house design in mexico

hi guys! because i ran out of time with the spanish baroque video -- or baroque spain video, i decided to make a separate video for the ultra baroque in mexico. so let's go through three examples of church architectureusing this ultra baroque style. we'll be focusing in on structures thatconstruction dates from between the 16th century into the 18th century. so,you'll remember that we discussed, four styles of the baroque. so the "dynamic/ecstatic"style -- an example of that would be something like the "baldacchino" we saw inst. peter's. we also have baroque classicism, so using that classical architectural vocabulary or using classical iconography -- that is, thinkingabout ancient greece and rome and then

incorporating that intoarchitectural structures or into artworks. so examples: carracci's "loves of the gods" would bea nice baroque classical example, or also st. peter's piazza, the piazza outside using thatclassical architecture. and then we also have baroque realism, whichwould be a nice connection to works like caravaggio, and ribera, and velã¡zquez. but, finally, we have this ultra baroque which previously had talked about as "thebaroque on steroids," so let's go through a couple of examples in mexico, where you canreally get a sense of this baroque style being taken to the limit and reallyevery edge of these churches are decorated, especially when you get intothe interiors, but in certain cases also

on the exterior. so, let's start off in one of themost famous structures in mexico -- considered one of the wonders -- is thechapel of the rosary, and this is in a church called santo domingo. it's associatedwith the dominican order, so that's a mendicant [begging] order, an order of monks. and it'san order that was often associated with cities. so, they would gather in cities asa way to create a faith community within the city and assist in the city.inside this church, however, you could see how richly ornamented it is. and thisidea of really encrusting every corner with this type of decoration. in thiscase we have a kind of plaster work that's gilded with gold, so a material richness of mexico is

demonstrated in this church that in puebla, so we're in an area kind of close to mexico city, soit's a very important colonial city. it includes paintings, as well, so thesechurches often alternated between having rich sculptural decoration and thenpaintings alternating through the structure. this is a chapelthat's part of a larger church, so it's just one small section of it, but, as you can see,because it is a richly decorated, it has become an important tourist attraction. the main tabernacle at the center -- i will show you a close up in just a minute -- but it includes the virgin mary, alsost. dominic, and the archangel gabriel. so, you have this triple layertabernacle right at the center. also it

include other rich material like marblecolumns on the corners of the tabernacle, and apparently there's also an onyx pulpit.so lots of valuable materials really speaking to this glowing quality insidethe chapel. because there's so much natural light coming in, people oftendescribe it as having this glowing, rich quality -- not only from the gold, but alsofrom this natural light that plays off of the rich materials. so, here's one other view whereyou can see up towards the dome -- seeing that natural light entering in and just thetip of the tabernacle there, and then one more of view -- just a close up of thattabernacle, where, again, you can see the archangel gabriel, st. dominic -- thefounder of the order of the

dominicans -- and then also the lady of the rosary. so, the rosary was very important in mexico because it was amethod of converting and teaching the individuals in mexico about christianity. so by passing on this rosary, and byteaching the prayers of the rosary, it was a way of converting individuals to thefaith. and the virgin mary was a nice path for bring people into the religion,so many early chapels and churches in mexico we're dedicated to the virginmary, and, of course, the most important miracle image in mexico is the virgin ofguadalupe, so to the virgin also had this miracle quality associated with her. so,that's one example. let's go over to the

church of santa prisca, and also dedicatedto st. sebastian. these individual saints were martyrs, so we're referring backto martyr saints, who were very, very popular remember in the counter reformation, andvery much emphasized, the idea of offering one's life for the faith wasvery important. and it might have been away, again, of converting people intochristianity in mexico. so remember they're trying to bring people into the church. itwas commissioned by the owner of the mine, so, again, thinking of the materialrichness of mexico, the importance of mining. this is in the state of guerrero, and it's in the cityof taxco [de alarcã³n]. you can see the construction was concentrated in a very short time inthe 18th century -- in the 1750s.

it was tallest building in mexico for about 50years, as you can see those towers really literally tower over the city, and wouldhave been very, very impressive. it was very expensive even though the mineowner was very well off josã© de la borda. even though he was very well off, this is apparently avery expensive project even for him, and apparently wanted a great church therebecause his son was a priest and thought this would be a good place for his sonto to work and to give sermons. so, let's zoom in on the faã§ade. you get a nice sense of the grandeurof those two towers. the symmetry of the structure. you can see how narrow this structureis. it has this pink stone. but they had to

keep it very, very narrow because apparently the ground was quite uneven. if we go back,you can see it is in hilly territory. but they kept it very, very narrow, butthe effect of this is makes the verticality of it even more dramatic. this idea that your eye has to go directly upwards, and it emphasizes theverticality. the architects were influenced by spanish and french baroque, so remember a lot of these styles are coming in from europe, butmost of the individuals who are building them are actually native; individuals whoare from the area of mexico and know building techniques from this area, and alsodecorative techniques. so we often think

about hybridity here -- this idea ofconnecting what is native in mexico with the styles from europe. so we definitelysee these examples as a great cases of hybridity. as you can see lots ofdecoration especially in the central part of the faã§ade over the portal. this idea of twisting columns, which we've already seen in st. peter's. also this idea of highly decorative towers. also we go back one last time,you can see that colorful tile work was also incorporated, and we'll see this inpuebla as well when we go back in just a second. if we zoom in on that main faã§ade, you can seesanta prisca, and san sebastiã¡n or st. sebastian -- the important saintsassociated with this church, but also a

scene of baptism at center and also amarker of papal approval -- the papal keys here, and the papal tiara. but this ideaof baptism, again, very important with the idea of conversion of individuals cominginto the church. baptism being an important first step for coming into thecatholic faith. so having that right at center above the portal would draw ineveryone's attention. entering into the church, you can see again that alternation ofpainting and sculpture, and turning the architecture intosculpture. there are many examples of floor-to-ceiling altarpieces here. soyou can see these floor-to-ceiling altarpieces that are encased or gilded ingold. also imagery of martyrdom, and

also images of the passion are includedas well. there are altarpieces dedicated to santa prisca, san sebastian, the virgin ofguadalupe. and also the virgin of the rosary. and remember we talked about howthe virgin was significant and also how the rosary was an important means ofpassing on the prayers and learning the prayers for those in mexico. ok, our last church is santa maria tonantzintla, which is probably the best example of this caseof hybridity, so dedicated to the virgin mary, but also referring to tonantzin,the aztec mother goddess. this idea of combining those traditions, where themother figure in catholicism gets

combined with the mother figure inaztec culture. we're back in a small town in puebla -- in the area of puebla. and then construction here began in the 16th century however took a very long time tobuild, and its an incredibly ornate church. so on outside you see the colorful tiles,but i can't wait to take you inside because there's this incredible stuccowork as we enter in. so here you can see it. this is really that great case ofbaroque on steroids as you might say. similar to the chapel of the rosary, you havea tabernacle at center, but all around it you have this amazing, colorful stucco work. so really the the color that's incorporated here is unprecedented. and this idea thatthat you're using native artists or

artisans, who are coming in anddecorating this. you get ideas angels and individuals, but also fruit and flowers andimagery that might have been popular was popular before the arrival ofcatholicism. this great idea using this imagery to create an idea of heaven andan idea of beauty inside this church -- a really transformative type of experience.here's another viewer where you can really see every inch of the structure covered, so veryvery impressive. again, using that natural light to illuminate it, but rather than beinglike the chapel the rosary, in this case it's illuminated with color (thethe chapel of the rosary had the gold). here we're using all of these different colors on thestucco work. there's a close up where

you can see an individual figure withfruit, and all also it seems to be some type ofheaddress that may be incorporating feathers. so, again, combining the twotraditions of what's native to mexico, but worshiping a figure that'sassociated with catholicism, st. mary (the virgin mary). here's another case, where yousee what may be feather, fruits, figures that might be angels, but, again, this isone of the most impressive structures, where you are really going in, and you'reexperiencing the architecture and it's visually overwhelming you, which is veryappropriate for that baroque style!

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