While Mexico City purportedly has the highest number of museums of any major city in the world, the Museum of Tolerance interested me because of its unusual topic. I was exhausted by the depth and quality of the exhibits and hope you will have a chance to visit it. More than half of the museum is devoted to the Holocaust–its development, the participants, the process, and the statistics.

There were a significant group of Jewish, Eastern European, and Russian emigres who ended up in Mexico before and after the war, just like those who came to the US. The initial exhibit defined what a genocide meant. As the exhibits progressed, more reflective time was needed for visitors to digest the information. The museum designer provided a meditation room and window views to the large interior atrium, that was decorated with a huge tree weblike sculpture. The window slots provided a framed view of the tree sculpture and provided a necessary visual and mental relief from the subject matter.

No museum can ever succeed in conveying the weight of such a heavy topic, but I felt more emotionally informed after this visit. The second half of the exhibits recorded the many variations of genocides that have occurred since WWII until now, in an attempt to prevent repeating history by informing others. The building was designed by Ricardo Legorreta.

Photos, from top, left to right:
1. Introductory Exhibit
2. Atrium Sculpture
3. Window slot at end of Holocaust exhibit, with a view of atrium sculpture.

1. Decoration good enough to eat! Melissa: some research for the next dessert!
2. More wisps that are convertible to edible art.
3. A vintage Mexican carved armoire in the grand style–beautiful parquet
4. Interior courtyard of museum villa–could wrestle with the Frick
5. Wood encrusted Biblioteque, oozing with impeccable spit-shined wood flooring
6. Typical posada style room lined with hand-painted tiles and dark wood furnishings.

Decorative arts are some of my favorite museums, and I am always looking for the distinct or unique if subtle characteristics that define a culture or style. Availability of local materials such as wood or stone drive the local craftsmanship. In Mexico, they had plenty of both, and a lot of history and time to perfect each to the exquisite level represented in this museum.

Wandering around the Old town in Mexico offers endless discoveries and OMG moments. The National Cathedral (interior and exterior shots) struck me as being one of the sacred places that Mexicans throughout the country revere, much like St. Patrick’s Cathedral in NYC or Washington Cathedral. Most of the tourists were native Mexicans and very few were foreigners, at least when I was there. The over-the top ornateness is characteristic of the Mexican style, with carving craftwork handed down by indigenous people who were forced to perform.

The exteriors of the buildings in the Zocalo area were richly decorated with baked clay face tiles that preserved the old buildings and served them well. This left me wishing China had done a better job preserving not just its ancient buildings, but some of their more recent turn-of-the century tea houses and everyday genre buildings more. It made it that much more evident that “slow” development that at least respects the past creates a much richer and evident history for everyone to appreciate and from which to learn.

Photos, top, left to right:
1. Interior of National Cathedral
2. Exterior Door Detail
3. Hand painted Tile on Exterior of Building
4. hard to see, but another style of painted tile facade treatment (zoom to see)

An evening of Rigoletto at the Palacio de Bellas Artes. Maria Callas debuted here in 1950 as Norma.
1. View of Orchestra Seating in Art Deco Interior
2. Beautiful Ceiling with tiffany-designed colored Glass Art Deco Pattern
3. Detail of Stage Frame
4. Exterior of Art Nouveau and Neo-Classical style building.

Best seat in the house Row G in the center was $55. Production and stars were excellent. I’m coming back!

I have been so impressed by the high quality design that I have seen so far. I chose Zocale Centrale hotel from Booking.com because of its location next to the old main plaza. It has been developed in an old renovated building, somewhat reminiscent of Downtown LA but much richer in architectural heritage.
To date I avoided reporting on hotels where I have stayed, but I have to make an exception here. This hotel is very impressive, not just for its ideal location, but its sensitivity to good design and exceptional value. The difference is that Mexico’s architects and designers are respected and their contributions to enhancing life seem to be widely valued. The designs are creative, whimsical and generally well thought out. Inexpensive labor supports good design with craftsmanship and ability to maintain its artifacts. Architects are keeping pace with latest technology and standards such as USGBC and LEED sustainability practices.

Here are a few examples from the Zocalo:

1. Interior atrium with beautiful lighting.
2. Toiletries organized on a stoneware dish, beside a stone soap dish with sloped drain to sink for runoff.
3. gorgeous flowers everywhere, a statement about the establishment’s attention to detail and high standards.

Photos above, from top:
1. Pedestrian Street near Zocalo Centrale Hotel area in the early morning. Streets are washed down each day to keep the area free of trash
2. Crazy architecture near Aquarium with reflective mosaic-shaped mirrors by Fernando Romero and who else? You guessed it–Frank Gehry…and Ove Arup. This Museo Soumaya was completed in 2010. Wikipedia has some great construction photos of the structure before skin was added. You architects out there–Check it out! *
3. Mid-rise Building Clad in White back-painted Glass
4. View of Commercial Hi-Rises. Judging from crane spotting In Mexico City, hi-rise construction is alive and well here. As noted in my travels (primarily in New York, London, and China), prosperity is evident everywhere as well as in MC and this city joins the chorus of excitement in new building design and thinking hard about how well these buildings will survive the test of time.*
*info added or updated 12/6/14.