Hybrid Art Buildings

Inspiration for Latin America

Rollo Tower, built 1559, Tepeaca, Mexico

ROLLO TOWER

The Rollo Tower was first built as a picota (place of public punishment) The style comes from early colonial architecture and has elements from spanish-islamaic amalgam, known as mudéjar which served as a reminder that many Spaniards came from a culturally mixed world. Not only that but Islamic, Indigenous, and Spanish ideas and elements were used; such as in the stones and mortar, for building the structures. The Rollo tower’s style and manner of construction, reveals the cultural complexity of early colonial architectural design. The cultural significance of this building goes beyond its style: the laborers who cut the stone of the Rollo and built the building—and the women who fed them—were Nahuas. Their knowledge of materials and building techniques, are the reasons for the Rollo’s very existence, which were expanded on by the demands of this mudéjar design. The styles and materials of these buildings now became a mixture of different culture techniques and styles all being combined to make new and improved structures for the people.

"El Rollo" Clock Tower Tepeaca, Mexico, built 1559

"Rollo Tower" Today

Qorikancha-Santo

Indigenous people help built this building but are recognized for their work because the building is a European-looking structure. It was believed that unless we can see the traces of indigenous style or influence, then cultural mixing is less significant. With the Qorikancha-Santo Domingo is was originally a temple transformed into a church; the church was founded by the Dominican order in 1534 and built directly on the remains of the Coricancha (also spelled Qorikancha, meaning “golden enclosure”), Cuzco’s most important Inka religious temple. The remains of the Inka temple form a curved foundation for the church. A small chapel rests on top of the curved wall at the back of the main church. The placement of a Spanish Christian structure atop a decapitated Inka temple is a symbolic act of power and subjugation. The church serves as a material manifestation of the “triumph” of Christianity over non-christian beliefs, showing off like a trophy; over the ruins of a conquered civilization.