Civil Engineering and Architecture Vol. 4(1), pp. 1 - 7
DOI: 10.13189/cea.2016.040101
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Tlaxcala and Pátzcuaro, Mexico: Urban Designs to Reflect and Reinforce Concierto Urbano

Mark Lindsay ^*
Independent Researcher, USA

ABSTRACT

Sixteenth-century Spaniards believed that their modular grid, defined by architecture, implanted their concept of ideal urban culture, or política humana, in new cities in the New World. The ordered morphology with compact lots and central plaza created a concierto, or harmonious accordance, among the residents, both encomenderos and feudal tributaries. Many were superimposed over imposing precolonial urban/ ceremonial centers. At actual conquests, non-European centers were typically demolished, erasing the memory of the old culture. In many others, selected patterns were retained, recognizing the precolonial cultural origins and significance. This essay compares colonial urban designs in two examples in Mexico, both capitals of major Mesoamerican allies: Pátzcuaro was a former royal Purépecha capital, later abandoned; Tlaxcala was a confederation of four principalities atop a tall mountain chain, heavily fortified to resist Aztecs, where the sons of the old nobility built a new city center in the level valley below. The colonial urban designs consciously recognized the non-European origins and suggest images of colonial acceptance of, and accordance with, the old culture. They expand understanding of cultural interweaving which Mexican scholars cite in their studies.

KEYWORDS
Pátzcuaro, Tlaxcala, Colonial Urban Design in Mexico / New Spain

Cite This Paper in IEEE or APA Citation Styles
(a). IEEE Format:
[1] Mark Lindsay , "Tlaxcala and Pátzcuaro, Mexico: Urban Designs to Reflect and Reinforce Concierto Urbano," Civil Engineering and Architecture, Vol. 4, No. 1, pp. 1 - 7, 2016. DOI: 10.13189/cea.2016.040101.

(b). APA Format:
Mark Lindsay (2016). Tlaxcala and Pátzcuaro, Mexico: Urban Designs to Reflect and Reinforce Concierto Urbano. Civil Engineering and Architecture, 4(1), 1 - 7. DOI: 10.13189/cea.2016.040101.