Monterrey and the Culture of the Northeast
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JL - , — TEKAS \ COAHUILA s.iliillo»\?MonterreyL TAMAULIKAS ^ D Tampkn • i-r- * a O 2001 HBM • Hmrtmm ..J ' % 1 B kjrr s> 3T"' II! I^"V (ill Monterrey & the Culture of the Northeast RAFAEL L O N G O R I A BEFORE TEXAS was identified with the are much better understood in Mexico of 1798 shows a colonial town defined by the absence of local architecture schools. Southwest, it was part of the Northeast. than in the United States. The Northeast its pla/.as and churches. New military many of the most prominent local archi- Saltillo was its capital, and the Bishop of was the cradle of vaquero culture — the installations and civic administration tects of the pre-World War II era received Monterrey shepherded its souls. The cre- place where ranching and cowboys were buildings dominate the map of 1865. The their education in Texas universities. ation of the Roman Catholic Diocese of invented. The region has its own cuisine I K94 plan shows a thriving city with con- After 1945, Monterrey emerged as Linares in 1777, which comprised Texas as (flour tortillas, machacado, cabrito al sulates from Spam, Italy, Germany and an edtication.il mecca. Its Institute well as what today are the Mexican states pastor, cortadillo, semiras, and goat milk the U.S., and with railroads linking Tecnologico (1TESM) became Mexico's of Nuevo Leon, Coahuila, and Tamaulipas, candies) and its own music. It also has .1 Monterrey to Mexico City, the Gulf port premier training ground for business marked the first official recognition of libertarian tradition that remains strong. of Tampico, and to the new border at leaders, attracting students from all over northeastern Mexico as an entity. In fact, Texas owes a great debt to Laredo. Also visible are the brewing com- Latin America. The city also acquired a In 1792 the seat of the diocese the 19th-century liberal politicians from pany and steel foundry thai changed the significant array of museums and other moved to Monterrey, where the magnifi- Nuevo Leon, Coahuila, and Tamaulipas course of the city. arts institutions that make it today the cent baroque facade of the bishop's sum wlm welcomed Anglo-American settlers S'aturally, the ii.isr.ein industrial ten undisputed cultural center of a very large mer palace still dominates the landscape to the region in the ill-founded belief that ter just 130 miles from the border devel- region. It is interesting to note that from a hill west of downtown. From that the immigrants would increase the num- oped strong commercial ties with the Monterrey's two greatest industrial icons, point on, Monterrey emerged as the lead- b s of liberals in the Mexican Congress. industrial cities of the United States. Along Cervcceri'a Cuauhtemoc and Lundidora ing city of the Northeast, a role that lias In this issue, Armando I'lores with machinery and manufacturing tech- Monterrey, now house cultural facilities. grown and evolved significantly over the Salazar. through the analysis of three nology, came architects from St. Louis and Particularly significant to the city's last two centuries, urban maps, succinctly traces Mon- San Antonio — including Alfred Giles, cultural aspirations is MARCO, the con- The identity of the Northeast and its terrey's transition from religious center whose delicately proportioned facades still temporary art museum that in 199] part in the creation of cowboy mythology to industrial powerhouse. The city map survive in downtown Monterrey. And in opened its doors at a prominent tn thr <ourlyaid of Ihe Mauler rry Cily Hall, a wraparound mural thowt ihi city's history — from its IS96 founding lo ill Little league triumphs four tcnturies Idler. M I \ m Atrial view ol Loma largo and San Pidro Garto Gottio. downtown site. M A R C H embodies die city occupies an ecological border where tales crop out the atrocious mirrored- flamboyant nationalist aesthetic ih.it desert plains meet forested mountains. glass buildings across the square. has become the signature of its archi- And the vernacular architecture of the Nearby is the liarrio Antiguo, or tect, Ricardo Legorreta of Mexico CUry. towns south of the city responds to radi- what remains of it after the construction The local popularity ol this building cally different conditions from those of of the Macroplaza, a controversial urban brought Legorreta other important com- towns to the north. Villa de Santiago, just renewal project at the hear! of the city. missions, such as the enormous library a half hour drive to the south of Monter- The Barrio Antiguo is a great preserve of I for the Univcrsidad Autonoma dc rey, is a charming hill town with lush traditional urban fabric, with the son ol Nuevo Leon and ITESM's new graduate vegetation and crooked streets that dates friendly scale anil mix ol uses that make research campus. back to the 1f>00s, while the hacienda of so many Mexican towns work so well Although Monterrey has always San Pedro in Zuazua, about 40 miles (especially when traffic is removed). In imported its high culture (including norlh ot the city and also rounded in the recent years, the Barrio Antiguo has architecture! either from Mexico City or 17th century, vividly illustrates how become a lively entertainment district, the United States, it has in the last 20 buildings responded to an arid and hos- with fashionable restaurants, cafes, and Haute in the Barrio Anliguo. years begun to export popular culture in tile climate in the cattle-grazing plains. bars occupying some of the oldest build- the form of norteno music. Just as Nevertheless, the towns' similarities are ings in the city. Unfortunately, many of Jalisco and the liajio region of central stronger than their differences, and the the rehabilitations that have taken place Mexico provided many ot the cultural same vernacular traditions can still be ii \ to make the buildings look like rhe\ artifacts that became national symbols found in Monterrey. belong in Guanajuato or Queretaro rather than capitalizing on their authentic in the first half of the 20th century, the Monterrey is a city of metropolitan regional character. Though a vigorous images and sounds of the Northeast suburbs, but its center, while predomi- nucleus ol architectural historians at the have captured the imagination of the nantly modern, still has a provincial II.i Univcrsidad Autonoma de Nuevo Leon is entire country — and their appeal vor. Sitting under the portales of the old documenting the area's vernacular archi- extends even beyond Mexico's borders. Ayuntamiento facing the bcautitully- tecture, the city's decision makers do not Portoles of Ihe old Ayunlomitnlo. The character ol the Northeast can scaled Plaza I iidalgo, all preconceived yet si em to appn . iate the richness ol th< best he appreciated in the many small notions of Monterrey dissipate. Of loeal building and urbanistic traditions. towns that surround Monterrey. The course, it helps that the arches ol the pot 1 I ') ^s *y-. \ Aerial view of Fundidora Monleiley (now Parque Fundidoia}. In the courtyard of the City Hall, at Globalization is .1 paradoxical phe- the southern end of the Macroplaza, .1 nomenon, It does not create a new homo- POPULATION OF MEXICO'S LARGEST METROPOLITAN AREAS huge wraparound mural depicts the city's geneous, hybrid culture; rather, it brings history — from its founding in 1596 to in close contact a multitude of cultures, us I ittle League triumphs in Williams- providing opportunities to learn from one 1. Mexico City 17.800.000 another. And as people travel and port, Pennsylvania, four centuries later. In 2. Guadalajara 3.545.801 1H4S the Treaty of Guadalupe i lidalgo migrate, they better appreciate the 3. Monterrey 3.H0.457 partitioned the old Northeast, but the uniqueness of their own places of origin. new realities of migration, communica- I lighway 59, the so-called N A I T A tions technology, and the North American Highway, crosses all four of the north- l;rcc Trade Agreement have brought the eastern states as it connects Houston with SoHW l \ t <>l. JlWM I ,-tii.m Ifn^dmin.tTY ItVlf/uJ region closer together than ever. Monterrey and Saltillo. The road's Reports about the vanishing border upgrade is intended to facilitate commer- Thi evolution of montcney. have become ubiquitous in the main- cial trattic. But history shows repeatedly stream media. The cover of a recent spe- that cultural exchanges are the most last- 1 179! cial issue of i'iinc proclaimed, "Welcome ni.u effects of trade. • I'8*5 to Amcxica.™ But the dramatic changes V visible on both sides of the border are far University oj Houston Professor <•/ from symmetrical. In Monterrey, the Architecture Rafael Longoria is a /irinci- impact of N A I T A is most evident in the jhil of Longnria/I'elcrs anil >t fnmuihtx affluent suburbs on the south side ol the editor of ALU.A: Architecture and 1N Santa Catarina River, where HUB, Sam's, Urhauisin in las Americas. and Chili's thrive, while in cities such as I Houston, the presence of Mexico is most palpable in middle- and low-income r neighborhoods, where Spanish signs dominate the landscape. .