Indigenous Architecture and the Spanish American Plaza in Mesoamerica and the Caribbean

1995/12/01 by SETHA M. LOW, Setha Low · 2 citations
Arts and Humanities · Earth and Planetary Sciences · #Historical Studies in Central America #Archaeology and ancient environmental studies #Latin American history and culture

paper · doi:10.1525/aa.1995.97.4.02a00160

Abstract

Abstracts Plazas are often important spatial representations of society and social hierarchy. Those built in Mesoamerica and the Caribbean under the direction of the Spanish have been interpreted as architectural representations of colonial control and oppression. Underlying these interpretations is the tacit assumption that plaza‐centered urban design was of solely European derivation, in spite of considerable evidence of pre‐Columbian contributions. In fact, the correspondence between the indigenous forms and Spanish reconstruction is so well documented that the denial of its significance is startling.

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• spatializing culture: the social production and social construction of public space in Costa Rica
• Infrastructure Beyond Cities: Perspectives from the Americas

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