Benjamin A. Bross Mexico City's Zocalo

Annotation

This book presents a case study of one of Latin America's most important and symbolic spaces, the Zocalo in Mexico City, weaving together historic events and corresponding morphological changes in the urban environment. It poses questions about how the identity of a place emerges, how it evolves and, why does it change? Mexico City's Zocalo: A History of a Constructed Spatial Identity utilizes the history of a specific place, the Zocalo (Plaza de la Constitucion), to explain the emergence and evolution of Mexican identities over time. Starting from the pre-Hispanic period to present day, the work illustrates how the Zcalo reveals spatial manifestations as part of the larger socio-cultural zeitgeist. By focusing on the history of changes in spatial production - what Henri Lefebvre calls society's "secretions" - Bross traces how cultural, social, economic, and political forces shaped the Zcalo's spatial identity and, in turn, how the Zcalo shaped and fostered new identities in return. It will be a fascinating read for architectural and urban historians investigating Latin America.