were essential to the construction of a common heritage by which the nation might be unified. The first building based on the ancient Mexican motifs built in the 19th century was the
Monument to Cuauhtémoc
The Monument to Cuauhtémoc is an 1887 monument dedicated to the last Mexica ruler (''tlatoani'') of Tenochtitlan Cuauhtémoc, located at the intersection of Avenida de los Insurgentes and Paseo de la Reforma in Mexico City. It is the work of F ...
executed by engineer Francisco Jiménez and the sculptor Miguel Noreña. Other 19th-century buildings incorporating pre-Hispanic decorative motifs include the monument to Benito Juarez in Paseo Juarez,
Oaxaca
Oaxaca ( , also , , from nci, Huāxyacac ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Oaxaca ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Oaxaca), is one of the 32 states that compose the political divisions of Mexico, Federative Entities of Mexico. It is ...
(1889).
At the beginning of the 20th century, Luis Zalazar enthusiastically encouraged architects to create a national style of architecture based on the study of pre-Hispanic ruins. His writings would be influential for the nationalistic tendencies in Mexican architecture which developed during the second and third decade of the 20th century.
After the
Mexican Revolution
The Mexican Revolution ( es, Revolución Mexicana) was an extended sequence of armed regional conflicts in Mexico from approximately 1910 to 1920. It has been called "the defining event of modern Mexican history". It resulted in the destruction ...
, successive Mexican regimes would use the pre-Hispanic past to represent the nation. Later architects also took inspiration from the architecture of the colonial period and regional architecture as the creation of a genuinely Mexican architecture became a pressing issue during the 20th century.
Modern and contemporary architecture
Fifteen years after the end of the Mexican Revolution in 1917, government endorsements for federal housing, educational, and health care building programs began. While the development of
modern architecture
Modern architecture, or modernist architecture, was an architectural movement or architectural style based upon new and innovative technologies of construction, particularly the use of glass, steel, and reinforced concrete; the idea that form ...
in Mexico bears some noteworthy parallels to its North American and European counterparts, its trajectory highlights several unique characteristics, which challenged existing definitions modern architecture. During the post-Revolutionary period, idealization of the indigenous and the traditional symbolized attempts to reach into the past and retrieve what had been lost in the race toward modernization.
Functionalism, expressionism, and other schools have left their imprint on a large number of works in which Mexican stylistic elements have been combined with European and North American techniques.
The Institute of Hygiene (1925) in Popotla, Mexico, by José Villagrán García, was one of the first examples of this new national architecture. The studio designed by
Juan O'Gorman
Juan O'Gorman (July 6, 1905 – January 17, 1982) was a Mexican painter and architect.
Early life and family
Juan O'Gorman was born on 6 July 1905 in Coyoacán, then a village to the south of Mexico City and now a borough of the Federal Distri ...
in San Angel, Mexico City, for
Diego Rivera
Diego María de la Concepción Juan Nepomuceno Estanislao de la Rivera y Barrientos Acosta y Rodríguez, known as Diego Rivera (; December 8, 1886 – November 24, 1957), was a prominent Mexican painter. His large frescoes helped establish the ...
and
Frida Kahlo
Magdalena Carmen Frida Kahlo y Calderón (; 6 July 1907 – 13 July 1954) was a Mexican painter known for her many portraits, self-portraits, and works inspired by the nature and artifacts of Mexico. Inspired by the country's popular culture, ...
(1931–32) is a fine example of vanguard architecture built in Mexico.
In the mid-twentieth century, the architecture of Mexico City was affected by rapid economic and urban development, new construction techniques, demographic changes and politics. Mario Pani, José Villagrán García, Juan O'gorman and Luis Barragán designed major new works, played key roles and strongly influenced the industry. Since the 1920s, public customers have been the most significant clients of modern buildings, and these buildings often meet people's needs for better education, housing and healthcare. This period also witnessed the rise of modern suburbs, the evolution of single-family houses and the creation of cultural institutions, especially museums.
As in the past a few decades, architects use non-architectural art, especially painting, to distinguish their works. The legacy of the Mexican mural movement is most obviously reflected in the facades of the main buildings of the new University City, and the influence of the principles of international modernist planning is also very significant. In 1968, Mexico City hosted the Olympic Games. Architects, planners and designers created a network of buildings and images. These buildings and images are interdependent, showing Mexico's internationalization and history rooted in local history. In the 1970s, as the capital was occupied by buildings designed by non-architects, urban expansion and pollution both increased.
File:Casa Giraldi Luis Barragan.JPG, Casa Gilardi
File:Museofk.JPG,
Frida Kahlo Museum
The Frida Kahlo Museum (Spanish: ''Museo Frida Kahlo''), also known as the Blue House (''La Casa Azul'' for the structure's cobalt-blue walls, is a historic house museum and art museum dedicated to the life and work of Mexican artist Frida Kahlo ...
File:Luis Barragan - Casa Luis Barragan 張基義老師拍攝 010.jpg,
Luis Barragán House and Studio
Luis Barragán House and Studio, also known as Casa Luis Barragán, is the former residence of architect Luis Barragán in Miguel Hidalgo district, Mexico City. It is owned by the Fundación de Arquitectura Tapatía and the Government of the Sta ...
Colonial Revival Style
Colonial buildings in Mexico were recalled in the first 25 years of the 20th century, such as the renovation and extension of the City Hall (1906). Over the next 30 years, architects transformed the buildings around the square, thus created a more visually coherent and immortal city center. By 1940, almost all Zócalo buildings were either true colonial buildings or their evocations.
was the first architect to use colonial revival forms in new buildings near the city center. In 1917, he took the charge of designing the Sostres y Dosal building, a department store located on the corner of Correo Mayor, which is called Venustiano Carranza now. The volume and striking rounded corners of this five-story building are reminiscent of the Porfirian shopping palace in Art Nouveau style. Its rustic and classical western entrance echoes the Renaissance architecture. But Mariscal used 18th century architecture when dealing with the facade surface. He used the H-shaped window frame commonly seen in Baroque palaces, and set up a mixed linear retaining wall on the top of the building. Between the third and fourth floors, blue and white tiles are arranged in a zigzag pattern. In the uppermost story, Mariscal placed three colonial revival windows, with the central one shaped like a six-pointed star. Apart from this, Angel Torres Torija used the facade of the Gaona Apartment Building in 1922, which might be one of the most fascinating and earliest purpose-built apartments in the capital, to commemorate the colonial architecture. Different from his counterparts, he used the form of a historian and explicit pictorial references to refer to the country’s political history. The Gaona Building was built outside the historic center, close to the most fashionable residences in Mexico City.
In the years after the Mexican Revolution, the main leaders of the Mexican government borrowed their ideas from architects and historians before the war and promoted the colonial revival style in various ways. The government of President Venustiano Carranza (1917-20) granted federal tax exemptions to those who built houses in the colonial-revival style. Many officials have sponsored the renovation of the historic center, the most famous of which is the Minister of Education José Vasconcelos who oversaw the design and construction of several major buildings.
Mid-century Modern
Mexico's first project of high-density, low-cost housing was the Centro Urbano Alemán (1947–49), Mexico City, by
Mario Pani
Mario Pani Darqui (March 29, 1911 – February 23, 1993) was a famous Mexican architect and urbanist. He was one of the most active urbanists under the Mexican Miracle, and gave form to a good part of the urban appearance of Mexico City, with ...
.
Perhaps the most ambitious project of modern architecture was the construction, begun in 1950, of Ciudad Universitaria outside Mexico City, a complex of buildings and grounds housing the
National Autonomous University of Mexico
The National Autonomous University of Mexico ( es, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, UNAM) is a public research university in Mexico. It is consistently ranked as one of the best universities in Latin America, where it's also the bigges ...
. A cooperative venture, the project was directed by Carlos Lazo, Enrique Del Moral, and Pani. In the new campus the art of the Mexican muralists was incorporated into the architecture, beginning with Rivera's relief in the new
Estadio Olímpico Universitario
Estadio Olímpico Universitario is a multi-purpose stadium located inside Ciudad Universitaria in Mexico City. It was built in 1952 and at that time was the largest stadium in Mexico. This stadium has a capacity of 72,000. The first major event ...
(1952), by Augusto Pérez Palacios,
Jorge Bravo
Jorge Raúl Bravo Orona (born 28 November 1967 in Trinidad, Uruguay) is a Uruguayan cyclist.
Major results
;1995
: 1st Stage 1b (Team time trial, TTT) Vuelta del Uruguay
;2002
: 2nd Overall Rutas de América
;2003
: 6th Overall Vuelta del Urugu ...
, and
Raúl Salinas
Raul, Raúl and Raül are the Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, Spanish, Galician, Asturian, Basque, Aragonese, and Catalan forms of the Anglo-Germanic given name Ralph or Rudolph. They are cognates of the French Raoul.
Raul, Raúl or Raül may re ...
. The Rectory (1952), by Pani, del Moral, and Salvador Ortega Flores, includes murals by
David Alfaro Siqueiros
David Alfaro Siqueiros (born José de Jesús Alfaro Siqueiros; December 29, 1896 – January 6, 1974) was a Mexican social realist painter, best known for his large public murals using the latest in equipment, materials and technique. Along with ...
. The Science Building was designed by
Eugenio Peschard
Eugenio Peschard Delgado was a Mexican architect. Prior to joining the faculty of the National University in 1940, Peschard was an architect in the Ministry of Communications and Public Works and a member of the Council of Architecture of the Fe ...
and features the mural, ''The Conquest of Energy'', by
José Chávez Morado
José Chávez Morado (4 January 1909 – 1 December 2002) was a Mexican artist who was associated with the Mexican muralism movement of the 20th century. His generation followed that of Diego Rivera, José Clemente Orozco and David Alfaro Siqu ...
. Perhaps the most famous integration of mural art with the architecture is seen in the University Library, by O'Gorman, Gustavo Saavedra, and Juan Martínez de Velasco, which features a monumental mosaic design on the facade by O'Gorman. Another architect of note is
Felix Candela
Felix may refer to:
* Felix (name), people and fictional characters with the name
Places
* Arabia Felix is the ancient Latin name of Yemen
* Felix, Spain, a municipality of the province Almería, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, S ...
(Spanish), who designed the expressionistic church Nuestra Señora de los Milagros.
The architecture of Mexico, specifically homes, has historically relied on strong, natural, and durable materials made from the earth. The typical home in Mexico was made using adobe construction with a thatch or palm roofing. In the 19th century, concrete was introduced to Mexican vernacular and became a very natural transition for Mexican architecture designs. It became known as a stronger and more durable material that acted in a similar matter as previously used traditional construction techniques, like adobe. The concrete block houses are built in a similar manner to some adobe homes in how blocks of adobe are placed with a person's hand. The concrete block residences are designed to allow the homes to be constructed easily and still maintained the opportunity to use thermal mass as a cooling strategy - similar to vernacular strategies in dry climates in Mexico.
This was a period of diverse experimentation and even structural innovation, as seen in the thin-shell concrete structures by the Spanish architect Felix Candela, such as his Church of the Miraculous Virgin (1953) in Mexico City and the Cosmic Rays Pavilion (1951) on the university campus. The integration of art and architecture became a constant in Mexican modern architecture, which can be seen in the courtyard of the
Anthropology Museum
A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make thes ...
(c. 1963–65) in Mexico City, by
Pedro Ramírez Vázquez
Pedro Ramírez Vázquez (April 16, 1919 – April 16, 2013) Retrieved 2013-04-16. was a
Luis Barragán
Luis Ramiro Barragán Morfín (March 9, 1902 – November 22, 1988) was a Mexican architect and engineer. His work has influenced contemporary architects visually and conceptually. Barragán's buildings are frequently visited by international ...
. The houses that he designed in the 1950s and '60s explored a way to reconcile the lessons of
Le Corbusier
Charles-Édouard Jeanneret (6 October 188727 August 1965), known as Le Corbusier ( , , ), was a Swiss-French architect, designer, painter, urban planner, writer, and one of the pioneers of what is now regarded as modern architecture. He was ...
with the Spanish colonial tradition. This new synthesis created a completely original Modernist architecture that is uniquely adapted to its environment.
File:Mural on rear of Alfonso Caro Auditorium, UNAM, Mexcio City.jpg,
Eugenio Peschard
Eugenio Peschard Delgado was a Mexican architect. Prior to joining the faculty of the National University in 1940, Peschard was an architect in the Ministry of Communications and Public Works and a member of the Council of Architecture of the Fe ...
: La Facultdad de Ciencia at
UNAM
The National Autonomous University of Mexico ( es, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, UNAM) is a public research university in Mexico. It is consistently ranked as one of the best universities in Latin America, where it's also the bigges ...
Torre Latinoamericana
The Torre Latinoamericana () is a skyscraper in downtown Mexico City, situated in the Historic center of Mexico City, historic city center. Its central location, height (), and history make it one of the city's most important landmarks. It is wid ...
(1956)
File:Torres de Satélite - 2.jpg,
Luis Barragán
Luis Ramiro Barragán Morfín (March 9, 1902 – November 22, 1988) was a Mexican architect and engineer. His work has influenced contemporary architects visually and conceptually. Barragán's buildings are frequently visited by international ...
:
Torres de Satélite
The Torres de Satélite ("Satellite Towers") are a group of sculptures located in the Ciudad Satélite district of Naucalpan, State of Mexico. One of the country's first urban sculptures of great dimensions, had its planning started in 1957 with th ...
(1958)
File:Nationales de Mexico 1984.jpg,
Mario Pani
Mario Pani Darqui (March 29, 1911 – February 23, 1993) was a famous Mexican architect and urbanist. He was one of the most active urbanists under the Mexican Miracle, and gave form to a good part of the urban appearance of Mexico City, with ...
:
Torre Insignia
Torre Insignia (also called Torre Banobras and the Nonoalco Tlatelolco Tower) is a building designed by Mario Pani Darqui which is located on the corner of Avenida Ricardo Flores Magón and Avenida de los Insurgentes Norte, in the Tlatelolco ho ...
(1962)
File:2015-07 k1 CDMX 599.jpg,
Pedro Ramírez Vázquez
Pedro Ramírez Vázquez (April 16, 1919 – April 16, 2013) Retrieved 2013-04-16. was a
Museo Nacional de Antropología
The National Museum of Anthropology ( es, Museo Nacional de Antropología, MNA) is a national museum of Mexico. It is the largest and most visited museum in Mexico. Located in the area between Paseo de la Reforma and Mahatma Gandhi Street within ...
(1964)
File:PLAZA_DE_LAS_TRES_CULTURAS-1.jpg,
Mario Pani
Mario Pani Darqui (March 29, 1911 – February 23, 1993) was a famous Mexican architect and urbanist. He was one of the most active urbanists under the Mexican Miracle, and gave form to a good part of the urban appearance of Mexico City, with ...
Brutalism
Brutalist architecture is an architectural style that emerged during the 1950s in the United Kingdom, among the reconstruction projects of the post-war era. Brutalist buildings are characterised by Minimalism (art), minimalist constructions th ...
of
Teodoro González de León
Teodoro González de León (May 29, 1926 – September 16, 2016) was a Mexican architect.
Biography
González de León studied at the Escuela Nacional de Arquitectura of the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) from 1942 to 19 ...
's Music Conservatory (1994) and the Neo-Barragánesque library (1994) by Legorreta coexist in the new National Centre of the Arts with the work of a younger generation of architects who are influenced by contemporary architecture in Europe and North America.
The School of Theatre (1994), by
TEN Arquitectos
Enrique Norten Rosenfeld (born c. 1954), Hon. FAIA, is a Mexican architect and principal of the design firm '' TEN Arquitectos'' (Taller de Enrique Norten Arquitectos). Norten was born in Mexico City in 1954 where he graduated from the Universidad ...
, and the School of Dance (1994), by Luis Vicente Flores, express a modernity that reinforces the government's desire to present a new image of Mexico as an industrialized country with a global presence.
Enrique Norten
Enrique Norten Rosenfeld (born c. 1954), Hon. FAIA, is a Mexican architect and principal of the design firm ''TEN Arquitectos'' (Taller de Enrique Norten Arquitectos). Norten was born in Mexico City in 1954 where he graduated from the Universidad ...
, the founder of TEN Arquitectors, was presented with the "Legacy Award" by the
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...
for his contributions to the US arts and culture through his work. In 2005 he received the "Leonardo da Vinci" World Award of Arts by the World Cultural Council and was the first Mies van der Rohe Award recipient for Latin American Architecture.
The refined work of
Alberto Kalach
Alberto Kalach (born 1960) is a Mexican architect.
Biography
Alberto Kalach is of Jewish descent, born in Mexico City, studied architecture at the Universidad Iberoamericana, Mexico City, and completed graduate studies later at Cornell Univers ...
and Daniel Alvarez stands out both in their numerous residences as well as in the San Juan de Letrán Station (1994) in Mexico City. The residential work of José Antonio Aldrete-Haas in Mexico City shows both the influence of the attenuated Modernism of the great Portuguese architect
Álvaro Siza Álvaro (, , ) is a Spanish, Galician and Portuguese male given name and surname (see Spanish naming customs) of Visigothic origin. Some claim it may be related to the Old Norse name Alfarr, formed of the elements ''alf'' "elf" and ''arr'' "warrio ...
and a continuity with the lessons of Barragán. Other notable and emerging contemporary architects include Mario Schjetnan,
Michel Rojkind
Michel Rojkind (born December 18, 1969 in Mexico City) is the founding partner of Rojkind Arquitectos and according to Forbes Life a representative of a Mexican generation of architects transforming the country. His office was recognized by Arc ...
,
Tatiana Bilbao
Tatiana Bilbao Spamer (born 1972) is a Mexican architect whose works often merged geometry with nature. Her practice focuses on sustainable design and social housing.
She founded Tatiana Bilbao ESTUDIO in 2004 and has completed projects in China, ...
Mauricio Rocha
Mauricio Rocha Iturbide is a Mexican architect.
Biography
Mauricio Rocha was born in Mexico City in 1965 and studied architecture at Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México in the Max Cetto workshop. He has taught architectural language and pr ...
,
Isaac Broid
Isaac Broid Zajman (b. Mexico City, November 20, 1952) is a Mexican architect and designer.
Biography
Broid studied under J. Francisco Serrano Cacho and Carlos Mijares Bracho at the faculty of architecture and urban planning of the Universidad ...
,
Frida Escobedo
Frida Escobedo (born 1979) is a Mexican architect. She specifically designs and restores urban spaces: housing, community centers, art venues, and hotels. When creating, Escobedo illustrates her works within a general theme of time, not in a his ...
Bernardo Gómez-Pimienta
Bernardo Gómez-Pimienta (born August 18, 1961) is one of Mexico's most widely recognized architects and furniture designers, and named as one of their top 40 architects in 40 years, whose most famous projects include the National Theatre Sc ...
Fernando Romero
Fernando Romero Havaux (born 11 October 1971) is a Mexican businessman, design curator, and architect. He is the founder of fr·ee and Archivo Diseño y Arquitectura. He is the son-in-law of Mexican billionaire, Carlos Slim.
Background
Fernan ...
:
Museo Soumaya
The Museo Soumaya is a private museum in Mexico City and a non-profit cultural institution with two museum buildings in Mexico City — Plaza Carso and Plaza Loreto. It has over 66,000 works from 30 centuries of art including sculptures from Pre-H ...
(2011)
File:Torre_Arcos_Bosques.jpg,
Teodoro González de León
Teodoro González de León (May 29, 1926 – September 16, 2016) was a Mexican architect.
Biography
González de León studied at the Escuela Nacional de Arquitectura of the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) from 1942 to 19 ...
:
Arcos Bosques
Arcos Bosques is an office and shopping complex in Bosques de las Lomas, Cuajimalpa borough, Mexico City, Mexico, very close to the Santa Fe business district. There are two office towers, Torre I and Torre II, and a shopping center, Paseo Arcos ...
(1996)
File:Biblioteca Vasconcelos e Insignia.jpg,
Alberto Kalach
Alberto Kalach (born 1960) is a Mexican architect.
Biography
Alberto Kalach is of Jewish descent, born in Mexico City, studied architecture at the Universidad Iberoamericana, Mexico City, and completed graduate studies later at Cornell Univers ...
:
Biblioteca Vasconcelos
Mexico City's Biblioteca Vasconcelos (''Vasconcelos Library''), also known as Biblioteca Vasconcelos or else ''la Biblioteca Vasconcelos'' or ''la Vasconcelos'' and labeled by the press as the ''Megabiblioteca'' ("megalibrary"), is a library ...
(2008)
File:GMMM 3.jpg, Grupo 4A Arquitectos: Gran Museo del Mundo Maya (2012)
File:Torre_BBVA_Bancomer.jpg,
Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners
RSHP is a British architecture firm, architectural firm, founded in 1977 and previously known as the Richard Rogers Partnership which became Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners. in 2007. The firm rebranded from Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners to si ...
Enrique Norten
Enrique Norten Rosenfeld (born c. 1954), Hon. FAIA, is a Mexican architect and principal of the design firm ''TEN Arquitectos'' (Taller de Enrique Norten Arquitectos). Norten was born in Mexico City in 1954 where he graduated from the Universidad ...
*
Luis Barragán
Luis Ramiro Barragán Morfín (March 9, 1902 – November 22, 1988) was a Mexican architect and engineer. His work has influenced contemporary architects visually and conceptually. Barragán's buildings are frequently visited by international ...
Mexican art
Various types of visual arts developed in the geographical area now known as Mexico. The development of these arts roughly follows the history of Mexico, divided into the prehispanic Mesoamerican era, the New Spain, colonial period, with the perio ...
Further reading
*Aldrich, Richard. ''Style in Mexican Architecture''. Coral Gables: University of Miami Press 1968.
*Anda Alanis, Enrique X. de. ''Evolución de la Arquitectura en México: Epocas Prehispanica, Virreinal Moderna, y Contemporánea''. Mexico City: Panorama Editorial 1987.
*Anda Alanis, Enrique X. de. ''La Arquitectura de la Revolución: Corrientes y Estilos en la Década de los Veinte''. Mexico City: UNAM, Instituto de Investigaciones Estéticas 1990.
*Anda Alanis, Enrique X. de. ''Ciudad de México: Arquitectura 1921-1970''. Seville: Consejería de Obras Públicas y Transportes, and Mexico: Gobierno del Distrito Federal 2001.
*Baxter, Sylvester. ''Spanish-Colonial Architecture in Mexico'' 10 vols. 1901.
*Burian, Edward R. ed., ''Modernity and the Architecture of Mexico''. Austin: University of Texas Press 1994.
*Carranza, Luis. ''Architecture as Revolution: Episodes in the History of Modern Mexico''. Austin: University of Texas Press 2010.
*Cetto, Max. ''Modern Architecture in Mexico''. New York: Praeger 1961.
*Donahue-Wallace, Kelly. ''Art and Architecture in Viceregal Latin America, 1521-1821''. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 2008.
*Fraser, Valerie. ''Building the New World: Studies in the Modern Architecture of Latin America, 1930-1960''. London: Verso 2000.
*Gómez, Lilia and Miguel Angel Quevdo, ''Testimonios vivos, 20 arquitectos''. Cuadernos de Arquitectura y Conservación del Patrimonio Artístico. Mexico Citiy: Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes 1981.
*Grove, Richard. ''Art and Architecture in Mexico''. London: Thames & Hudson 2013.
*Katzman, Israel. ''Arquitectura del siglo XIX en México''. UNAM 1973.
*Lira Vázquez, Carlos. ''Para una historia de la arquitectura mexicana''. Mexico City: Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana Azcapotzalco 1990.
*Martínez Gutiérrez, Patricia. ''El Palacio de Hierro: Arranque dela modernidad arquitectónica en la Ciudad de México''. Mexico city: Instituto de Investigaciones Estéticas, UNAM 2005.
*Olsen, Patrice Elizabeth. ''Artifacts of Revolution: Architecture, Society and Politics in Mexico City, 1920-1940''. Lanham MD: Rowman & Littlefield 2008.
*O'Rourke, Kathryn. ''Modern Architecture in Mexico City: History, Representation, and the Shaping of the Capital''. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press 2016.
*Reese, Carol McMichael. "The Urban Development of Mexico City, 1850-1930" in ''Planning Latin America's Capital Cities: 1850-1950''. Arturo Almandoz, ed. New York: Routledge 2002.
*Tovar de Teresa, Guillermo. ''The City of Palaces: Chronicle of a Lost Heritage''. (Mexico: Vuelta 1990)