Historical Context

Understanding the Architecture of Mexico City

The larger geographic region of Mexico City is called Mexico Valley, a massive basin that was once submerged in water roughly 8000 feet above sea level. This body of water was called Lake Texcoco. In 1325, the Aztec Empire settled the largest island in the lake into the capital city of Tenochtitlan, which became home to hundreds of thousands of Aztecs at its peak. At risk of flooding, the Aztecs built integrated technology such as dikes and levees to maintain and utilize the lake and created a network of artificial islands to inhabit. For two hundred years, water was interwoven into city life in a marshland environment with canal streets.

In 1521, the city was sacked in a months-long siege by Spanish conquistador Hernan Cortes. In addition to weapons, the Spanish colonizers brought European diseases, killing in total almost 90% of the Aztec population. The city was actively destroyed during the siege, to the point where colonizers were able to rebuild a new city on top of the ruins. Instead of using the water-controlling technology installed by the Aztecs, the Spaniards actively drained the lake for fear of flooding. The resulting geographic region became the foundation for the sprawling megalopolis of Mexico City.

Under Spanish rule, Mexico City was built with European architecture. Wealthy elites lived in large, ornate palaces while indigenous and lower-class residents experienced severe poverty. By 1810, tensions and disparities turned to revolution, and Mexico rebelled against Spain in the War of Independence. This war ended with independence from Spain, but a continuation of inequality in Mexico. The power struggle led to a high turnover in leadership, passing through almost fifty different rulers in the first 30 years after independence.

Mexico City’s architecture experienced several major shifts, beginning with the rise of Benito Juarez and the anticlerical reform in the 1850s. Church properties from the Spanish era were torn down, seized by the city, and appropriated for the poor. At the turn of the 20th century, President Porfirio Diaz modernized the city center in line with the modernization of Paris. Electric lighting, wide boulevards, and city parks were installed.

On September 19th, 1985, Mexico City was devastated by an 8.1-magnitude earthquake. The area’s geographical history of a drained lakebed means that the base of the city is significantly more vulnerable to seismic activity because it sits on sand rather than bedrock. 10,000 people were killed, 30,000 were injured, thousands made homeless. 3,000 buildings were destroyed and over 100,000 were seriously damaged.

By the end of the 20th century, the city center was in a complete state of disrepair. Mayor Cuauhtemoc Cardenas poured $300,000,000 into renovating Zocalo Plaza. The entire square is empty save for the single Mexican flag flying in the center. It is now one of the largest city plazas in the world and has become a cultural hub of the city, hosting everything from concerts to protests.

On September 19th, 2017, Mexico City was hit by a 7.1-magnitude earthquake. Over 150 people were killed including an elementary school class. Dozens of buildings crumbled and hundreds more were seriously damaged. Renovation projects across the city have as much to do with preserving history as building in resiliency, ensuring that the past will still stand in the future.