Three Journals on Mexican Architecture: Spokesman of Modernity

Abstract

This article examines the textual and graphic contents as well as the institutional context of the three main architectural reviews published in Mexico between 1923 and 1950. The journals’ coverage of the modern movement in architecture was linked to the social, cultural and political demands of the country in the Revolutionary period. At the same time their individual positions responded to the respective institutional framework of each publication: El Arquitecto (1923-1933) was close to the guild of architects, while Cemento/Tolteca (1925-1933) had links with the building industry, and Arquitectura-México (1938-1978), with a leading exponent of the nation’s architectural profession, Mario Pani. The latter two journals leaned more towards international trends in modern architecture than the former. This study stresses the peculiar characteristics of such reviews as a genre of the publishing world, their links with international networks, their tendencies as regards dissemination and advertising and the importance of their visual messages alongside the textual ones.