The Morphological Lecture of the City through Historic Military Architecture

Tarsicio Pastrana Salcedo

Escuela Superior de Ingeniería y Arquitectura, Secciónde Estudios de Posgrado e Investigación, Instituto Politécnico Nacional

México

Abstract: Military architecture during the viceregal period, in what is now Mexico, was based on a strategy of defense. It was designed by the Spanish crown, constructing systems mainly made of fortifications and walls entrusted to military engineers that used renaissance military treatises as a model. The work shown here is about the historic reading of two Mexican cities that were fortified during the viceregal period. The first one is the port of Veracruz, the walls and the systems built during this time left scars that established the urban development of the city, and that nowadays are perceivable even after the disappearance of the majority of its elements. The second example is the city of Campeche, which holds a category of World Heritage, and that in its fortified systems, partially conserved, show their imprint in the city that has developed from them. Both examples allow us to analyze how the techniques of historical reading, at urban level, allow us to obtain parameters of validation and establish lines of intervention that preserve the urban architectural patrimony. Hence the importance of their teachings and applications in education centers relative to the conservation and patrimonial restorations.

Key words: military architecture, military engineering, viceregal engineering, Mexico, world heritage