Colonia Condesa and Its Sisters - From Past to Present, Part II: 20th Century Kaleidoscope

Our first Colonia Condesa post identified Parque España and Parque México as the "hearts" of Colonia Condesa and its sister neighborhoods—Roma Norte, Hipódromo (Racetrack) and Condesa Hipódromo. We also explored the "bones" of some of these neighborhoods—the shaded, inviting avenues of Oaxaca, Durango and Mazatlán that run around their northern and western sides.

Now we head back to their center, Parque México, in Colonia Hipódromo. When the Colonial hacienda was subdivided at the beginning of the 20th century, the Mexico Jockey Club built a racetrack here. It was closed in the 1920's, and the area was subdivided for homes, but the oval groundplan was preserved in the shape of Parque México and Avenida Amsterdam that circles it one block away.

Colonia Hipódromo, The Racetrack,
with Parque México and
Avenida Amsterdam surrounding it.

This egg-shaped enclosure creates the unique feeling of an embracing, inward-focused space set apart from the city's surrounding bullicio, hubbub.

Fountain and woodland-like stream
in Parque México

Lush shade

Within this space, chilangos, Mexico City residents, come to relax and play.

...of all ages

             

Fun for children.....

           

Mascotas, pets, play, too
The Park is a favorite for dog owners

"Beauty parlor for dogs at home"

On Avenida México, which borders the park, we see some familiar architectural friends.

California Colonial home

But we also encounter a strikingly different esthetic.

Art Deco of 1930's and 40's

The presence of Art Deco buildings marks a clear transition to a post-Revolution, modern era that sought to leave behind a conservative past with its Neoclassic and Spanish Colonial Revival tastes.

Walking one short block outward from the Parque brings us to Avenida Amsterdam and other echos and transformations of the eras encapsulated in the last century.

Avenida Amsterdam: Kaleidoscope of the 20th Century


Avenida Amsterdam follows the original racetrack. Running along its center is a camellón, meridian, full of trees and tropical plants that turn this oval street into its own park, a circular boulevard that absolutely beckons you to stroll along it.

As we saunter along this path, we are struck by the constantly changing, three-dimensional kaleidoscope of 20th century esthetics opening around us.

Modern "castle"

Art Deco

                            

International

California Colonial apartments

               

                 

Art Deco

Even Buckminster Fuller!

California Colonial

International

French Second Empire

Art Deco

French/Neocolonial combo?

Art Deco

                           

 International vis-a-vis Art Nouveau

                                      

Art Deco Update

Neoclassic touch

International

                                       

                      

California Colonial vis-a-vis International

                                          

Spanish Neocolonial

Anybody's Guess

This mansion has it all!
Gothic Revival, Moorish Revival, California Colonial

It's time to take a rest after this meander through the architectural kaleidoscope. 

Popocatépetl Plaza

The perfect retreat is Popocatépetl Plaza, between the north ends of Parque México and Avenida Amsterdam, where we enjoy its Moorish Revival pavilion.

Here we end our ambles through the various colonias founded at the end of the Porfirato. Encompassing more than a hundred years of architectural styles, these rambles have enabled us to witness the evolution of upper-class Mexican tastes across the entire 20th century—the shift from emulating 19th century European esthetics to embracing the International style of 21st century global culture.

In terms of Mexican history, we have passed from the reign of Porfirio Díaz to the post-Revolution period. Our next explorations focus on seeking out how the Mexican Revolution (1910-1920) was expressed in the architecture and public art of Mexico City.

Other Posts on the Porfiriato Era

• The Porfiriato: French Culture Conquers Mexico City
• The Grandeza of Porfirio Díaz
• Inside Porfirio's Palace
• Centro Historico Porfiriato - Late Nineteenth Century Mexico City
• Colonia Santa María la Ribera: Early Twentieth Century Century Popurrí
• Colonia San Rafael: Decay, Renewal and Restoration
• Colonia Benito Juárez: Where History Lives in the Shadows
• Colonia Cuauhtémoc: The First Decades of the 20th Century Marry the First Decades of the 21st
• Colonia Roma Norte Part I: Houses—and a Culture—That Survived a Revolution
• Colonia Roma Norte - Part II: Dreams in Stone and Glass...and Paint
• Seeking Restored Vitality: Colonias of the Porfiriato Have Varying Success
• Colonia Condesa and Its Sisters - From Past to Present, Part I - Transition to the 1920's

Delegación Cuauhtémoc

The "Porfirian" Colonias line the West Side of Delegación Cuauhtémoc
From north to south they are:
Santa Maria la Ribera (violet)
San Rafael (medium pink)
Cuauhtémoc, (medium blue triangle)

South of Paseo de la Reforma
Benito Juárez (horizontal triangle of three adjacent pink sections)
Roma Norte (light blue) (Doctores, to the east, is a separate colonia)
Roma Sur (darker blue)

And to the Southwest (lower left):
Condesa (medium pink)
Condesa Hípódromo (dark pink)
Hípódromo (pale pink)

Centro, and its Five Sub-divisions (Historico, North, East, South, West)
 is to the right center (almost white)

Colonia Condesa and Its Sisters - From Past to Present, Part I: Transition to the 1920's

In our last post, Seeking Restored Vitality, we reviewed the colonias, neighborhoods, established at the end of the Porfiriato, at the turn of the 19th to the 20th century. Our focus was on the question of what made for the varying degrees of success we have observed in restoring their century-old, shared heritage of stylish homes and in integrating them with all the changes they underwent in that one hundred-plus years. 

Our answer was that two things seem to have made the difference. First is their proximity to the major axis of Paseo de la Reforma with its dynamic fusion of the Mexican version of a 19th century European boulevard and pedestrian promenade with the skyscrapers of the contemporary global economy. Second is their having "good bones," public streets and parks inviting people to walk, sit and enjoy what is around them. We concluded that, among the colonias we have explored, Colonia Roma Norte, with its relative proximity to Reforma and its "good bones," was most successful in this endeavor.

End of the Porfiriato, Transition to a New Epoch

With that perspective, following the (mostly) charming Álvaro Óbregon Avenue west from Roma Norte, we cross Insurgentes Avenue and begin our amble through the last of the Porfirian colonias, the one known as Condesa. Actually, the area is comprised of four colonias, or parts thereof:

• Condesa, 
• Condesa Hipódromo (Condesa Racetrack), 
• Hipódromo, and 
• One part of Roma Norte that—located on the west side of Insurgentes—is physically more connected to Condesa than to its eastern side.

Gathering this group into one neighborhood are the major thoroughfares that mark its boundaries on four sides:

• Chapúltepec Avenue to the north,
• Insurgentes to the east,
• Benjamin Franklin to the south, and 
• José Vasconcelos to the west. 

Chapúltepec Woods is just to the northwest. We refer to all of them as "Condesa."

CLICK to enlarge any photo.
A gallery of all photos will appear below it.

During the Colonial period, the land was a hacienda, a large estate, owned by a series of countesses, hence the name. The original mansion still stands on José Vasconcelos Avenue, in the southwest corner of Condesa Hipódromo. The U.S.S.R. Embassy throughout much of the 20th century, it is today the Russian Embassy surrounded by a high wall, which makes picture-taking a problem, even worse than the modern U.S. Embassy on Reforma.

In 1902, the owners decided to subdivide the hacienda into residential properties. The northern section was developed first as part of Roma. To the south, the Mexican Jockey Club opened a racetrack in 1910. In the 1920's, after the Revolution, it was closed, and the land was divided into residential lots.

Hipódromo of JockeyClub of Mexico as it was being converted into residential buildings in 1920s.
Larger, outer ring is Amsterdam Ave.
Photo: MXCity

The shape of the racetrack, however, was preserved, which accounts for the oval shape of Parque México and Amsterdam Avenue, which circles it, and for the name of that colonia, Hipódromo. We will find that this difference between pre- and post-Revolution origins in development of the colonias is reflected in their architecture.

The Two Hearts of Condesa

So let's begin with Condesa's "bones" and, extending the metaphor, its vital organs. Álvaro Óbregon leads us to a lovely, tranquil park virtually at the colonia's heart, Parque España.

Parque España 

From this serene core, wide spokes of tree-lined streets with shaded camellones, medians, spread out to the north, west and south.

Two short blocks to the southeast is Condesa's larger, and more active heart, Parque México. 

Art Deco clock points to the new architectural era in which the colonia developed

We will come back to Parque México, but first, let's stroll out some of the spokes, the "bones" radiating from Parque España.

The Bones of Condesa

Tuning north from where Avenida Álvaro Óbergon touches the park, we walk up Avenida Oaxaca. through what is actually part of Roma Norte.

Avenida Oaxaca is one of the few avenues in Mexico City with a row of palm trees

Along the way, we pass some old acquaintances:

Neocolonial home, now a restaurant

Amidst admittedly non-descript contemporary buildings, we have our first ecounter with a new, post-Revolution esthetic:

1930s-40s Art Deco

Oaxaca leads to a large traffic circle with a monumental statue at its center:

Fountain of Cibeles 

The Neoclassic Fountain of Cibeles [Anatolian earth goddess adopted by the Greeks and Romans] is an exact replica of one erected in Madrid, Spain, in the late 18th century. The copy, a gift of friendship from Spanish residents in Mexico City, but echoing the Colonial past, was installed here in 1980. The plaza around the statue was recently renovated and replanted with flowering plants.

Around the outside of the traffic circle are more Neocolonial and Neoclassic buildings. Housing cafes, restaurants and other shops preserve the Porfirian European ambience.

Continuing up Oaxaca to where it meets Insurgentes and Chapúltepec Avenues at the huge glorieta, traffic circle, we encounter other vestiges of the Porfiriato. They are, however, rather more down-on-their-luck than those around the Fountain of the Cibeles.

Second French Empire buildings on Insurgentes

Neoclassic mansion
(Sign indicates that current commercial tenant uses side entrance)

Reversing direction and heading back to the Cibeles Fountain, we angle southwest from Oaxaca and enter Calle [Street] Durango, the first of a chain of broad, shaded boulevards forming a semi-circle along the west side of Condesa, a kind of "ribcage" around the colonia's double hearts.

Camellón, pedestrian meridian down Calle Durango

And running north and south of Durango, on side streets named after Mexican cities such as Valladolid and Salamanca ...

...a quiet blend of tradition and definitely upscale, contemporary urban life.

Crossing Another Threshold

When Durango intersects with the wide Calle Veracruz, it bends more to the south and becomes Avenida Mazatlán. 

Neoclassic mansion at intersection of Durango, Veracruz and Tampico

Here we say goodbye to Roma Norte and enter Colonia Condesa proper.  We also find that we have crossed another threshhold, leaving behind the Neoclassic and Neocolonial of the earlier established La Roma for ...

                              

... that nostalgic, eclectic hybrid we have met in other Porfirian colonias, California Colonial, with its spiral columns and ornate dooways. The architecture tells us that we have entered a neighborhood established in the 1920's and 30's.

                                 

But then there appears a 1930's apartment building adopting formal Neoclassic elements. 

Followed by more 1920's fantasy:

Medieval mixed with California Colonial, and

Moorish Revival

        

As Mazatlán approaches the southern limit of Colonia Condesa at Avenida Michoacán, we find ouselves moving into an area of predominately utilitarian, unimaginative Post-World War II construction, where the ornamentations of pre-war fantasies are left behind.

Seeking to uncover more of the early 20th century "dreamed city" in Condesa, we turn northeast, up Michoacán, and walk towards its heart, Parque México, and our next post.

Other Posts on the Porfiriato Era

• The Porfiriato: French Culture Conquers Mexico City
• The Grandeza of Porfirio Díaz
• Inside Porfirio's Palace
• Centro Historico Porfiriato - Late Nineteenth Century Mexico City
• Colonia Santa María la Ribera: Early Twentieth Century Century Popurrí
• Colonia San Rafael: Decay, Renewal and Restoration
• Colonia Benito Juárez: Where History Lives in the Shadows
• Colonia Cuauhtémoc: The First Decades of the 20th Century Marry the First Decades of the 21st
• Colonia Roma Norte Part I: Houses—and a Culture—That Survived a Revolution
• Colonia Roma Norte - Part II: Dreams in Stone and Glass...and Paint
• Seeking Restored Vitality: Colonias of the Porfiriato Have Varying Success

Delegación Cuauhtémoc

The "Porfirian" colonias line the west side of Delegación Cuauhtémoc
From north to south they are:
Santa Maria la Ribera (violet)
San Rafael (medium pink)
Cuauhtémoc, (medium blue triangle)

South of Paseo de la Reforma
Benito Juárez (horizontal triangle of three adjacent pink sections)
Roma Norte (light blue) (Doctores, to the east, is a separate colonia)
Roma Sur (darker blue)

And to the southwest (lower left):
Condesa (medium pink)
Condesa Hípódromo (dark pink)
Hípódromo (pale pink)

Centro, and its five sub-divisions (Historico, north, east, south, west)
 is to the right center (almost white)