Legendary architecture
The Olmecs were already building pyramids at the heart of major ceremonial centers. These imposing earthen structures were also richly decorated with stone and mosaics. The ceremonial centers of Monte Alban and Mitla are the great representatives of the Mixtec and Zapotec civilizations. The former is a true feat of engineering, the mountain having been levelled to create the site, which is organized around a vast esplanade. Pyramids, many of them stepped, were built to get closer to the gods. These pyramids are not tombs, as are the Egyptian pyramids, but platforms designed to support a temple erected on their summits. The Mitla site is also home to sumptuous stone carvings with complex geometric patterns. Teotihuacán, the "City of the Gods", was divided into 4 quarters with very specific functions (religious, administrative, artisanal and residential), with a powerful citadel at its center, housing the sumptuous Temple of Quetzalcoatl, once covered in red and blue. Its 4 levels are covered with glyphs and sculptures. The backbone of the site is an immense causeway serving temples and pyramids, including the Sun Pyramid, the3rd highest in the world. These are all elements found in powerful Mayan cities. Connected by sacbes, straight, slightly elevated limestone roads, these city-states were divided into ceremonial centers and popular dwellings, the latter consisting of elongated oval huts built of wood and thatch. The Maya also developed advanced irrigation techniques, creating canals and cisterns to supply the cities. Astronomy and mathematics presided over the construction of their edifices, with the observatories at the forefront recognized by their small openings designed to allow precise observation of the stars. In addition, they designed a system of corbelled "false vaults", the only example of its kind in pre-Columbian America. A refined and distinctive style is revealed in the bas-reliefs and mosaics adorning the crests and lintels of their buildings.
The Puuc architectural style, found at theUxmal archaeological site, is characterized by sober walls at the base and friezes with complex geometric motifs at the top. The Rio Bec style, seen at Xpujil, is characterized by long buildings flanked by towers with rounded corners. The Chenes style is famous for its facades covered with Chaac masks (the god of rain), while the Chichén Itzá site features a fusion of Mayan influences (geometrically rich decoration) and Toltec influences (sober volumes). More militarized, the Toltecs influenced the creation of veritable fortress-cities like Tulum. The same defensive architecture can be found in Toltec cities such as Quiahuiztlán. In contrast to these stone masterpieces, the Paquimé site has a structure based entirely on adobe buildings. This astonishing labyrinth, whose thick-walled buildings were up to 5 storeys high, also boasts one of the most advanced water management systems. This mastery of water was also practised by the Aztecs, founders of the legendary Tenochtitlan. A lakeside city, it was linked to the shore by 3 imposing causeways. Its heart, divided into distinct quarters, was criss-crossed by a geometric network of streets, with a broad esplanade dominated by the Templo Mayor. Composed of 6 superimposed structures, it illustrates the golden rule of all great civilizations: always rebuild in the same place to take root and survive in an ever-changing natural environment.
Spanish Colonial Architecture
The Spanish conquest was first of all religious. Rudimentary, the first buildings were made of wood, clay and thatch. They were soon replaced by fortress-like stone buildings with crenellated towers and buttresses to protect missions, churches, hospitals and educational institutions. Among the most beautiful examples of these fortresses are the Convent of San Francisco de Campeche and the Convent of Actopan and the fourteen cloisters at the foot of Popocatepetl, which bear witness to a defensive architecture with Gothic overtones. In order to attract the attention of the indigenous peoples, the Spaniards created an astonishing syncretism between the indigenous and Christian cultures. The first churches were built on Mayan or Aztec monuments, with the stones of ancient sacred temples, and had an external chapel more adapted to indigenous traditions and ceremonies, as shown by the Convent of Saint Anthony of Padua in Izamal. The churches were then inspired by the architecture that was much more in vogue in Europe. This is how the Plateresque Renaissance began, characterized by columns decorated with garlands, arabesques, floral and heraldic motifs, of which the portal of the Convent of San Agustín in Acolman is a superb example. The harmony of this architectural development would later give way to a churrigueresque style overflowing with stucco and gilding, in a decorative ensemble completed by the precious stones and metals extracted from the mines. Among the great masterpieces of Baroque architecture, the Temple of San Cayetano in Guanajuato, the Temple of Carmen in San Luis Potosí, and of course, the churches of the city of Puebla and Oaxaca de Juárez are famous for their amazing multicolored ceramic decoration, inspired by Portuguese azulejos. This poblano style has often been dubbed the "confectioner's style" because of its shimmering colors and tiles. The new cities of New Spain were organized in a checkerboard pattern with streets and avenues converging on the central space, the Plaza Mayor, also known as the " Zocalo "(zoccolo in Italian meaning pedestal or base). Lined with arcades and portals, this public square brings together all the powers of the city and serves as a place of gathering and celebration. As far as urban planning is concerned, the Spaniards did not invent anything here! They took the basic structure of Tenochtitlan and used the tezontle or volcanic rock of the temples to build their buildings, the cathedral and the National Palace in the lead!
The colonial house combines decoration and functionality. Its organization around a patio lined with galleries allows for privacy, ventilation, openwork balconies and elegant ironwork inspired by Mudejar art. Its adobe structure on a stone base is reminiscent of indigenous techniques, while the decor borrows from the codes in vogue in Europe, moving from Renaissance harmony to Baroque exuberance, before yielding to the call of classical sobriety. These colorful houses are the soul of the colonial cities, which is why many of them have been included in the network of Pueblos Magicos, the magic villages, like Coatepec. The architectural splendors of New Spain are numerous. Among them, don't miss Lagos de Moreno, known as the "Athens of Jalisco" because of its majestic colonnades, Guadalajara, known as the "Pearl of the West" and home to the largest colonial building in the Americas, the Instituto Cultural Cabañas with its twenty-three patios, or Morelia and Querétaro. In terms of hydraulic works, the aqueduct of Morelia supplied thirty public fountains and one hundred and fifty private water points, while that of Querétaro was nicknamed Los Arcos, for its seventy-four arches of 23 m high. To establish their power, the Spaniards also divided the countryside into haciendas. Imposing walls and watchtowers protected these autonomous economic and agricultural entities. The Spaniards also developed a so-called military architecture. Campeche, the only fortified city in Mexico, is a defensive masterpiece with its polygonal ramparts punctuated by eight baluartes or bastions.
19th and early 20th century eclectics
The incongruous presence of Maximilian of Austria left an equally unusual architectural imprint. It was to him that we owe the restoration of Mexico City's Chapultepec Castle, in an astonishing blend of Rococo, Louis XV and Napoleonic styles! And he was responsible for the construction of Mexico City's most famous thoroughfare, the Paseo de la Reforma. Under the authoritarian regime of Porfirio Diaz, architecture underwent an astonishing effervescence of resolutely eclectic colors. On the Yucatán peninsula, particularly in Mérida, wealthy farming and industrial families built sumptuous mansions along the Paseo de Montejo, nicknamed the Champs-Élysées of Mérida. Architects were often French or Italian, resulting in a very European decor of Doric and Ionic columns, grand marble staircases and sculpted medallions. The Plaza Mayor is adorned with beautifully crafted ironwork kiosks, while theaters and museums are the focus of much decorative attention. The former borrow from the harmony and proportions of neoclassicism, as in the case of Guanajuato's Teatro Juarez, with its fluted portico, and from Art Nouveau, as in Durango's Teatro Ricardo Castro, said to boast one of the country's largest carved wooden reliefs. The second group merges styles. See how Mexico City's famous Palacio de Bellas Artes blends neoclassical elements, Art Nouveau and pre-Columbian motifs, with its Italian marble façade and ceramic-covered domes. Completed in 1934, it also features a number of Art Deco geometric elements, heralding the modernism to come. These formal innovations were also made possible by the emergence of metal architecture, of which the Iron Palace, Mexico City's largest department store, is the finest example. It is inextricably linked with the legend of the inhabitants of Barcelonnette, who made their fortune in textiles in Mexico and erected sumptuous buildings to celebrate their success! This period also saw the construction of new towns near the mines, such as Batopilas and above all Santa Rosalia, built by a French company. The town's steel-framed church was designed in France to plans by Gustave Eiffel!
Laboratory of modernism
The 1936 Loteria Nacional, with its Art Deco structure and silhouette borrowed from New York skyscrapers, set the tone for modernism. Juan O'Gorman, who contributed to the creation of the tezontle pyramid that is the Anahuacalli Museum in Mexico City, is one of the fathers of modern architecture in Mexico. He was responsible for the first functionalist house, inspired by Le Corbusier's theories, in Mexico City's San Angel district. He often works with Luis Barragan, champion of Mexican modernism and the country's only architect to have been awarded the prestigious Pritzker Prize (the Nobel Prize for architecture). Barragan advocates emotional architecture, where color and light reign supreme, with absolute respect for materials and the environment. He is responsible for the astonishing El Pedregal urban project in Mexico City. Fascinated by this rocky, lava-covered terrain, Barragan decided to turn it into an architectural playground where he could express his style of simple, uncluttered geometry. The Casa Pedregal, a sober ochre-red volume, is his masterpiece. Another emblematic creation is his studio house. The sobriety of its concrete volumes comes to life under the play of light and shadow. Another leading figure of modernism is José Villagran Garcia, architect of Mexico City's National Stadium, a blend of brutalism and historicism, but above all designer of the masterplan for the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico. In just three years, from 1949 to 1952, UNAM's Ciudad Universitaria became the symbol of Mexican modernism. Not to be missed are the Central Library, entirely covered in mosaics by Juan O'Gorman, and the immense concrete circle of the Espacio Escultorico.
This was also the period of Mexico City's inordinate growth. To remedy this situation, and to continue the modernist impetus inseparable from a desire for social progress, the Mexican government turned its attention to new urban forms, of which Mario Pani was the great architect. He was responsible for Mexico City's most famous housing projects, including the brick-and-concrete Miguel Aleman Complex, comprising 1,080 homes in 15 buildings (6 of 3 storeys and 9 of 13 storeys). Inspired by Le Corbusier, Pani also designed community facilities and integrated works of art, especially frescoes, into the structure. Classic functionalism in the service of improving living conditions... only these large complexes are not adapted to Mexican tradition, which makes the house the measure of all things. Luis Barragan's three streamlined, colorful towers, which house water towers and mark the entrance to Ciudad Satelite, and the Torre Latinoamericana, with its metal structure towering 182 m above Mexico City, are exceptions in this landscape of low-rise houses.
Contemporary effervescence
The 1960s saw the advent of the country's major seaside resorts, Cancún and Acapulco. Built from the ground up to accommodate mass tourism, they suffered from an almost unreasonable concreteization of their coastlines. Some resorts, however, are trying to retain a more "human" aspect, such as Careyes, where an Italian entrepreneur has created a skilful blend of Mediterranean and Mexican styles, with large palm-roofed houses organized around large public spaces. In the 1980s, architect Pedro Ramirez Vazquez imagined an architecture that made the link with Mexico's rich history, as demonstrated by his National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City, whose large central courtyard boasts one of the world's largest single-point-supported concrete structures, and his Templo Mayor Museum, an astonishing reinterpretation of the famous Aztec temple. Vazquez is also responsible for Mexico City's new Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe basilica, with its tent-like roof and circular interior free of load-bearing pillars, and Tijuana's astonishing spherical cultural center. Today, contemporary creators are building on all these past riches, while learning from the Earth's anger that has so often scarred the country. This creative effervescence has been dubbed the "ME-MO", the Mexican Moment. It applies to the letter the precept of the poet Octavio Paz, affirming the need to link tradition and modernity. Designers give pride of place to ancestral skills (weaving, ceramics), while architects imagine homes that are perfectly anchored in their environment, as in the case of all these contemporary villas with their clean lines and their emphasis on natural materials, led by concrete and wood. Eco-lodges featuring palm-roofed bungalows and thatched wood cabañas are also part of this respect for nature and the environment. At the same time, many architects are working on individual housing to counter the drift of urban growth. Tatiana Bilbao, awarded for her sustainable architecture, has designed low-cost modular houses that can be adapted to the topographical and climatic constraints of different regions of Mexico. Respect for the environment is deeply rooted in Mexican culture, which explains the outcry from local residents against the gigantic Mexico City airport designed by Norman Foster. Few foreign architects have built in Mexico: Mies van der Rohe designed the Baccardi company offices in Mexico City in the 1950s, and in the 2000s, David Chipperfield designed the Jumex Museum, whose sawtooth roof evokes industrial architecture, while Tadao Ando gave life to the Casa Wabi art foundation (which also boasts a pavilion by Alvaro Siza and a chicken coop designed by Kengo Kuma!). The country's other must-see contemporary buildings are 100% Mexican works. Don't miss Alberto Kalach's magnificent Vasconcelos Library, with its harmonious interplay of wood, steel, glass and concrete; Fernando Romero's Soumaya Museum, whose astonishing twist is inspired by Rodin's sculptures; or Mérida's Grand Musée du Monde Maya, whose facade of interlaced metal ribbons evokes the trunk and foliage of the Ceiban, the sacred Mayan tree. Tradition meets modernity!
