El Palacio Legislativo Federal y la participación de Emilio Dondé, 1897-1902

Abstract

This article highlights the significance of the Jorge Enciso Historical Archive of the National Coordination of Historical Monuments, a key collection to conserve the architectural heritage. The article demonstrates the collection’s importance by focusing on 158 construction plans produced between 1899 and 1902 by the engineer and architect Emilio Dondé. Dondé drew the plans to build the Federal Legislative Palace, commissioned by the government of Porfirio Díaz in 1897. The government attempted to advertise the country’s progress and its democratic legitimacy in the context of the Centennial of Independence (1910). While Dondé cut short the construction for health reasons, his planes demonstrate that a Mexican architect devised a monumental structure in that period, moving beyond designing residential homes that had been his specialty to this point.