6. Edificio Basurto

Turning to residential buildings, the 14-story Edificio Basurto by engineer-architect Francisco J. Serrano is a triumph of proportion. Completed in 1945, it gracefully blends vertical lines and horizontal curves. With its striking aesthetics, including a vaulted vestibule, it often used for on-location filming, including the movie Amores Perros.

This is a relatively late Art Deco building for Mexico City. Within a few years Functionalist architecture, which had already been present there, would predominate as Art Deco faded away. Edificio Basurto manages to integrate a restrained Art Deco approach with Bauhaus elements and in this respect can be considered a hybrid or transitional work.

Earthquake repairs (2019)

Located in the Hipódromo neighborhood, a seismically vulnerable area, it sustained significant damage during the 1985 and 2017 earthquakes. When we visited earlier this year, it was undergoing repairs projected to be completed this year.