Windows of Tlatelolco

Back

The residential urban complex of Tlatelolco, completed in 1964, became the second biggest of its kind on the American continent (after co-op city in the Bronx). It was part of Mexico´s ambitious move towards modernization. Architect Mario Pani, a contemporary of Le Corbusier, was set on bringing Functional Modernist architecture to Mexico with his Conjunto Urbano Nonoalco Tlatelolco; a utopic middleclass paradise. His ambitious project was carefully timed to be completed a few years before Mexico was to host the Olympics.

Pani´s dream was short-lived though, only 4 years after its completion and 10 days before the Olympics opening ceremony in 1968 the government massacred hundreds of students during a peaceful student protest in-front of Tlatelolco´s Chihuahua Building. Tragedy was to strike again less than two decades later when hundreds more were killed after the Nuevo Leon building collapsed in the 1985 earthquake.

The windows act as a metaphor underlining the relationship between a building and the people who live in it. It illustrates how one shapes and defines the other, each identical space is lived in differently. I was interested in Tlatelolco because it has been so scarred by history. I wanted to make a “portrait” of a place and a people in a moment in time. The building as a protagonist, yet the building here is defined by the individuals who live in it and the unique footprint each creates within an identical space.

Windows of the Chihuahua Building, Tlatelolco. Scene of a government massacre of hundreds of unarmed students in 1968. The windows act as a metaphor underlining the relationship between a building and the people who live in it. It illustrates how one shapes and defines the other, each identical space is lived in differently.
Windows of the Chihuahua Building, Tlatelolco. Scene of a government massacre of hundreds of unarmed students in 1968. The windows act as a metaphor underlining the relationship between a building and the people who live in it. It illustrates how one shapes and defines the other, each identical space is lived in differently.
Windows of the Chihuahua Building, Tlatelolco. Scene of a government massacre of hundreds of unarmed students in 1968. The windows act as a metaphor underlining the relationship between a building and the people who live in it. It illustrates how one shapes and defines the other, each identical space is lived in differently.
Windows of the Chihuahua Building, Tlatelolco. Scene of a government massacre of hundreds of unarmed students in 1968. The windows act as a metaphor underlining the relationship between a building and the people who live in it. It illustrates how one shapes and defines the other, each identical space is lived in differently.
Windows of the Chihuahua Building, Tlatelolco. Scene of a government massacre of hundreds of unarmed students in 1968. The windows act as a metaphor underlining the relationship between a building and the people who live in it. It illustrates how one shapes and defines the other, each identical space is lived in differently.
Windows of the Chihuahua Building, Tlatelolco. Scene of a government massacre of hundreds of unarmed students in 1968. The windows act as a metaphor underlining the relationship between a building and the people who live in it. It illustrates how one shapes and defines the other, each identical space is lived in differently.
Windows of the Chihuahua Building, Tlatelolco. Scene of a government massacre of hundreds of unarmed students in 1968. The windows act as a metaphor underlining the relationship between a building and the people who live in it. It illustrates how one shapes and defines the other, each identical space is lived in differently.
Windows of the Chihuahua Building, Tlatelolco. Scene of a government massacre of hundreds of unarmed students in 1968. The windows act as a metaphor underlining the relationship between a building and the people who live in it. It illustrates how one shapes and defines the other, each identical space is lived in differently.
Windows of the Chihuahua Building, Tlatelolco. Scene of a government massacre of hundreds of unarmed students in 1968. The windows act as a metaphor underlining the relationship between a building and the people who live in it. It illustrates how one shapes and defines the other, each identical space is lived in differently.
Windows of the Chihuahua Building, Tlatelolco. Scene of a government massacre of hundreds of unarmed students in 1968. The windows act as a metaphor underlining the relationship between a building and the people who live in it. It illustrates how one shapes and defines the other, each identical space is lived in differently.
Windows of the Chihuahua Building, Tlatelolco. Scene of a government massacre of hundreds of unarmed students in 1968. The windows act as a metaphor underlining the relationship between a building and the people who live in it. It illustrates how one shapes and defines the other, each identical space is lived in differently.
Windows of the Chihuahua Building, Tlatelolco. Scene of a government massacre of hundreds of unarmed students in 1968. The windows act as a metaphor underlining the relationship between a building and the people who live in it. It illustrates how one shapes and defines the other, each identical space is lived in differently.
Windows of the Chihuahua Building, Tlatelolco. Scene of a government massacre of hundreds of unarmed students in 1968. The windows act as a metaphor underlining the relationship between a building and the people who live in it. It illustrates how one shapes and defines the other, each identical space is lived in differently.
Windows of the Chihuahua Building, Tlatelolco. Scene of a government massacre of hundreds of unarmed students in 1968. The windows act as a metaphor underlining the relationship between a building and the people who live in it. It illustrates how one shapes and defines the other, each identical space is lived in differently.
Windows of the Chihuahua Building, Tlatelolco. Scene of a government massacre of hundreds of unarmed students in 1968. The windows act as a metaphor underlining the relationship between a building and the people who live in it. It illustrates how one shapes and defines the other, each identical space is lived in differently.

Windows of Tlatelolco

Windows of Tlatelolco

Newsletter

Sign up to our weekly newsletter!