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This chapter explores the transnational origins and the dual routes of diffusion through which Neo-Gothic architecture arrived in Mexico. It outlines its European development, emphasizing the British ecclesiological movement and the French restorationist approach led by Viollet-le-Duc. The text examines how these ideologies and aesthetic forms were adapted in the Mexican context, identifying two major vectors of transmission: the Catholic Church, which utilized the style to reaffirm its position in an increasingly liberal society; and professional and vernacular architects, both local and foreign, who integrated the Neo-Gothic language into broader efforts to define a national architecture. The chapter distinguishes two phases of introduction: an initial, tentative stage between 1850 and 1863 marked by isolated examples and limited use of stylistic elements, and a second, more assertive phase from 1875 to 1910, in which Neo-Gothic became widely adopted—particularly under the Pax Porfiriana—as a symbolic and ideological tool of the Church. Through a combined geographical, historical, and architectural analysis, the chapter demonstrates that Neo-Gothic in Mexico was not a mere imitation, but a complex cultural reinterpretation embedded in national religious, political, and social dynamics.

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The Origins, the Routes of Arrival and the Stages of Introduction of Neo-Gothic Architecture in Mexico

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  • 发表日期：

    2025年

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  • Martin M. Checa-Artasu

摘要

This chapter explores the transnational origins and the dual routes of diffusion through which Neo-Gothic architecture arrived in Mexico. It outlines its European development, emphasizing the British ecclesiological movement and the French restorationist approach led by Viollet-le-Duc. The text examines how these ideologies and aesthetic forms were adapted in the Mexican context, identifying two major vectors of transmission: the Catholic Church, which utilized the style to reaffirm its position in an increasingly liberal society; and professional and vernacular architects, both local and foreign, who integrated the Neo-Gothic language into broader efforts to define a national architecture. The chapter distinguishes two phases of introduction: an initial, tentative stage between 1850 and 1863 marked by isolated examples and limited use of stylistic elements, and a second, more assertive phase from 1875 to 1910, in which Neo-Gothic became widely adopted—particularly under the Pax Porfiriana—as a symbolic and ideological tool of the Church. Through a combined geographical, historical, and architectural analysis, the chapter demonstrates that Neo-Gothic in Mexico was not a mere imitation, but a complex cultural reinterpretation embedded in national religious, political, and social dynamics.