A National Identity

A National Identity

A few years ago, my architecture friends from USC asked me to give them a tour of the City. They were just there for a layover on their way to South America, so I had one day to show them as much as possible. With nearly 21 million people living in Mexico City (and suburbs), with the total area of the city being similar to LA and Orange county added together, there was no way I could show them all the great places I think are essential. So I decided to take them to the most tourist-y spots in town: el Centro Historico, la Alameda Central and Polanco. Being architects-in-the-making themselves they were stunned when they saw a fusion of different styles and ideals through the streets we walked. They mentioned they never thought Mexico had such great architecture, and such a variance of styles. To which I just replied in a joking manner, “no one ever think about us.” Yet if you stop for a second to wonder why is that Mexico has such great architecture, the answer misquote clear: architecture is concrete evidence of our national identity, and therefor it has gone through endless phases. 

Museo Soumaya - Polanco

Parque Lincoln - Polanco

The clearest example of a search for a national identity came in the 20th century, when moderns began to flourish in Mexico,  a country whose past has always been a heavy influence in its future. In the 20th century the field of architecture began to shift towards modernism, a style that tried to break away from the past and restart with no baggage or traditions. Modernism was trying to negate and dismiss the ancient classical forms and gothic styles, to create and architecture that was looking towards the future and utilizing new techniques and materials to reflect the evolution of society. These ideals of a tabula rasa came in complete collision with those of a Mexican identity based on our rich cultural past. The architects of the 20th century in Mexico had to figure out a way to fuse these two ideals together, further highlighting the discussion about what is Mexican national identity. 

The 20th century was just an addition with Mexico’s constant struggle with defining itself through architecture. As one walks around Mexico City’s historic core, the different styles of Mexican architecture showcase the era’s different needs and ideals about Mexican identity. In one street alone, you can walk through Aztec ruins, colonial houses, neoclassical structures, baroque fountains, modernist office buildings and viceroyal monuments. These contrasting styles are the basis of Mexico’s constant struggles to define and portray itself to the world. These styles also show the one constant in Mexican architecture: destruction. 

Cathedral at Centro Historico

With every new era and style that arrived or arose in Mexico, the previous one was abolished and served as the foundation. Colonial churches were erected in the sites of old ruins of Tenichtitlan, the Modernist structures took over the sites of baroque buildings, and the newer buildings of the 21st century sprawled and conquered lands considered sacred by the Aztecs. These paradox of destroying to create along with he country’s constant rise in population, have pushed the architect’s to look for new contexts and styles to find meaning behind their national identity. 

In the following posts I’ll try to showcase the different approaches by which Mexican architects tried to define their national identity.