From a history, 1909
The architecture of Mexican cities is often of a solid and enduring type, especially the buildings of older construction; and many of these date from the time of the earlier viceroys. All public buildings and ecclesiastical edifices are of this nature. The modern buildings have, in some instances, followed out the same style, eminently suitable for the country, but others have adopted a bastard and incongruous so-called "modern" type, copied from similar structures in Europe or the United States, where pure utility of interior has been clothed with undignified exterior of commercial character, marking a certain spirit of transition in its inhabitants. This is partly due to the ruthless American industrial invasion, which, whilst it has valuable elements for the country, should not be allowed to stamp a shoddy modernism upon the more dignified antiquity of environment. This tendency, however, has not yet had time to show itself, except in a few instances in the capital. Nevertheless, some portions of the City of Mexico have already been spoilt by the speculative Anglo-American builder, who has generally called himself an architect in order to perpetrate appalling rows of cheap adobe houses or pretentious-looking villas, made of the slimmest material and faced with that sin-covering cloak of tepetatl, or plaster "staff." Even some of the principal streets of the capital have been disfigured with hideous pretentious business structures, for which the Anglo-American element, whether in fact or example, has been responsible. If the Mexicans are wise they will sternly refuse to adopt much of steel construction or of "staff" and corrugated iron covering imported from the north, but to limit their buildings to native materials of stone or brick and their elevation to two or, at most, three storeys. The skyscraper is at home in New York or Chicago; in Mexico (or in London) it is the abomination of desolation. In San Francisco the outraged earth endeavoured to shake them off a year or so ago in an earthquake! An attractive feature of Mexican houses is the flat roofs, or azoteas. These are often made accessible from the interior and adorned with plants and flowers, and even the heavy rain-storms of certain regions do not seem to influence this type of construction or demand the rapid watershed of the gabled roof. During the time of the conquest of the City of Mexico these azoteas formed veritable coigns of vantage for the Aztecs, who poured down a hail of darts and stones upon the besiegers.
--Charles Reginald Enock*
2007, just before Thanksgiving
He appeared briefly in a bar frequented by Americans. It was said he had a very, very rich girlfriend. He was shortish and good looking, well dressed and groomed, "our kids are grown." Somehow thus, he had time for "a project" backed by monied partners and his own measures of success up north. He spoke quickly, words flowing in complete and correct sentences replete with substantives and carefully chosen qualifiers. It was sometimes difficult to retain what he said; only great effort caught the ideas and nuances as they quickly filled then vacated the hollow between him and speechless audients. He talked of building American homes, the existing construction was of such poor quality. Local stone was soft and quick to crumble under the slightest skirmish with a hammer and chisel, the preferred local method of demolition. They would import granites and more from Brazil and elsewhere in South America. They would bring in Polish and Czech installers for tile, most assuredly the best in this trade in the world. Superior steel structures would arrive from the States. As with Florida circa 1960s, this place would boom, and today's boomers would only flock here to modern US design and standards. He and his visionaries would build and they would come, more than have already.
One such subject, having made the choice to settle, or seasonally migrate, can be described as an outlier, living "in the hood" instead of the sometimes pretentious north- and southwest neighborhoods closer to the sea and the tourist and town center. He proudly ushers expat visitors to the roof terrace sunken ever so slightly into the gabled roof, allegedly the first in town to peek over its flat-roofed neighbors some twenty years ago. He contracted for the property just before Wilma. Closing the purchase and taking up residence required but one task, evicting the meter of water that Wilma had left. Dry soon afterwards, the house had easily withstood the thinkable worst nature can wrest. It was built by its previous owner, Mexican.
As to the developer from up north, he appeared not to have had a drink. He left the bar before nice-to-meet-yous. No one thought to counter at the time with Mayan pyramids you can still see today, nor did they recall his mentioning a groundbreaking.
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* Enock, C. R. Mexico: Its Ancient and Modern Civilisation, History, Political Conditions, Topography, Natural Resources, Industries and General Development. 1909. A Project Gutenberg EBook released April 2, 2007 [http://www.gutenberg.org, EBook #20959].
