The Many Faces of Mexico City

The Many Faces of Mexico City



When
arriving in Mexico
City
, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. Overwhelmed by the
controlled chaos of the city, the kindness of its people, the smog,
the complex smells, the diverse food and all the peculiar noises.
Above all, however, it’s easy to be overwhelmed by the city’s
architecture and art.

The diversity of these crafts tells the story of the city like
nothing and no one else can. Mexico City is a patchwork of
architectural styles, bringing together pre-hispanic, vernacular,
neocolonial and internationally influenced structures. Each
building serves as a link between present and past.

My trip began at Chapultepec Castle, located deep in the
Chapultepec Forest and once home to Mexican Emperor Maximilian I
and Empress Carlota. The castle’s interiors dazzle, and it displays
murals by the likes of famed Mexican artists such as Antonio
González Orozco, David Alfaro Siqueiros and Eduardo Solares
Gutiérrez.

Moving to the city’s Centro Historico, I discovered buildings
from the colonial and Mexican baroque periods. In the Palace of the
Inquisition, now transformed into the Museum of Mexican Medicine, I
perused an extensive collection of botanicals and a display of
pre-hispanic medicines. Just a 10-minute walk away in the National
Palace, I admired Diego Rivera’s striking murals depicting the
history of Mexico,
including its pre-Columbian period, the arrival of the Spaniards
and the Mexican Revolution.

Of course, I cannot write about Mexico without proclaiming my
love for Luis Barragán’s buildings. Taking cue from the European
modernist movement and traditional Mexican haciendas, Barragán was
one of the architects who helped fashion a more restrained elegance
in architecture.

Turning to La Roma and Condesa, I easily got lost in the beauty
of the areas’ nostalgic belle époque, art deco and neoclassical
facades. As I stumbled upon corners reminiscent of the
neighbourhoods’ vibrant pasts, the city took on an ethereal quality
which, today, beckons me to return.

@victorstonem | victorstonem.com

Nima Local House Hotel, Mexico City

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