Modernity and the Architecture of Mexico

Rating:
Summary: A mixed bag of riches
Review: I am a dutch architect that has been living in Mexico for over thirty years, and I believe that this is probably the best book on modern mexican architecture that I have read. Of course not all the essays have the same quality. The best is the Mendez Vigata essay which I would rank as essential reading for anyone interested on mexican public architecture or to anyone interested in the relationship between architecture and politics. The Perez Gomez interview, the Arredondo, Curtis, Mereles, Burian's O'Gorman essay(there is not much information about that great mexican painter and architect elsewhere), and the Mijares (a personal view of Obregon's architecture from one of the greatest mexican architects) are very good. The essay on Juan Segura written by Antonio Toca, who is one of the most important architecture historians in Mexico, is dissapointing. Probably the worst is the Kalach essay on the Ciudad Universitaria Stadium, this was a real dissapointment since Kalach is one the one of the most interesting young architects in Mexico. So, if really have an interest in mexican architecture don't let the couple of mediocre articles included prevent you from enjoying this otherwise rare and wonderful book.

Rating:
Summary: A wonderful book
Review: I think this is the best book on modern mexican architecture that I have read. Unfortunatelly most of the books currently available on the architecture of that country are lacking on theoretical and historical data, this one is the exception. There isn't much that I can add to the "Mixed bag of riches" review, but I think that this is a book that will not let anyone down .

Rating:
Summary: Summary / "Modernity and the Architecture of Mexico"
Review: Since the mid 1970's, there has been an extraordinary renewal of interest in early modern architecture, both as a way of gaining insight into contemporary architectural culture and as a reaction to neoconservative postmodernism. This book undertakes a critical reappraisal of the notion of modernity in Mexican architecture and its influence on a generation of Mexican architects whose works spanned the 1920's through 1960's.

Nine essays by noted architects and architectural historians cover a range of topics from broad-based critical commentaries to discussions of individual architects and buildings. Among these are the architects Enrique del Moral, Juan O' Gorman, Carlos Obregón Santacilia, Juan Segura, Mario Pani, and the campus and stadium of the Ciudad Universitaria in Mexico City.

Relatively little has been published in English regarding this era of Mexican architecture. Thus, "Modernity and the Architecture of Mexico," will play a groundbreaking role in making the underlying assumptions, ideological and political constructs, and specific architect's agendas known to a wide audience in the humanities. Likewise, it should inspire greater appreciation for this undervalued body of works as an important contribution to the modern movement.

Rating:
Summary: comments on, "Modernity and the Architecture of Mexico"
Review: The intention of this book is to focus on a group of early modern twentieth-century Mexican architects and their buildings, projects, and manifestos, that have been largely ignored in architectural literature, particularly in English.

In a sense, the book places such well known architects such as Luis Barragán, Ricardo Legorreta, Carlos Mijares, Pedro Ramírez Vázquez, and Teodoro González de León in an intellectual and cultural context. My goal was to selectively examine a generation of early modern architects in Mexico whose works have largely been jettisoned by history. I also aimed to produce a book which was accessable to a wide range of readers in the arts and humanities.

In this context, the essays in this volume intentionally span a broad range of issues, from critical commentaries to discussions of individual buildings and architects, in order to examine modernity both as an ideological construct as well as in relationship to specific works of architecture and their individual qualities. They are presented not as a monolithic survey of the period, but rather as a gathering of scholars and interested observers with different approaches and voices.

My interview with the distinguished architectural scholar Alberto Pérez-Gómez provides an introduction and a broad conceptual setting for the essays which follow. Pérez-Goméz discusses the ideological background of the phenomena of modernity in Mexico. He offers insights into the work and theory of individual architects such as Hannes Mayer, Félix Candela, Enrique de la Mora and José Villagán García. He also explores topics that relate labor, mass production, nationalism, culture, and modernity itself, among others.

Antonio Méndez-Vigatá makes explicit the role politics in post-Revolutionary Mexico from 1920 to 1952, in the formulation of architectural language and ideology, and in the forging a national identity. The powerful role of the Ministry of Education as a formulator and disseminator of ideology as well as the role of Villagrán García as a theoretician is also discussed.

Individual projects are the focus of the next two essays. The University City campus of the National University in Mexico City is the focus of Celia Arredondo. In her essay she discusses the University City as an icon of modern architecture in Mexico and explores its relationship to the conception of the universal man of the modern movement versus the conception of a new, modern Mexican man born out of the Mexican Revolution. Alberto Kalach examines the extraordinary stadium which is adjacent to the University City. The stadium is discussed in terms of the particular qualities of place - including the site's geology, topography, and history - in relationship to its making and tectonic order.

Discussions of individual architects whose work is largely unknown outside of Mexico round out the book. The noted architectural historian William Curtis analyzes the form and sequence of the Enrique del Moral's residence including its materials and ideas as well as the issues of "the local" and the "universal." My own essay on Juan O' Gorman reexamines the work of this complex architect and artist as a manifestation of juxtaposed dichotomies. O' Gorman's transition from "rational" functionalist to "irrational" organicist is redescribed as a complex interweaving of ideas over time, rather than a drastic and paradoxical conversion. Carlos Mijares traces the career of Carlos Obregón Santacila and the interrelationship of his individual buildings to culture, place, urban sequence, and the urban design of the city. Mijares speaks about Obregón Santacillia's architecture in terms of direct experience and their role in the urban life of Mexico City. Antonio Toca Fernández discusses the work of Juan Segura and the portrayal of his work in relationship to the Art Deco movement. Segura's innovative design solutions to complex, modern programs are discussed in terms of their urban design response, formal invention, and careful selection of materials and building systems. The book concludes with one of Mexico's most well known commentators on modern architecture, Louise Noelle Mereles, who examines the architecture and urbanism of Mario Pani. In her essay, she discusses Pani's mutifamiliares housing projects in terms of their innovation and the unique role of public art within them.

The book concludes with a postscript in which I discuss the future direction of contemporary architecture in Mexico.

I believe that works of architecture are again made present through books, which in turn lead to their reevaluation by academics, practicing architects, governmental authorities, the general public and their daily users. It is hoped that books such as this will lead to a renewed appreciation of this important body of work, and will ultimately bring about its reassessment as one of the great contributions to the modern movement.

ERB 19 November 1998

Rating:
Summary: a mediocre book
Review: While an important and little written about topic, this book fails to deliver the valuable information in a readable manner. The language is dull and boring, and the writing is dry. It is very difficult to sit with it for an extended period of time. While the author attempts to address critical issues in Mexican architecture he over comlicates the relevant information with the rhetoric.

The noble attempt to provide dialogue with influencial authorities on the subject by way of interviews seemed tainted. This was because his questions were not open ended and were often worded in a leading manner. It was as if the author was trying to draw out the response he desired from the subject.

While Burian's writing was lacking, some of the articles written by others contained in the book were more appealing.