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With its main façade
in pan-coupé (facing a corner), this building –
originally a theatre, then used as Chamber of
Deputies and now seat of the Legislative Assembly –
has been one of the most traditional stages for
mexican politics in the 20th Century and,
in recent decades, a centre for the democratic
emancipation of Mexico City.
The history of this building dates back to 1851 when
Francisco Abreu, an entrepreneur, decided to build
the Iturbide Theatre, making it the first integrally
designed entertainment complex in the country. Due
to the political turbulence of the time, the complex
didn't last long and was quickly abandoned. Twenty
years later, when a fire devastated the Chamber of
Deputies in the National Palace, it was temporarily
transfered to the theatre's facilities. Due to the
fact that the theatre's design didn't completely
satisfy the needs of the House of Representatives, a
plan was made for the construction of a Legislative
Palace which would be inaugurated on the 100th
anniversary of Mexico's Independence where the
Monument to the Revolution stands today. After
several delays and, consequentially, it's
cancellation, it was decided that the Iturbide
Theatre would be remodeled; the project was
entrusted to architect Mauricio de María Campos who
redesigned the main faҫade by eliminating the
original portico and adding a classical pediment
supported on Ionic columns which flanked the
entrance consisting of three round arch doors which
descended onto an ample stairway.
The Chamber of Deputies' sessions continued to take
place in the building all throughout the 20th
Century until it was transferred in 1981 to the new
Congress building, located to the west of the
Historical Centre. The change coincided with a
period in which the city's inhabitants started
getting more involved in the country's public and
political life, due to the deterioration of the
PRI's (Institutional Revolutionary Party)
dictatorship as well as the 1985 earthquake, both of
which motivated the mexican people to work towards
the city's – and its institutions' – reconstruction
in the face of the federal government's inefficiency
in handling the catastrophe. These events made it
apparent to the people that they had the right to
choose their own governors and representatives,
which up to that point had always been imposed
directly by the Executive power.
In the mid-80's a House of
Representatives in its first stages was put
in place, and in the need for a space in which to
carry out its activities, it was decided the
facilites of the old Chamber of Deputies would
suffice. In 1997 the Assembly acquired the ability
to Legislate at the same time the city's first ever
election for governor took place, which Cuauhtémoc
Cárdenas Solórzano won.
Some of the most advanced laws in terms of human
rights have been passed in this building, like the
right for child abortion during the first months of
the pregnancy, the law for cohabitation societies;
which legally recognizes homes formed by people who
aren't related without changing the participants'
civil status and, most recently, the law for
same-sex marriage approved on december 21st
2009 which made Mexico City the first in Latin
America to accept said unions as well as one of the
most tolerant and liberal cities in the world.
The building is located in the Historical Centre, on
the corner of Donceles and Allende. |
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