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At the beginning of the 20th century, Mexican architecture was
still influenced by the cultural policies of the regime of President
Porfirio Diaz. Since his ascent to power in 1876, he tried to
give Mexico a modern face that could bring it to the most prominent place in the international society. The concept of reflecting
Mexican modernity in the mirror of foreign nations brought
severe cultural implications. The architectural education of the
Mexican School of Fine Arts was given mainly by foreign professors who brought notions of the French Beaux-Arts. Therefore,
the buildings produced in the first two decades of the 20ch
century were full of foreign elements regarding ornamentation.
and this new aesthetic was the paradigm of the new progressive
Mexican society, although it lacked the national elements that
could give its architecture a more genuine character. The tendency grew as the most important new buildings were designed
by foreign architects; the Italian Adamo Boari (d. 1928) taught
in Mexico while he was working on the Post Office Building
(1902) in Mexico City, on which a venetian loggia stands above
a series of richly ornamented neo-Gothie windows. His most
important work, the exterior of the National Theatre (1904) in
Mexico City, now called the Palace of Fine Arts, is another fine
example of this eclectic arrangement of architectural styles. Here.
the volumetry of the building is very similar to the Garnier's
Opera (1975) of Paris, but it also incorporates many organic
elements that reflect an Art Nouveau influence.
Urban areas were also affected by new progressive concepts,
and the creation of suburbs began. as those found in Europe.
Mexico City grew very rapidly, and soon the agricultural lands
that surrounded it were invaded by the rising middle and upper
classes. The buildings in these new statements were neo-Moorish, Gothic, Renaissance, and baroque. Many other styles
appeared on the same street and sometimes in the same building.
This exoticism can be found on the works of Emilio Dondê's
(1849-1905) San Felipe Church (1900) in Mexico City, Antonio Rivas Mercado' (1853-1927) Monument for the Commemoration of the Centennial of the Declaration of Independence (1910) in Mexico City or the Guanajuato Juárez Theatre
(1903), and Nicolas (1875-1964) and Federico Mariscal's
(1881-1969) Police Headquarters (1906) in Mexico City,
among others.
The new architecture was also determined by the use of new
building techniques, one of the most important breakthroughs
being the extended use of steel structures that could now provide
larger spans. In most cases, they were covered with stone, but
this technique was also capable of providing a new architectural
language because the structural elements could remain visible,
as in the Guanajuato Market (1904) by Ernesto Brunel (c.1875-
c.1950) or in the Chopo Museum (1910), which was designed
in Germany and brought to Mexico for its assembly.
The Mexican Revolution (1910-20) brought changes to
every aspect of Mexican society and affected architectural activity
as well. After a period (1919-25) during which the number
of new buildings was very low, building was inspired by new
ideological concepts as the influence of international exoticism
began to diminish and a new nationalism emerged. The Mexican
pre-Hispanic and colonial heritage was revalidated, and the ornaments
on buildings began to include such motifs. The works of
Manuel Amabilis (1883 -1966), such as the lost Riviera Round-
about (1926) in Mexico City, with the reproduction of Mayan
snakes, or the project for the Mexican Pavilion at the Seville
Exposition of 1926, on which Mayan elements copied from
Uxmal and Mitla were combined, are good examples. Some of
the most important neo-Colonial works are those of Ignacio
Marquina (1888- 1981) and Manuel Torres Torrija (1872-).
Carlos Obregón Santacilia (1896-1961) was one of the
prominent architects of the first half of the 20th century. He
built some important examples of the neo-Colonial style but
also ventured into Art Deco, creating a very interesting mix that
can be seen in the Revolution Monument (1938). Although Art
Deco was also an aesthetic language that was imported from
Europe through the United States, it could fit into the new
"revolutionary" architecture in Mexico. The exoticism that was
portrayed in the Art Deco ornaments of Chicago and New York
with referrals to antique cultures such as Egyptian and Babylonian could also be adapted in Mexico, as its own Aztec and Mayan
tradition could supply abundant motifs to portray the desired
Mexicanism. Two good examples of such buildings are the Police
and Firemen Headquarters (1928) of Mexico City by Vicente
Mendiola (1899 -1986) with sculptures by Manuel Centurión
(1883-1948) and the Fronton Mexico (1929) by Joaquin Capila (c.1890- 1960), both of which have pre-Hispanic decoration
on their facades.
Art Deco gained importance in Mexico, as it also portrayed
the use of a new material that had been scarcely used up to that
time: cement. The structures that combined concrete elements
with a steel structure were economical and confident, although
Mexican society viewed them with reticence until the 1930s.
Juan Segura (1898-1989) used it abundantly on some Art Deco
buildings, such as the Ermita (1931), which also has a very
innovative program in it that it incorporates apartments, commercial spaces, and a cinema in single six-story building in : very
articulated manner. One of the most important examples of the
new structural concepts is the so-called first Mexican skyscraper,
the La Nacional Insurance Company Building (1930) in Mexico
City by Manuel Ortiz Monasterio (1893 c1960), Bernardo
Calderón (c.1890 -c.1960), and Luis Avila (c.1900 -c.1970), The
steel structure rises only 12 levels high, but it is contemporary
and has the morphology of the American so-called setback mass
buildings of the time,
The reformation of the revolutionary Mexican architecture
was, in many cases, simply formal or ornamental, as the spatial
conception of the buildings remained the same. The theoretical
approach was done by José Villagran Garcia (1901 -82), mainly
in his classrooms around 1930; he stared that above the social
"importance" of the architecture was its social "function," as the
work of an artist must always be completely identified with the
people. In this way, the "modern," which seemingly had no
national roots, must be combined with the "Mexican," which
seemed anti-modern. Combining these required relying on an
architectural program that could determine the character of national problems to provide an architectural response that would
be national as well. The fundamental question of the architect
is, then, not aesthetic but ethical. These ideas were the platform
of the Mexican School of Architecture that looked after a " mod-
en national architecture." Examples of this functional school
are works by the same Villagrin: the Sanitary Institute (1927)
in Popotla and the Tuberculosis Sanatorium (1936) in Huipulco, both of which were part of an ambitious program by the
Mexican government to bring health services to all Mexicans.
The other natural application of the theory was in education,
and the government initiated a program char built hundreds of
schools in the country using the materials and techniques of
every region of the country,
The Mexican School of Architecture also provided the archirectural response for one of the most important social problems:
popular housing. In 1932 a national contest was held to find
worker's minimum house." and the works of Alvaro Aburto
(e.1900-€.1970), Enrique Yáñez (1908-90), Juan Legarreta
(1908 -34), and Augusto Pérez Palacios (1909 -c.1980) exemplified this new social rural architecture, in which the internal
spaces were optimised but still articulated around a social area
in which most of the family life occurred and with an important
open space planned for particular crops. Economy and standardization were the most important considerations of this contest.
Low-income housing in the cities also occurred in multifamily housing projects, the first one being the Miguel Alemán Complex (1949) by Mario Pani (1911-93), composed of 1,080 units
in an area less than 10,000 square meters with complete services,
such as schools, playgrounds, sports facilities (including a swim-
ming pool), and commercial areas. The 13-story buildings were
distributed diagonally in a zigzag manner with common circulation areas and elevators and facade of exposed brick and con-
crete,
Among the Mexican architects with socialist ideas, Juan
O Gorman (1905--82) was one of the most influential. Follow-
ing the concepts of Le Corbusier (1887- 1965) and trying to
achieve the maximum efficiency with the minimum waste,
O' Gorman built more than 28 schools (1932-35) in the country
that remain as good examples of the Mexican functionalist architecture school. His most well known work is the studio (1930)
that he built for the Mexican muralist painter Diego Rivera and
his wife Frida Kablo in San Angel. In chis work, he uses some
vernacular elements, such as cactus fence and brilliant "Indian"
colours, in a very simple structure with A wall of steel-framed
windows, All pipes and electrical systems were exposed on the
inside as an expression of the machine era of the modern world.
O' Gorman also participated in one of the most important
examples of Mexico's 20th-century architecture: the University
City (1946-52). All the professional schools in Mexico City had
been scattered among several buildings in the downtown area
for over two centuries, but the modern concept of a great campus
that would concentrate all the university's activity emerged. Following this idea, a ream of 150 architects led by Mario Pani and
Enrique del Moral (1906-87) began a work on a project that
would try to solve the contradiction that had been haunting
Mexican architecture the entire century: to build the environment of a modern dynamic society while still representing its
history and identity. In chis project, the approach was that of
integración plástica (plastic integration), in which architecture,
painting, and sculpture would be integrated into a unified work
of art. The facades of the several buildings of the complex were
covered with murals by such important artists as Juan O'Gorman
and Diego Rivera (1886-1957) with diverse motifs, mainly from
Mexico's past and present. Although University City was de-
signed on an urban concept that was inspired by pre-Hispanic
principles regarding open spaces, terracing, and scales, it also
responded to the principles of modern urbanism, such as superblocks, separation of circulation systems, and zoning of activities. The result is
very interesting interpretation of the functionalist international language with the participation of
multidisciplinary array of artists very compromised with the
expressionism of their national architectural language.
The same Plastic Integration movement also participated in
several other buildings, such as the Communications and Trans-
port Ministry Office (1954) by Carlos Lazo (1914-55), with
paintings by Juan O'Gorman, and the General Hospital Build-
ing (1958) by Enrique Yáner, with works by David Alfaro Si-
queiros (1898-1974), among other brilliant muralists. Although
this movement could achieve works of importance, it disintegrated rapidly, as different ideologies among artists prevailed.
Nonetheless, it remains one of the most brilliant and original
moments of Mexican architecture.
The adoption of the International Style by Mexican architects
began around 1945 and sometimes is still mixed with principles
of the Mexican School of Architecture, as it represented an economical way of building with open spaces and volumetric purism
with no ornamentation at all. The influence of such architects
as Ludwig, Mies van der Rohe (1886 -1969) and Walter Gropius
(1883-1969) became very powerful, The building of the Latin-
americana Tower (1952) in Mexico City, a high-rise building
with glass facades, marked the historic district of the city and
gave way to the demolition of many historic buildings that were
10 be replaced by the new models. The author of the tower,
Augusto H. Álvarez (1914-€.1980), was one of the most prolific.
of this style, and he projected several more buildings, some of
the most renowned being the Mexico Valley Bank (1955) and
the La Libertad Insurance Company (1959).
One building that represents an interesting approach to the
International Style is the Bank of Mexico Building (1950) on
the Port of Veracruz by Carlos Lazo. Here, the simple glass tower
is surrounded by huge concrete pergolas and blinds chat provide
bioclimatic conditioning for the office space while also providing beautiful set of lights and shades.
On the urban level, the most important large-scale project
of the second half of the 20ch century was the Thatclolco housing
complex (1964) in Mexico City by Mario Pani. Here, more
than 100,000 inhabitants live on a megablock that comprises all
services, commercial and recreational, including several schools,
health centers, specialty shops, day care centres, a cinema.
theatre, and a church. The apartment buildings represent a few
prototypes that are repeated, and the overall architecture follows
the principles of the International Style.
Pedro Ramirez Vázquez (1919-) is one of the prominent
architects of the second half of the century, his most important
work being the National Museum of Anthropology (1964), in
which he still uses some principles of the Plastic Integration
movement, as the walls that surround the huge central patio are
covered with pre-Hispanic motifs, and the open space is partially
covered with an "umbrella" that raises without touching the
building because it is suspended from a central column that is
also a fountain. The spatial organisation of the exhibit halls is
articulated around this patio, each of which is unique, being
adapted to the collections of the native culture that it houses.
More recent works of this architect that also have great importance are the Aztec Stadium (1965) and the new Nuestra Schora
de Guadalupe shrine (1975), in which the modern structure is
placed next to the old 17th-century shrine and rises above it
with a curved cover, under which thousands of Catholics gather
daily.
An important regional movement is the Escuela Tapatia, created in Guadalajara and headed by Rafael Urzua (1905 -c. 1980),
Ignacio Diaz Morales (1905-2.1980), and Luis Barragán (1902-
88). This group of architects built some important houses in
western Mexico, but Barragán grew beyond the regional level
to become one of the most prominent names of 20ch-century
Mexican architecture. His own house (1947) in Tacubaya is
considered one of his masterworks, as he could mix tradition
and modernity using volumes and walls to confine the space
that flows throughout the building. The use of colour is one of
Barragin's most important assets. He uses bright pinks, blues.
and taken from the chromatic scale used in vernacular architecture but applied on solid massive surfaces that are proper of the
functionalism. His language is enriched with natural elements,
such as beautiful gardens or fountains. Some of his most relevant
works are the Gilardi house (1976), the chapel for the Capuchines (1952), and the San Cristobal house and its riding facilities
(1967), among many others.
Abraham Zabludovsky (1924-) and Teodoro González de
León (1926-) are two bright architects who have worked jointly
since 1965. They developed an architectural language that identifics Mexican contemporary architecture, as they use massive
columns and walls made of exposed concrete with marbled chips
embedded. This richly textured marerial has been used in buildings such as INFONAVIT (1973) in Mexico City, the Mexican
Embassy (1975) at Brasilia, El Colegio de México (1975), the
Pedagogic National University (1979), the Rafino Tamayo Museum (1981), and the National Auditorium (1990) in Mexico
City. In all these building, the use of a patio that works as :
transitional space between the exterior and the interior is present.
as is a vast use of platforms and stairs not only as circulation
elements but also as expressive elements themselves. A particularly interesting, building is the Banco de México (1988), which
had to be built adjacent to a beautiful 17ch-century palace in
the historic district of Mexico Ciry. 'The solution was to transfer
the volumetry of the palace (rhythm of openings, window pro-
portion. floor levels, and cornices) to the new building, thus
imitating it respectfully. These architects also have recent works
of their own: Gonzilez de León did a wonderful urban work
(1985) at the Tomás Garrido Canabal Park in Villhermosa in
which a 600-meter axis articulates a 200. lakes, bridges, and
monuments, all of which are morphologically inspired by the
Mayan architecture of the region. Zabludovsky has worked on
theaters in Aguascalientes (1991), Celaya (1990), Guanajuato
(1991), and Dolores (1991): one of his most prominent works
is the residential complex La Cantera (1992) in Coyoacan, which
is an uncommon program of a series of wisely designed low-
income apartments.
Since the last years of the 20ch century, group
of creative
artists have continued the search for Mexico's own modern archirecture, including Agustin Hernández (1924-) with the use
of pre-Hispanic forms in the Military Academy (1985); Ricardo
Legorreta (1931-) with the massive Camino Real Hotel (1981)
of Ixtapa or the great MARCO Museum (1991) in Monterrey:
Francisco Serrano (1900-82), who cleverly designed different
platforms for the Ibero-Americana University (1987); and Enrique Norten (1954-), who designed the round roof of the National Theatre School (1994) in Mexico City.
In a country with such vast architectural history as Mexico,
the labor of conservation and restoration is also an aspect that
modem architects must resolve. The concern for preserving
Mexico's cultural heritage has been achieved in many projects
during the 20ch century, some of the most recent being the
restoration project of the 18th-century Ciudadela (1988) in
Mexico City by Abraham Zabludovsky, the Image Center
(1994) inside the same historic building by Isaac Broid (1952),
the library (1992) inside the 17ch-century Santo Domingo con-
vent in Mexico City by Marisa Aja (1955-), and the Colegio
Nacional, which completely modified a 17th-century building
by González de León. All these works combine modern materials
such as steel, glass, and aluminium and superimpose them on
the historic building, attempting to incorporate the modern use
into the old structure. This important part of Mexican architecture needs to be reinvigorated in the years to come.
ALFONSO A. SÁNCHEZ
Sennott R.S. Encyclopedia of twentieth century architecture, Vol.2. Fitzroy Dearborn., 2005. |
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INTERNAL LINKS
FURTHER READING
Adria, Miquel, México 90'e Una arguitectura contemporanca: A
Contemporary Architecture (bilingual Spanish-English edition),
Mexico City and Barcelona: Gil, 1996
Ambast. Emilio. The Architecture of Luis Barragin. New York:
Museum of Modern Art. 1976
Anda, E.X. de, La arguitectura de la recolación Mexicana: corrientes y
ntilas en la década de les veinte, The Architecture of the Mexican
Revolution: trends and styles of the twenties] Mexico Cire:
Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Insticuto de
Investigaciones Estéticas, 1990
Arroc, W. The Architecture of Ricardo Locorreta, Austin: University
of Texas Press, and Berlin: Ernst, 1990
Burian. Edward (editor), Modernity and the Architecture of Mexico,
Austin: University of Texas Press, 1997
Gonzalez Gortázar, Fernando, Arquitectura Mexicana del sigle XX.
[Mexican Architecture of the 20th Century] Mexico City:
Consejo Nacional para la Cultura y las Artes, 1994
Heyer, Paul, Abraham Zabludoney, Architect, 1979-1993, New
York: Princeton Architectural Press, 1993
Kappe, Shelly (editor), Modern Architecture, Mexico, Santa Monica:
Southern California Institute for Architecture Press, 1981
Katzman, Israel, La arquitectura contemporánea Mexicana: precedentes
y desarrollo, [Mexican Contemporary Architecture: Precedents and
Development) Mexico City: Instituto Nacional de Antropologia e
Historia, 1963
Martin Hernández, Vicente, Arquisectara doméstica de la Ciudad de
México, 1890-1925, [Domestic Architecture of Mexico Ciry,
1890-1925| Mexico City: Universidad Nacional Autonoma de
Mexico, Escuela Nacional de Arquiteczura, 1981
Noelle, Louise, and Carlos Tejeda, Catalogo quid de anguisectura
contemporanea: Cindad de México, (Catalog and Guide of
Contemporary Architecture: Mexico Cityl Mexico City: Fomento
Cultural Banames, 1993
Resena de arqutectara mexicana; Mexican Archiseenare Review
(bilingual Spanish-English journal) (1992)
Street-Porter, Tim. Casa Mexicana: The Architecture, Design, and
Style of Mexico, New York Stewart Tabori and Chang, 1989
Suzuki, Makoto (editor), Modere Mexican Architecture, Tokyo and
New York: Process Architecture, 1983
Toca, Antonio, and Anibal Figueroa Castrejon, México, nuera
arquitectura [ Mexico: New Architecture, Mexico City: Gili,
1991; 3rd edition. 1993
Toca, Antonio (editor), Anguisectara contemporanca en México
[Contemporary Architecture in Mexico], Azcapotzalco:
Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana, and Mexico City:
Gerika, 1989
Villagrán Garcia, J. Jose, Teoria de La arquitectara [Architectural
Theory], Mexico City: Institute Nacional de Bellas Artes, 1983
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