Departamento del Distrito – Everything Else

Archive Raíces digital UNAM

Similar to what occurred in the fields of design and construction during the period known as the Mexican Miracle (1940–1970), this exceptional era also witnessed a flourishing of architectural publications in Mexico. For the first time in the country’s history, numerous architectural magazines were edited and distributed simultaneously, resulting in a diversity of voices and critical discourses that were in active dialogue with one another. Reviewing the Raíces Digital archive from the Faculty of Architecture at UNAM has allowed us to better understand the public discourse generated during this time, as well as the role these publications played as platforms for creating, disseminating, and promoting architectural ideas.

To grasp the debates that took place during this period, one need only examine the “complementary” sections included in nearly every magazine published throughout these three decades. Primarily textual and often found toward the back of the issues, these sections served as spaces for critique, commentary, and political positioning. Columns such as Asteriscos in Arquitectura y Decoración (1937–1943), Crítica de Ideas Arquitectónicas in Arquitectura México (1938–1978), and Demoliciones Gratis and D.D.T. in Arquitectura y lo Demás (1945–1950) are just a few examples of recurring supplements that, issue after issue, fueled ongoing discussions within the profession.

Among this universe of voices and discourses, one particularly distinctive contribution came from the independent publication Arquitectura y lo Demás, which ran from 1945 to 1950. As its title suggests, the journal aimed to dismantle the notion of architecture’s autonomy from other disciplines. Unlike its contemporaries, it featured not only architectural projects, but also reflections on daily life and broader societal issues of national interest. While its editorial perspective is key to what makes it unique, equally remarkable are the authors’ irreverent tone and the magazine’s playful graphic language, both of which reinforce its critical yet accessible voice.

Its topics ranged widely—from the mundane (a conversation between Juan O’Gorman and José Gómez Robleda about a salt stain on a wall, Issue 11, pp. 56–57), to social critiques (an article comparing “aristocratic” dogs to street dogs, Issue 9, pp. 72–73), to the profession’s relationship with the State (a letter to the President asking for more architects in his cabinet, Issue 5, p. 11; or a fictional story about an architect designing a house for a Governor, Issue 1, p. 12), and even environmental concerns (a satirical piece about the fictional suicide of Havana’s mayor for failing to supply water to the city, Issue 11, p. 20).

Perhaps it is Arquitectura y lo Demás’ expansive definition of the field—“lo demás” being described by its editors as “all those constraints, connections, requirements, intermediaries, and inescapable dependencies”—that gives the magazine such enduring relevance. Its editors clearly understood that addressing the urgent issues of their time required looking beyond architecture itself: telling stories with humor, embracing irreverence, and engaging critically with the banal and the everyday—the “everything else” that connects us all.