Praça Marechel Floriano, or, Cinelândia as it is commonly referred to is captured in 1927 by Augusto Malta. It is the major public square of Rio de Janeiro, and named after the second president of Brazil, Floriano Peixoto.
Courtesy the Getty Research Institute Praça Marechel Floriano, or, Cinelândia as it is commonly referred to is captured in 1927 by Augusto Malta. It is the major public square of Rio de Janeiro, and named after the second president of Brazil, Floriano Peixoto.

A new exhibition at the Getty Research Institute in Los Angeles explores the development of architecture and urban planning in South America from 1830 to 1930. The multimedia show by Maristella Casciato, curator of architecture at the Getty Research Institute, and Idurre Alonso, associate curator of Latin American collections at the Getty Research Institute, delves into aspects such as urban growth, sociopolitical upheavals, cultural transitions, and how all of this affected the built environment in major Latin American cities. “The Metropolis in Latin America, 1830-1930” chronicles the transformation of six capitals: Buenos Aires, Argetina; Havana; Lima, Peru; Mexico City; Rio de Janeiro; and Santiago, Chile.

Using primarily architecture and photography, the curators trace each city’s development and show how the results influenced planning and design elsewhere, such as in Southern California. Photographs, plans, maps, and more from the Getty Research Institute’s collections show “the emergence of a bourgeois elite, extensive infrastructure projects, and rapid industrialization and commercialization,” according to the organization's press release.

Laid out in a chronological framework, the show starts with the colonial city (and how it was configured by Spanish urban regulations) and the republic city (which is a combination of old and new varieties of architecture), and then how subsequent buildings and urban planning were conceived from indigenous revivals. As the cities evolved, they also became areas of experimentation, combining scientific planning with the natural environment and removing symbols of colonial power. This helped to emphasize each country’s new identity.

A print by Abel Briquet titled "Entrada al Paseo de la Reforma," or the entrance of Paseo de la Reforma, which is a wide avenue that runs diagonally across Mexico City. Designed by Ferdinand von Rosenzweig in the 1860s, it was modeled after the massive European boulevards similar to those in Veinna and Paris.
Courtesy the Getty Research Institute A print by Abel Briquet titled "Entrada al Paseo de la Reforma," or the entrance of Paseo de la Reforma, which is a wide avenue that runs diagonally across Mexico City. Designed by Ferdinand von Rosenzweig in the 1860s, it was modeled after the massive European boulevards similar to those in Veinna and Paris.

The earliest signs of this transition showed up in 1850, when major cities like Buenos Aires, Mexico City, and Rio de Janeiro integrated European planning models, such as the adoption of Parisian grands travaux (architectural programs in Paris to construct modern monuments within the city). This, paired with local industrialization, migration into city centers, and integration of roads and public areas, helped to create cohesive urban areas. But the legacy of colonialism still remained.

By the 1910s, Latin America had much to celebrate. The centennial for independence from European power coincided with the end of World War I—resulting in mass immigration from Europe. By reconsidering its identity once again, architects, planners, and politicians came up with designs that hearkened back to local design, forgoing European styles for neo-colonial and neo pre-Hispanic ones.

The Getty's exhibition also touches on a new architectural vernacular of the confluence of styles from Southern California and Latin America. This mixing resulted in two different styles. The first were the two popular Mission Revival and Spanish Revival of California that later made its way through Latin America. The second was from the growing popularity of pre-Hispanic cultures that resulted in a Mayan Revival architecture, which made its way over to the States and was utilized by architects such as Frank Lloyd Wright, his son Lloyd Wright, and Robert Stacy-Judd.

The exhibition is on view from Sept. 16 through Jan. 7, 2018 at the Getty Research Institute in Los Angeles.

An illustration by Bertram G. Goodhue of a building in California captured during the Panama-California Exposition in Balboa Park in San Diego.
Courtesy the Getty Research Institute An illustration by Bertram G. Goodhue of a building in California captured during the Panama-California Exposition in Balboa Park in San Diego.