Description
Book SynopsisExtensively illustrated with detailed site plans and photographs, this architectural history of the Mexican plaza reveals why this central public space has been the heart of the community from ancient Mesoamerican times until the present.
Trade ReviewGenerously illustrated with diagrams and measured drawings of the sites analyzed, this volume also offers information on the pre-Hispanic sites and form surrounding them. Summing Up: Highly recommended. * Choice *
The development of the Mexican plaza in the early sixteenth century is a fascinating topic, and it has been adequately summarized and well illustrated by Logan Wagner, Hal Box, and Susan Kline Moorhead in
Ancient Origins of the Mexican Plaza. * Marginalia *
Table of Contents
- Authors' Note
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- Chapter One. The Primordial Sea: Forming Open Space in Mesoamerica
- Mesoamerican Concept of Space
- Mountains and Altepetls
- Caves, Quatrefoils, and Sunken Courts
- Types of Open Space in Mesoamerica
- Triad Centering
- U-shaped Courts
- Quadrangles
- Quincunx: Symbol of the Cosmos
- Ballcourts
- The Sunken Court of Teopantecuanitlán
- The Dallas Plaque: A Cosmogram
- Chapter Two. Forming Spanish Towns in Mesoamerican Culture
- People and Ideas
- The Invasion
- The Europeans Making Contact
- European Plazas in the Early Sixteenth Century
- Origins of the Plaza
- Building New World Towns
- Types of Towns
- First Acts and Encounters
- Laws of the Indies
- Conversion
- Quincunx Patios
- Relaciones Geográficas
- Chapter Three. Sixteenth-Century Communal Open Spaces (Five Hundred Years Later)
- Caves and Crevices
- Amecameca, State of México
- Zoquizoquipan, Hidalgo
- Valladolid, Yucatán
- Quincunxial Arrangements
- Atlatlahuacan, Morelos
- Huejotzingo, Puebla
- Huaquechula, Puebla
- Zacualpan de Amilpas, Morelos
- Terraced Mountains
- Molango, Hidalgo
- Achiutla, Oaxaca
- Yanhuitlán, Oaxaca
- Sunken Courts
- Tepoztlán, Morelos
- Tochimilco, Puebla
- Calpan, Puebla
- Ballcourts and Bullrings
- Villa Díaz Ordaz, Oaxaca
- Tlanalapa, Hidalgo
- Tepeapulco, Hidalgo
- Open Space Ensembles
- Tlaxiaco, Oaxaca
- Tlacolula, Oaxaca
- Otumba de Gómez Farías, State of México
- Tlacochahuaya, Oaxaca
- Tepeaca, Puebla
- Etla, Oaxaca
- Bishop Quiroga's Utopias in Michoacán
- Tzintzuntzan, Michoacán
- Pátzcuaro, Michoacán
- Santa Fe de la Laguna, Michoacán
- Erongarícuaro, Michoacán
- Angahuan, Michoacán
- Visible Overlays and Deliberate Alignments
- Mitla, Oaxaca
- Hacienda Xaaga, Oaxaca
- Teposcolula, Oaxaca
- Coixtlahuaca, Oaxaca
- Epazoyucan, Hidalgo
- The Yucatán Experience
- Yotholín, Yucatán
- Tibolón, Yucatán
- Izamal, Yucatán
- Chapter Four. Origins and Evolution
- Epilogue: Plazas in the Twenty-first Century
- The San Miguel Example
- Qualities of Successful Plazas
- Sprawl and the American Myth
- Appendix. Measured Drawings: Plans of Towns
- Notes
- Glossary
- Bibliography
- Index
