Monumento a la Raza (Mexico City)

At the beginning of the 20th century, Mexico was in a period of transformation. President Porfirio Díaz governed the country intermittently from 1876 to 1911. During his term, known as the Porfiriato, Díaz boosted the economy through the improvement of the railroad network and international businesses. This benefited the upper class and hacendados (landowners) but affected the middle, working, and underclasses.[1] The indigenous population was seen as a problem for the country's modernization and the government sought means to facilitate their integration into the Porfirian society.[2] In 1911, Diaz was forced to resign after the Mexican Revolution broke out.[3] The conflict lasted until 1920 and the Europhile government was replaced with one that promoted indigenismo[4]—a political ideology that exalts the Latin American indigenous population.

In 1925, José Vasconcelos (1882–1959), Mexican philosopher, published the essay "The Cosmic Race", where he wrote that as the Native American genes were the last ones to be mixed with the other human races, a new race would surge to create Universópolis, where the distinctions of race and nationality would be suppressed.[5]

The pyramid under construction in the late 1930s

The construction of the Monumento a la Raza started in 1930.[6][11] The project was sponsored by the government[9] and was designed by the engineer Francisco Borbolla and the architect Luis Lelo de Larrea.[12][13] Borbolla intended to reflect the history of Mexico in the monument;[13] Lelo de Larrea was advised by Mexican architect Augusto Petriccioli.[14] It was completed in 1940 and it was inaugurated on that 12 October—the Día de la Raza.[13]

Description

The Aztec Palace presented by Mexico at the 1889 Paris Exposition

The Monumento a la Raza is a 50 meters (160 ft) high pyramid[12] built with three superimposed truncated pyramids[18] made of concrete.[19] It has four sides, each built with sloped smooth walls over the rafters, and that are decorated as well with reliefs based on the Xochicalco's Feathered Serpent.[12]

The sculpture of the eagle on top is placed on a pedestal[12] and it is made of copper and steel.[20] It has the wings spread; the wingspan is 5.75 meters (18.9 ft) long and it stands on a nopal plant while devouring a 5.30 meters (17.4 ft) long snake.[12] The sculpture was designed by Jesús Fructuoso Contreras for the Porfirian Federal Legislative Palace.[12][21] By the time Díaz was removed from the presidency, only the foundations had been built. Years later, Mexican architect Carlos Obregón Santacilia replaced the project with the Monumento a la Revolución.[22]

Each side of the pyramid at the top features one high relief created with bronze castings by Contreras.[6][21] They represent the Tlatoque Itzcoatl (1380–1440), ruler of Tenochtitlan; Nezahualcoyotl (1402–1472), ruler of Texcoco; Totoquihuatzin (c. early 16th century), ruler of Tlacopan; and the last Aztec Emperor Cuauhtémoc (c. 1497–1525).[12] Contreras cast them for the Aztec Palace, presented in the Mexican pavilion at the 1889 Paris Exposition.[6][21]

At the base, there are two staircases: the south one connects with the top of the monument; the north one with the main door. At the start of each staircase, there are sculptures of Tenochtitlan-inspired serpent heads. On the remaining sides, there are two sculptures by Lelo de Larrea: Grupo de la fundación de México on the east and Grupo defensa de Tenochtitlán on the west.[12]

Santacilia called the Monumento a la Raza "ridiculous" and said it was a caricature of the Pre-Columbian architecture.[19] Mexican writer Nikito Nipongo (1918–2003) thought it was "espantoso" ("dreadful").[23] According to historian Mauricio Tenorio-Trillo, the monument is an irony, because it tries to apart "from the old regime's Francophilia", yet it recycles many of the symbols and materials "created by the Porfirian years of experimenting in modernity and nationalism".[6] Writer Donald R. Fletcher described it as an "imposing Mayan pyramid".[24]

La Raza metro station, located nearby the monument, depicts the monument in its pictogram and is named after it.[25][26]

• Aggarwal, Vinod K. (1996). Debt Games: Strategic Interaction in International Debt Rescheduling. New York City: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-35202-9.
• Burian, Edward R., ed. (1997). Modernity and the Architecture of Mexico. Austin, Texas: University of Texas Press. ISBN 029270853X.
• Denness, Gary (2010). TEFLers Guide – Mexico City. Mexile Publications. ISBN 978-0-557-90585-0.
• Fierro Gossman, Rafael R. (1998). La gran corriente ornamental del siglo XX: una revisión de la arquitectura neocolonial en la Ciudad de México (in Spanish). Mexico City: Universidad Iberoamericana. ISBN 968-859-303-6.
• Fletcher, Donald R. (2013). Martha and I: Life, Love, and Loss in Alzheimer's Shadow. Eugene, Oregon: Tate Publishing & Enterprises. ISBN 978-1-6251-0811-1.
• Nipongo, Nikito (2001). Perlas (in Spanish). Mexico City: Lectorum. ISBN 968-5270-38-4.
• Obregón Santacilia, Carlos (1960). El Monumento a la Revolución: simbolismo e historia (in Spanish). Mexico City: Secretariat of Public Education. OCLC 7525375.
• Romero, Héctor Manuel (1994). Enciclopedia temática de la Delegación Cuauhtémoc (in Spanish). Mexico City: Comercializadora de Impresiones Selectas. OCLC 760692763.
• Tenorio-Trillo, Mauricio (1996). Mexico at the World's Fairs: Crafting a Modern Nation. Los Angeles, California: University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-30107-8.

• Media related to Monumento a la Raza at Wikimedia Commons
• "Mexico City's Monumento a la Raza and a Baffling Return to the Past". The Official Guide to Mexico City.