A Case Study in Preservation and Sustainability
Antiguo Palacio del Ayuntamiento
Historical Preservation
World Heritage Status
The Antiguo Palacio del Ayuntamiento is located along the perimeter of Zocalo Square in the historic center of Mexico City. As of 1987, the roughly 3.5 square miles of downtown radiating around Zocalo has been protected and preserved as a UNESCO World Heritage site. In order to be deemed a World Heritage Site, the city center had to meet at least one of ten key criteria determined by UNESCO. It met four:
Criterion ii: Representing changing human values through architecture
The city center is layered with overlapping history. The destruction wreaked by the Spanish conquistadors meant that New Spain was literally built on the ruins of the Aztec city of Tenochtitlan. This painful moment of transition is suspended underneath the historic city center, preserved in both a state of destruction below and rebirth above.
Criterion iii: Relics of lost civilizations
Built on top of Aztec pyramids, parts of the city center are exposed ruins from archeological digs. These spaces are interwoven with the modern use of the city center, embedding the history of the Aztec people into the fabric of Mexico City.
Criterion iv: Symbolic examples of major historic events
The center still boasts the original structures and layout built by Spanish conquistadors, making it a livable illustration of early Spanish settlements in Latin America in both architecture and urban planning.
Criterion v: Unique or exceptional example of symbiosis between society and environment
The unique geographical history of Mexico Valley, once a lake and now a dry basin provides for a fascinating example of environmental manipulation. Aztec ruins tell the story of a city built in symbiosis with the water, while modern buildings were built on drained land.
Preserving the Palacio
UNESCO’s World Heritage program was designed to incentivize local governments to care for their own historic architecture. Once awarded by UNESCO, it falls to the state to comply with conservation (unless outside assistance is needed). Maintenance processes are ensured and protected by local organizations. Preservation of the Antiguo Palacio del Ayuntamiento is regulated by the city’s Autoridad del Centro Historico, or Authority for the Historic Center. The Authority reports any major changes such as the sustainability renovation back to UNESCO for approval, to ensure that the change is not detrimental to the site’s authenticity as a cultural or historic landmark.
Maintaining historic architecture requires a combination of preservation, rehabilitation, restoration, and renovation.
Preservation: Historic elements of the building are identified and actively preserved. On a quotidian basis, this means thoughtful maintenance practices like using non-toxic and safe cleaning chemicals. During the renovation of the Palacio, conservators stripped back layers of finishes over the original floors, buffed and refinished them to ensure that they were well-maintained for everyday usage.
Rehabilitation: Rehabilitation is part of the resiliency of conservation. In order to preserve a historic building, it needs to be able to function in the modern world and be resistant to damage. Updating the Antiguo Palacio del Ayuntamiento for sustainability is rehabilitation, modernizing elements of the historic site to ensure that it will be able to function as well as possible into the future.
Restoration: Restoration chooses particular moments in the site’s history to display and maintain. In the Antiguo Palacio del Ayuntamiento, the museum curators chose to restore the layout of the parliamentary room to showcase how it would have functioned in the 1800s. Restoring this vignette preserves an important era in the building’s usage, adding to visitor’s understanding of how it functioned over time.
Reconstruction: Parts of the building may need to be reconstructed based on usage, deterioration, or a variety of factors. For example, in the comparative case study of the Monte de Piedad, conservators needed to pull up the existing columns because they were not anchored in any foundation. The original columns were moved and reconstructed on a newly built area of the building, to infuse the new with the old, and honor the story of the building while keeping its structure secure.
Sites are examined and reported on by UNESCO representatives every six years to ensure that the integrity of the World Heritage label remains consistent and that records are up-to-date.
Sources
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Centre, UNESCO World Heritage. “UNESCO World Heritage Centre.” UNESCO World Heritage Centre, whc.unesco.org/.
Malkin, Elisabeth. “Once Built on a Lake, Mexico City Now Runs Dry.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 16 Mar. 2006, www.nytimes.com/2006/03/16/world/americas/16iht-mexico.html.
Mautner, Carlos Rincón. “Mexico City.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 9 Jan. 2019, www.britannica.com/place/Mexico-City.
Palerm, Angel, et al. “Mexico.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 14 Feb. 2020, www.britannica.com/place/Mexico
“Tenochtitlán: History of Aztec Capital.” LiveScience, Purch, www.livescience.com/34660-tenochtitlan.html.
WBDG Historic Preservation Subcommittee. “Historic Preservation.” WBDG, www.wbdg.org/design-objectives/historic-preservation.