Spanish architecture refers to architecture carried out in any area in what is now modern-day Spain, and by Spanish architects worldwide. The term includes buildings within the current geographical limits of Spain before this name was given to those territories (whether they were called Iberia, Hispania, Al-Andalus or were formed of several Christian kingdoms). Due to its historical and geographical diversity, Spanish architecture has drawn from a host of influences.
Since the first known inhabitants in the Iberian peninsula, the IberiansCeltiberians,[1] Iberian architecture started to take shape in parallel with other architectures around the Mediterranean and others from Northern Europe. around 4000 BCE and later on the
A real development came with the arrival of the Romans, who left behind some of their most outstanding monuments in Hispania. The arrival of the Visigoths brought about a profound decline in building techniques which was paralleled in the rest of the former Empire. The Moorish conquest in 711 CE lead to a radical change and for the following eight centuries there were great advances in culture, including architecture. For example, CórdobaMuslimUmayyad dynasty. Simultaneously, the Christian kingdoms gradually emerged and developed their own styles, at first mostly isolated from European architectural influences, and later integrated into RomanesqueGothic streams, they reached an extraordinary peak with numerous samples along the whole territory. The Mudéjar style, from the 12th to 17th centuries, was characterised by the blending of cultural European and Arabic influences. was established as the cultural Capital of its time under the and
Towards the end of the 15th century, and before influencing Latin America with its Colonial architecture, Spain itself experimented with Renaissance architecture, developed mostly by local architects. Spanish Baroque was distinguished by its exuberant Churrigueresque decoration, developing separately from later international influences. The Colonial style, which has lasted for centuries, still has a strong influence in Latin America. Neoclassicism reached its peak in the work of Juan de Villanueva and his disciples.
The 19th century had two faces: the engineering efforts to achieve a new language and bring about structural improvements using iron and glass as the main building materials, and the academic focus, firstly on revivals and eclecticism, and later on regionalism. The arrival of Modernism in the academic arena produced figures such as Gaudí and much of the architecture of the 20th century. The International style was led by groups like GATEPAC. Spain is currently experiencing a revolution in contemporary architecture and Spanish architects like Rafael Moneo, Santiago Calatrava, Ricardo Bofill as well as many others have gained worldwide renown.
Because of their artistic relevance, many architectural sites in Spain, and even portions of cities, have been designated World Heritage sites by UNESCO. Spain has the second highest number of World Heritage Sites in the world; only Italy has more.
MesoAmerican Architecture
Spanish Colonial architecture, which dominated in the early Spanish colonies, is marked by the contrast between the simple, solid construction demanded by the new environment and the Baroque ornamentation exported from Spain. Mexico, as the center of New Spain has some of the most renowned buildings built in this style. With twenty-nine sites, Mexico has more sites on the UNESCO World Heritage list than any other country in the Americas, many of them boasting some of the richest Spanish Colonial architecture. Some of the most famous cities in Mexico built in the Colonial style are Puebla, Zacatecas, Querétaro, Guanajuato, and Morelia.
The National Palace in Mexico CityThe Historic centre of Mexico city is focused on the Zócalo or main plaza in Mexico City. The Zocalo is the largest plaza in Latin America [1] and the second largest in the world after Moscow's Red Square.[2] The historic center of Mexico City contains 9,000 buildings, 1,550 of which have been declared of historical importance. The historic center represents a mixture of architectural styles from the 16th century to the present.
The National Palace, located in the Zócalo, is the seat of the federal executive in Mexico. This site has been a palace for the ruling class of Mexico since the Aztec empire, and much of the current palace's building materials are from the original palace of the Aztec ruler Moctezuma II.
Mexico City Cathedral, with the Metropolitan Tabernacle to the right.The Mexico City Metropolitan Cathedral (Spanish: Catedral Metropolitana de la Asunción de María) is the largest and oldest cathedral in the Americas.[3] It is situated atop the former Aztec sacred precinct near the Templo Mayor on the northern side of the Plaza de la Constitución in downtown Mexico City. The cathedral was built in sections from 1573 to 1813 around the original church that was constructed soon after the Spanish conquest of Tenochtitlán, eventually replacing it entirely. Spanish architect Claudio de Arciniega planned the construction, drawing inspiration from Gothic cathedrals in Spain.[4] It was built in a variety of styles including the Renaissance, Baroque, and Neo Classical. The rich interior is mostly Baroque.
Other examples of Spanish Colonial style are the Palacio Nacional, the Palacio de Iturbide, the 16th-century Casa de los Azulejos, and many more churches, cathedrals, museums, and palaces of the elite.
The facade of the church of Ss. Sebastian y Santa Prisca in Taxco (1751-58) bristles with Mexican Churrigueresque ornamentation.During the late 17th century to 1750, one of Mexico's most popular architectural styles was Churrigueresque. These buildings were built in an ultra-Baroque, fantastically extravagant and visually frenetic style. Perhaps the most visually intoxicating form of the style was Mexican Churrigueresque, practised in the mid-18th century by Lorenzo Rodriguez, whose masterpiece is the Sagrario Metropolitano in Mexico City (1749–69).
The combination of the Amerindian and Moorish decorative influences with an extremely expressive interpretation of the Churrigueresque idiom may account for the full-bodied and varied character of the Baroque style found in Mexico. Other examples of this style are found in the remote silver-mining towns. For instance, the Sanctuary at Ocotlan (begun in 1745) is a Baroque cathedral surfaced in bright red tiles, which contrast with a plethora of compressed ornament lavishly applied to the main entrance and the slender flanking towers.
The "capital" of Mexican Baroque is Puebla, where hand-painted glazed tiles (talavera) and vernacular gray stone led to its evolving further into a personalized and highly localized art form with a pronounced Indian flavor. There are about sixty churches whose façades and domes display this style.[5]
The exception in colonial Mexico is the corner facade of Pedro De Arrieta's Palace of the Inquisition (1733–37) in Mexico City, with its hanging keystone arches at the corners of the inner courtyard. This style was adopted in a number of other civil buildings in Mexico. The hanging key-stone was common in convents and monasteries as well. Francisco Guerrero y Torres built several monumental palaces during the late 18th century. The most interesting is that of the Condes de San Mateo de Valparaíso.
The academy was closed between 1821 and 1824 because of economic difficulties brought about by the Mexican War of Independence. After 1824, it was of decreasing significance. The institution reopened in 1843 under the orders of President Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna. During his regime, several Mexican architects, including the brothers Juan and Ramon Agea, were sent to study in Europe. On their return to Mexico from Rome in 1846, the Ageas practiced architecture in a Renaissance style, Juan, in particular, introduced to Mexico the theories of Eugène Viollet-le-Duc.
Hacienda de Atequiza, Mexico (1905)Haciendas were estates created under a system established in the 16th century, which bestowed land to nobles in exchange for military and social services to the Spanish crown. These land grants were limited to a few hundred acres but over time these estates grew. The hacendado or patron (owner) might buy neighboring ranches; often he would simply appropriate Indian land. As the haciendas grew, they became feudal estates supplying all the needs of the surrounding community, including food, clothing and medical aid. Haciendas played host to a variety of activities from baptisms, weddings, and celebrations of saints' days to fiestas, charreada (rodeo) events, bullfights, and harvest festivals.
In 1821 Mexico became an independent nation, but lapsed into a period of decline and economic upheaval. From 1864 to 1867 the French occupied Mexico with Maximillian installed as Emperor. The intervention was brief, but it began a period of French influence in architecture and culture which lasted well into the 20th century.
The Mexican revolution of 1910-1920 ended the haciendas and lands were restored to the poor. Haciendas today are often still owned by descendants of the older hacendados. Others have been bought since the Revolution by Mexicans from the city wishing to have a place in the country, and some have become hotels and conference centers.
Along the Reforma, double rows of eucalyptus trees were planted, gas lamps installed, and the first mule-drawn streetcars were introduced. The development was the catalyst for a new phase of growth from downtown Mexico City to the west, a direction that would define the city's structure for the next half century.
During President Porfirio Diaz's reign (1876–1880, 1884–1911), patrons and practitioners of architecture manifested two impulses: to create an architecture that would indicate Mexico's participation in modernity and the emphasize Mexico's difference from other countries through the incorporation of local characteristics into the architecture. The first goal took precedence over the second during most of the 19th century.
Interior of the Postal Palace.A modern, sophisticated Mexico City was the goal of President Diaz. Cast iron technology from Europe and the United States allowed for new building designs. Italian marble, European granite, bronzes and stained glass could now be imported. Diaz was determined to transform the landscape of the nation's capital into one reminiscent of Paris or London. It is not surprising that the most important architectural commissions of the Porfiriato were given to foreigners. Italian architect Adamo Boari designed the Postal Palace built by Gonzalo Garita (1902) and the National Theatre of Mexico (1904). The French architect Emile Benard, who worked on the Legislative Palace in 1903, founded an architectural studio where he took Mexican students. Silvio Contri was responsible for the Secretariat of Communications and Public Works (1902–11). Neo-Gothic designs incorporated into the monumental public buildings of the early 20th century. The two best examples were the Central post office and the Palacio de Bellas Artes, designed by Italian architect Adamo Boari.
Monument to Cuahtémoc, Mexico CityPresident Diaz had enacted a decree in 1877 that called for the placement of a series of political statues of Mexican heroes along the Paseo de la Reforma. Classical designs were used to build structures such as the Angel of Independence monument, the monument to Cuauhtemoc, the monument to Benito Juárez, and the Columbus Statue. Diaz's conviction about the importance of public monuments in the urban landscape started a tradition that has become permanent in Mexico: public monuments in the 20th century landscape.
In the 19th century, Neo-Indigenist architecture played an active part of the representation of national identity as constructed by the Porfirian regime. The representation of the local in Mexican architecture was achieved mainly through themes and decorative motifs inspired by pre-Hispanic antiquity. These representations were essential to the construction of a common heritage by which the nation might be unified. The first building based on the ancient Mexican motifs built in the 19th century was the monument to Cuauhtemoc exectuted by engineer Francisco Jimenez and the sculptor Miguel Norena. Other 19th-century buildings incorporating pre-Hispanic decorative motifs include the monument to Benito Juarez in Paseo Juarez, Oaxaca (1889).
At the beginning of the 20th century, Luis Zalazar enthusiastically encouraged architects to create a national style of architecture based on the study of pre-Hispanic ruins. His writings would be influential for the nationalistic tendencies in Mexican architecture which developed during the second and third decade of the 20th century.
After the Mexican Revolution, successive Mexican regimes would use the pre-Hispanic past to represent the nation. Later architects also took inspiration from the architecture of the colonial period and regional architecture as the creation of a genuinely Mexican architecture became a pressing issue during the 20th century.
MesoAmerican Architecture
Colonial Architecture
Mexico's colonial history marked the collision of the European and Indigenous cultures. This period witnessed great destruction of Mesomaerican architecture, but also gave rise to a new form of art and architecture. Most colonial cities were planned around a plaza which held three closely related institutions: the cathedral, the cabildo or administrative center, which might be incorporated in a wing of a governor's palace, and the audiencia or law court. Many cities in Mexico retain their colonial town plan, cobblestone streets and beautiful colonial architecture.Spanish Colonial architecture, which dominated in the early Spanish colonies, is marked by the contrast between the simple, solid construction demanded by the new environment and the Baroque ornamentation exported from Spain. Mexico, as the center of New Spain has some of the most renowned buildings built in this style. With twenty-nine sites, Mexico has more sites on the UNESCO World Heritage list than any other country in the Americas, many of them boasting some of the richest Spanish Colonial architecture. Some of the most famous cities in Mexico built in the Colonial style are Puebla, Zacatecas, Querétaro, Guanajuato, and Morelia.
The National Palace, located in the Zócalo, is the seat of the federal executive in Mexico. This site has been a palace for the ruling class of Mexico since the Aztec empire, and much of the current palace's building materials are from the original palace of the Aztec ruler Moctezuma II.
Other examples of Spanish Colonial style are the Palacio Nacional, the Palacio de Iturbide, the 16th-century Casa de los Azulejos, and many more churches, cathedrals, museums, and palaces of the elite.
The combination of the Amerindian and Moorish decorative influences with an extremely expressive interpretation of the Churrigueresque idiom may account for the full-bodied and varied character of the Baroque style found in Mexico. Other examples of this style are found in the remote silver-mining towns. For instance, the Sanctuary at Ocotlan (begun in 1745) is a Baroque cathedral surfaced in bright red tiles, which contrast with a plethora of compressed ornament lavishly applied to the main entrance and the slender flanking towers.
The "capital" of Mexican Baroque is Puebla, where hand-painted glazed tiles (talavera) and vernacular gray stone led to its evolving further into a personalized and highly localized art form with a pronounced Indian flavor. There are about sixty churches whose façades and domes display this style.[5]
The growth of urban areas and the trends toward secularization in the 18th century created an expanding need for secular buildings. Many recalled European Renaissance schemes. Early examples survived especially in Puebla. Palaces were usually constructed around four-sided central courtyards. The ceremonial quarters were on the first floor and the principal entrance was generally on the central axis of the main courtyard.
The exception in colonial Mexico is the corner facade of Pedro De Arrieta's Palace of the Inquisition (1733–37) in Mexico City, with its hanging keystone arches at the corners of the inner courtyard. This style was adopted in a number of other civil buildings in Mexico. The hanging key-stone was common in convents and monasteries as well. Francisco Guerrero y Torres built several monumental palaces during the late 18th century. The most interesting is that of the Condes de San Mateo de Valparaíso.
The Academy of San Carlos, founded in 1781, was the first major art academy in the Americas. The academy promoted Neoclassicism, focusing on Greek and Roman art and architecture. It was a force behind the abandonment of the Baroque style in Mexico, which had already gone out-of-fashion in Europe. Major building projects in Mexico were taken over by academy architects, most notably by Manuel Tolsa, who was responsible for the most impressive Neoclassical buildings in colonial Mexico, including the Colegio de Minería (College of Mining) and Hospicio Cabañas.
The academy was closed between 1821 and 1824 because of economic difficulties brought about by the Mexican War of Independence. After 1824, it was of decreasing significance. The institution reopened in 1843 under the orders of President Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna. During his regime, several Mexican architects, including the brothers Juan and Ramon Agea, were sent to study in Europe. On their return to Mexico from Rome in 1846, the Ageas practiced architecture in a Renaissance style, Juan, in particular, introduced to Mexico the theories of Eugène Viollet-le-Duc.
Haciendas
By the 18th century, a typical hacienda was an elaborate institution. In addition to the main house and its guest quarters there were stables, a general store, a chapel, a school, equipment stores, servants' quarters, granaries, corrals and a forge.
In 1821 Mexico became an independent nation, but lapsed into a period of decline and economic upheaval. From 1864 to 1867 the French occupied Mexico with Maximillian installed as Emperor. The intervention was brief, but it began a period of French influence in architecture and culture which lasted well into the 20th century.
The Mexican revolution of 1910-1920 ended the haciendas and lands were restored to the poor. Haciendas today are often still owned by descendants of the older hacendados. Others have been bought since the Revolution by Mexicans from the city wishing to have a place in the country, and some have become hotels and conference centers.
19th and early 20th Century Architecture
Townscapes changed little during the first half of the 19th century in Mexico, until the French occupation during the Second Mexican Empire in the 1860s. Emperor Maximilian I brought a new set of urban design ideas to Mexico. Drawing from the mid-century Parisian revelopment plan of Baron Haussmann, Maximillain administered the building of a broad new diagonal avenue- Paseo de la Reforma. This elegant boulevard ran for kilometers from the downtown National Palace to the lush Chapultepec Park where the Austrian ruler lived in the Chapultepec Castle.Along the Reforma, double rows of eucalyptus trees were planted, gas lamps installed, and the first mule-drawn streetcars were introduced. The development was the catalyst for a new phase of growth from downtown Mexico City to the west, a direction that would define the city's structure for the next half century.
During President Porfirio Diaz's reign (1876–1880, 1884–1911), patrons and practitioners of architecture manifested two impulses: to create an architecture that would indicate Mexico's participation in modernity and the emphasize Mexico's difference from other countries through the incorporation of local characteristics into the architecture. The first goal took precedence over the second during most of the 19th century.
In the 19th century, Neo-Indigenist architecture played an active part of the representation of national identity as constructed by the Porfirian regime. The representation of the local in Mexican architecture was achieved mainly through themes and decorative motifs inspired by pre-Hispanic antiquity. These representations were essential to the construction of a common heritage by which the nation might be unified. The first building based on the ancient Mexican motifs built in the 19th century was the monument to Cuauhtemoc exectuted by engineer Francisco Jimenez and the sculptor Miguel Norena. Other 19th-century buildings incorporating pre-Hispanic decorative motifs include the monument to Benito Juarez in Paseo Juarez, Oaxaca (1889).
At the beginning of the 20th century, Luis Zalazar enthusiastically encouraged architects to create a national style of architecture based on the study of pre-Hispanic ruins. His writings would be influential for the nationalistic tendencies in Mexican architecture which developed during the second and third decade of the 20th century.
After the Mexican Revolution, successive Mexican regimes would use the pre-Hispanic past to represent the nation. Later architects also took inspiration from the architecture of the colonial period and regional architecture as the creation of a genuinely Mexican architecture became a pressing issue during the 20th century.
