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Architectures of Mexico City: General resources

Recommended resources on the architectures of Mexico City, historic to contemporary, and related topics, providing location info for print resources and links for digital resources.

Recommended books

Recommended image resources

Other resources

3D virtual tours of conservation projects in Mexico City’s Historic Center, via World Monuments Fund website

Recommended for all architectural research

Architecture and planning in different eras

Arvizu, Carlos, et al., Space and place in the Mexican landscape : the evolution of a colonial city, Texas A&M University Press, 2007 (ebook via ProQuest Ebook Central)

Crouch, Dora P., Spanish city planning in North America, MIT Press, HT169.N68C76

Koontz, Rex (Editor), Landscape and power in ancient Mesoamerica, Westview Press, F1219.3.A6L36 2001

Markman, Sidney, Architecture and urbanization of colonial Central America, University of Arizona Press, NA760.A73 1993

Mundy, Barbara E., Death of Aztec Tenochtitlan, the life of Mexico City, University of Texas Press, 2015 (ebook available via ProQuest Ebook Central)

Schreffler, Michael J., “'No lord without vassals, nor vassals without a lord': the royal palace and the shape of kingly power in viceregal Mexico City,” Oxford Art Journal, v. 27, #2, 2004, p. 157–171 (PDF available via Jstor)

Tenorio-Trillo, Mauricio, I speak of the city : Mexico City at the turn of the twentieth century, University of Chicago Press, 2013 (ebook available via ProQuest Ebook Central)

Wagner, Logan, et al., Ancient origins of the Mexican plaza : from primordial sea to public space, University of Texas Press, 2013 (ebook available via ProQuest Ebook Central)

Adrià, Miquel, México 90's: una arquitectura contemporánea = a contemporary architecture, G. Gilli, NA755.A34 1996

Affron, Matthew, et al., Paint the revolution: Mexican modernism, 1910-1950, Philadelphia Museum of Art & Museo del palacio de Bellas Artes Mexico City, ND255 .P34 2016

Burian, Edward R., Modernity and the architecture of Mexico, University of Texas Press, NA755.B87 1997

Castañeda, Luis, “Choreographing the metropolis: networks of circulation and power in Olympic Mexico,” Journal of Design History, v. 25, #3, 2012, p. 285–303 (PDF available via Jstor)

“The City of Mexico,” Lotus International, #91, 1996 (Theme issue)

Davis, Diane E., Urban leviathan: Mexico City in the twentieth century, Temple University Press, HT384.M62 M483 1994

De Anda Alanís, Enrique X., “The Preservation of historic architecture and the beliefs of the modern movement in Mexico: 1914–1963,” Future Anterior: Journal of Historic Preservation, History, Theory, and Criticism, v. 6, #2, 2009, p. 58–73 (PDF available via Jstor)

Flaherty, George F., “Responsive eyes: urban logistics and kinetic environments for the 1968 Mexico City Olympics,” Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians, v. 73, #3, 2014, p. 372–397 (PDF available via Jstor)

Kaplan, Wendy (Editor), Found in translation: design in California and Mexico, 1915-1985, LACMA, NK1410.C2D47 2017

Klich, Lynda, The noisemakers: Estridentismo, vanguardism, and social action in postrevolutionary Mexico, University of California Press, N6555.5.E76 K59 2018

Lejeune, Jean-François, Cruelty & utopia: cities and landscapes of Latin America, Princeton Architectural Press, NA702.C7813 2005

Mexico,” The Journal of Decorative and Propaganda Arts, v. 26, 2010 (Theme issue)

O'Rourke, Kathryn E., Modern architecture in Mexico City: history, representation, and the shaping of a capital, University of Pittsburgh Press, NA757.M4O76 2016

Olsen, Patrice Elizabeth, Artifacts of revolution: architecture, society, and politics in Mexico City, 1920-1940, Rowman & Littlefield, F1234.O425 2008

Pick, James B., Mexico megacity, Westview Press, HC138.M4 P5 1997

Ward, Peter M., Mexico City, John Wiley & Sons, HT169.M42M498 1997

“Architecture in Mexico,” A+U, February 2003

Burian, Edward R., “Contemporary Mexico City: recycled sites, regenerative landscapes, and revalued post-industrial enclaves,” Perspecta, v. 39, 2007, p. 121–135 (PDF available via Jstor)

Galindo, Michelle, Mexico City: architecture & design, teNeues, NA757.M4M49 2007   

Hernandez, Felipe, et al., Transculturation: cities, spaces and architectures in Latin America, Brill, NA2543.S6T73 2005 (ebook also available via ProQuest Ebook Central)

Kalach, Alberto, et al, México, ciudad futura, Edition RM, HT169.M42 M4963 2010

McGuirk, Justin, Radical cities: across Latin America in search of a new architecture, Verso, NA2543.S6 M39 2015

Mexico City : projects from the megacity,” Praxis #2, 2001 (Theme issue, available via Jstor)

Specialized resources on related topics

Bailey Glasco, Sharon, Constructing Mexico City : colonial conflicts over culture, space, and authority, Palgrave Macmillan, 2016 (eBook available via ProQuest Ebook Central)

Baquedano, E. et al., “Mexico City,” Oxford Art Online, 2003

Sluis, Ageeth, Deco body, deco city: female spectacle and modernity in Mexico City, 1900–1939, University of Nebraska Press, 2015 (eBook available via ProQuest Ebook Central)

Castro, Maria L. & Irene P. Navarro (Editors), Mexico: economic, political and social issues, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated, 2008 (ebook available via ProQuest Ebook Central)

Giugale, Marcelo M. et al. (Editors), Mexico, a comprehensive development for the new era, World Bank Publications, 2000 (ebook available via ProQuest Ebook Central)

Randall, Laura, Changing structure of Mexico: political, social and economic prospects, Routledge, 2006 (ebook available via ProQuest Ebook Central)

Alexander, Anna Rose, City on fire: technology, social change, and the hazards of progress in Mexico City, 1860-1910, University of Pittsburgh Press, 2016 (ebook available via ProQuest Ebook Central)

Private solutions for infrastructure in Mexico, World Bank Publications, 2003 (ebook available via ProQuest Ebook Central)

Wakild, Emily, “Naturalizing modernity: urban parks, public gardens and drainage projects in Porfirian Mexico City,” Mexican Studies/Estudios Mexicanos, v. 23, #1, 2007, p. 101–123 (PDF available via Jstor)

Ezcurra, Exequiel. Basin of Mexico: critical environmental issues and sustainability, United Nations University Press, 1999 (ebook available via ProQuest Ebook Central)

Inam, Aseem. Planning for the unplanned: recovering from crises in megacities, Routledge, 2005 (ebook available via ProQuest Ebook Central)

Pezzoli, Keith, Human settlements and planning for ecological sustainability: the case of Mexico City, MIT Press, HT243.M62M487 1998

Boyer, Christopher R. (Editor), A land between waters: environmental histories of modern Mexico, University of Arizona Press, 2012 (ebook available via ProQuest Ebook Central)

Arnauld, M. Charlotte et al, The neighborhood as a social and spatial unit in Mesoamerican cities, University of Arizona Press, 2012 (ebook available via Proquest Ebook Central)

Historic centre of Mexico City and Xochimilco,” World Heritage List, UNESCO

… Mexico City is comprised of neighborhoods called colonias - a number of which are known for their architecture, history and spirit. These include: the Centro Histórico (historic downtown), the Condesa District (Art Deco architecture), Coyoacan (culturally bohemian; highlights include the Frida Kahlo Museum), the Polanco District (shopping and tourism), Roma (Beaux Arts architecture), and Zona Rosa (LGBTQ friendly) districts.

Bartra, Roger, The Mexican transition: politics, culture and democracy in the twenty-first century, University of Wales Press, 2013 (ebook available via ProQuest Ebook Central)

Cross, John C., Informal politics: street vendors and the state in Mexico City, Stanford University Press, HF5459.M58C76 1998

O'Toole, Gavin, The reinvention of Mexico: national ideology in a neoliberal era, Liverpool University Press, 2010 (ebook available via ProQuest Ebook Central)

Schteingart, Martha, et al, Mexico City, Agenda Publishing, HT169.M4 S38 2023

Tuckman, Jo, Mexico: democracy interrupted, Yale University Press, 2012 (ebook available via ProQuest Ebook Central) 

Alýs, Francis, The Historic Centre of Mexico City, Madrid Turner, N6973.A45A4 2005

Castañeda, Luis, “Beyond Tlatelolco: design, media, and politics at Mexico '68,” Grey Room, #40, 2010, p. 100–126 (PDF available via Jstor)

Castañeda, Luis M., Spectacular Mexico: design, propaganda, and the 1968 Olympics, University of Minnesota Press, 2014 (ebook available via ProQuest Ebook Central)

Holmes, Amanda, City fictions: language, body, and Spanish American urban space, Bucknell University Press, 2007 (ebook available via ProQuest Ebook Central)

Alternative keywords for searching

Central America, Colonial Mexico, Distrito Federal, Mesoamerica, México, Mexico City D.F.

Please note

  • These guides are intended to provide initial orientation, and suggest a variety of different lines of investigation—not take the place of individual research.
  • All the resources cited here--print and digital--are available through the Kappe Library at SCI-Arc.Items not available at SCI-Arc are not included.
  • Surveys covering multiple projects are preferred over monographic studies focusing on specific works or individuals.
  • Resources on Los Angeles and Southern California are stressed.
  • Proprietary digital resources (Avery Index, Oxford Art Online, ArtStor, etc) can be accessed on-campus at SCI-ARC via any SCI-Arc internet provider. Off-campus they can be accessed 24/7 via the Kappe Library proxy server, and a valid SCI-Arc Network username and password.

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