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# The Pre-Columbian Origins of Mexico’s Modernist Architecture
- URL: https://hyperallergic.com/the-pre-columbian-origins-of-mexicos-modernist-architecture/
- Published: 2015-09-01T02:05:23.000Z
- Updated: 2025-11-24T15:59:15.000Z
- Description: In his monograph Pyramid, published by Toluca Éditions, photographer Pablo López Luz explores the pre-Columbian influence on modernist architecture in Mexico.
- Author: Allison Meier
- Tags: Books, Architecture, Aztec, Mexico City, Photography, #wp, #wp-post, #image-position-hidden, #Import 2025-11-24 07:13 (2014, 2015, part 3)

![Pablo López Luz, "Cancun I" (2013), Quintana Roo](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2015/08/pyramidbook3.jpg)

Pablo López Luz, “Cancun I” (2013), Quintana Roo (all photos courtesy the artist and Toluca Éditions)

In his monograph [*Pyramid*](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/8415118481/hyperallergic-20?ref=hyperallergic.com), published by [Toluca Éditions](http://www.tolucaeditions.com/?portfolio=pyramid&ref=hyperallergic.com), photographer [Pablo López Luz](http://www.pablolopezluz.com/?ref=hyperallergic.com) explores the pre-Columbian influence on modernist architecture in Mexico.

![Cover of 'Pyramid' by Pablo López Luz](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2015/08/pablogpyramidcover.jpg)

Cover of ‘Pyramid’ by Pablo López Luz

“It is difficult to draw a precise conclusion about the meaning of these shapes in contemporary Mexican architecture, particularly when citing the concept of identity,” Luz told Hyperallergic. “Mexico is a country haunted by its hybrid circumstance, so, finding these references to antique shapes or pre-Columbian motives scattered around different cities makes you wonder if that historical past still finds a place in contemporary identity, or if it surfaces only as a decorative motif. I choose to believe that it does play a role in today’s identity.”

The Mexico City-born artist previously explored unexpected collisions of influence in the built environment through his [*Terrazo*](http://www.pablolopezluz.com/works/view/1?ref=hyperallergic.com)series. Through aerial photographs, he examined the edges of the sprawling city, with its dense concrete slums, and surprising natural landscapes. *Pyramid* includes 65 images that highlight the details rather than the density of Mexico City, with the creative book design by the Paris-based Toluca Éditions featuringsmall colorful booklets in Spanish and English that precede two photography sections:“Grids” and “Pyramids.”

!['Pyramid' by Pablo López Luz (photo of the book for Hyperallergic)](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2015/08/pyramidbooka1.jpg)

‘Pyramid’ by Pablo López Luz (photo by the author for Hyperallergic)

!['Pyramid' by Pablo López Luz (photo of the book for Hyperallergic)](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2015/08/pyramidbooka3.jpg)

‘Pyramid’ by Pablo López Luz (photo by the author for Hyperallergic)

!['Pyramid' by Pablo López Luz (photo of the book for Hyperallergic)](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2015/08/pyramidbooka2.jpg)

‘Pyramid’ by Pablo López Luz (photo by the author for Hyperallergic)

Mexican historian, critic, and curator Alonso Morales states in his introduction that this mid-20th century design “announced Mexico’s transformation into a modern country” and “employed among its resources the reinterpretation/updating of pre-Hispanic architecture.”

“Grids” covers the geometric patterns found in neighborhoods formerly on the edge of Mexico City and that resemble those on pre-Columbian ruins, while *Pyramids* focuses on the step shapes reminiscent of Mesoamerican structures. A smaller insert in the book concentrates on even subtlersuggestions of this history, like a bright green triangle painted on the sidewalk, or a pyramid shape emerging from a brick wall.

“I was looking for visual references to pre-Columbian shapes, be it in the shape of pyramids, staircases, or geometric patterns referencing the primary patterns of this architecture, and I was also searching for direct re-interpretations of sculptural idols —serpents, deities — or specific architectural motives,” Luz explained.

Now many of these midcentury buildings are crumbling like the pre-Columbian sites they reinterpreted, the modern ruins another layer to the narrative of identity in Mexican architecture.

![Pablo López Luz, "Picacho II" (2011), Mexico City](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2015/08/pyramidbook8.jpg)

Pablo López Luz, “Picacho II,” Mexico City

![Pablo López Luz, "Teatro Independencia I" (2012), Mexico City](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2015/08/pyramidbook9.jpg)

Pablo López Luz, “Teatro Independencia I” (2012), Mexico City

![Pablo López Luz, "Bosque de las Lomas I" (2011), Mexico City](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2015/08/pyramidbook1.jpg)

Pablo López Luz, “Bosque de las Lomas I” (2011), Mexico City

![Pablo López Luz, "Camino a Teotihuacan" (2013), Mexico](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2015/08/pyramidbook2.jpg)

Pablo López Luz, “Camino a Teotihuacan” (2013), Mexico

![Pablo López Luz, "Espacio Escultórico I" (2012), Mexico](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2015/08/pyramidbook4.jpg)

Pablo López Luz, “Espacio Escultórico I” (2012), Mexico

![Pablo López Luz, "Merida VIII" (2012), Mexico](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2015/08/pyramidbook5.jpg)

Pablo López Luz, “Merida VIII” (2012), Mexico

![Pablo López Luz, "Merida X" (2012), Mexico](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2015/08/pyramidbook6.jpg)

Pablo López Luz, “Merida X” (2012), Mexico

![Pablo López Luz, "Palenque I" (2012), Chiapas](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2015/08/pyramidbook7.jpg)

Pablo López Luz, “Palenque I” (2012), Chiapas

![Pablo López Luz, "Tixpehual I" (2012), Yucatan](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2015/08/pyramidbook10.jpg)

Pablo López Luz, “Tixpehual I” (2012), Yucatan

[Pyramid](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/8415118481/hyperallergic-20?ref=hyperallergic.com) *by Pablo López Luz is out now from* [*Toluca Éditions*](http://www.tolucaeditions.com/?portfolio=pyramid&ref=hyperallergic.com)*.*