| This dissertation explores the architectural developments in Mexico between 1920 and 1940 as a result of the interdependence between architectural production and its socio-political context. In particular, this investigation is centered on the impact of the ambiguous direction and aim of the Mexican Revolution of 1910-1920 on architectural culture. As a result of this paradoxical character, architects in Mexico conceived different architectural solutions that reflected their understanding of the Revolution's significance. Specifically, their architectural production developed out of existing and newly formed links between the literary, philosophical, artistic, and architectural avant-gardes in Mexico and other countries that were intent on transforming society. Their production, however, was also impacted by the ideological power of the state to reproduce itself and its conditions of production.; Towards this end, this investigation shows how architecture mediated and materialized these positions and ideological conditions. Due to these diverse directions and circumstances, the dissertation is structured in the form of paradigms or genealogies that represent the diversity of responses within architectural requirements and explorations. The first chapter explores how the influences of Jose Vasconcelos' philosophies and theories of La Raza Cosmica expressed themselves in the Secretaria de Educacion Publica building. The second chapter is an inquiry into the importance of the metropolis as the locus of social insurrection to the Estridentistas, one of Mexico's literary avant-garde. Chapter three explores how Manuel Amabilis reconceptualized the pre-Hispanic architectural tradition as having a utopian, modern social value. Chapter four illustrates Juan O'Gorman's involvement with functionalist architecture as an architectural form that could solve the problems and needs for shelter of a large working class population. This chapter also investigates the causes for O'Gorman's eventual rejection of functionalism. The fifth chapter examines Francisco Mujica's propositions for pre-Hispanic architectural forms within the typology of the skyscraper. Finally, the last chapter discusses the impact of the institutionalization of the Revolution on its architectural monumentalization. |
