Nataly Rojas M.Arch, Independent Study Faculty: Howard Davis University of Oregon Summer & Fall 2012
El Centro Project Piaxtla | Puebla | Mexico Piaxtla is a town located in the south of the Mexican state of Puebla. A large part of its population has migrated to the U.S. to find work and money and a better life. Many of them send money back to their family. These remittences fuel the local economy and have an impact on the social and phycsical structure of the town. Perhaps the best time to see this impact is during the festival devoted to the town’s patron saint. In Piaxtla, the town holds a yearly event to pay homage to La Virgen de la Asuncion, Virgin of the Ascension. The festival (la Feria) is the most important event in Piaxtla and runs through the month of August. This is the time that many who are living in the U.S. return to Piaxtla to spend time with family and reconnect with traditions. As more money is sent from the U.S. the festival becomes more and more extravagant which in turn motivates immigrants to return to experience the celebration.
B
A
Map of Piaxtla with the main square (El Centro) and main highway highlighted. A) Map of Mexico showing the location of the state of Puebla. B) Map of Puebla showing the location of the municipality of Piaxtla.
El Centro | The Square
4 2 3
3
This fountain was constructed near the church and was meant to represent the core of the town.
sell their goods. This commercial method has been in use since precolumbian times.
1
4
Photograph taken in 1942 from the northern mountain. It shows the most important elements in a Mexican community: 1) the church 2) the Market place 3) the public park 4) and the Municipal building
This photgraph shows the market place (mercado) in use in 1942, where vendors could gather to
3
2
1
2
This phtograph taken from the southern mountain 70 years later shows that the town expands concentrically around El Centro. The four structures have remained important.
2
Still a very important structure, the market place (mercado) has grown exponentially to accomodate a growing population. This shed is used for the weekly Plaza market and for important events and gatherings especially during the festival (feria). It is also slowly transforming into a permanent market place like those found in larger Mexican cities such as Puebla and Oaxaca.
La Plaza | The Weekly Market
The plaza is a weekly market where vendors gather to sell their goods in Piaxtla. This event enables townspeople to do their shopping of fresh produce along with most items needed throughout the week and eliminates the need for supermarkets or large retail stores.
La Feria | The Festival
The festival is a celebration devoted to the Virgin of the Ascension and many ceremonies and events are held. Many carnival rides and booths are invited to participate, and this gives the town a nocturnal quality that doesn’t exist throughout the rest of the year. Whereas the market place and the plaza are used by locals and visitors for necesities, the feria serves mostly recreational purposes.
This project was born from my fascination of El Centro, the town square, and the way it is utilized during the Feria. It morphs into a weekly market place (plaza), a carnival, a dance hall, a public park and a shopping center almost seamlessly. It is also slowly growing into a permannent market (mercado). And during the fair it is an extremely flexible space that has the ability to accomodate the needs of two different worlds: the townspeople who live here year-round and the returning population during the festival. The information for this project was obtained through direct observation and interaction with the space of the town square and those who use it.
3
The fountain has been replaced by a “kiosko”, a small pavilion for taking refreshment.
August 8th 2012
Symbol Key
First Plaza of the month. Mobile Stalls: Vendors whose wares are small enough to be carried through the market place. Some examples are blankets, wire mesh stands and small carts.
Table Stalls: Stalls created by joining tables for displaying goods. Primarily found within the shed which provides cover.
Booths: Assembled structures that protect vendors and their goods from the elements and act as shelter through the month.
Rides: Amusement rides that include a carousel, bumper cars, ferris wheel, tilt-a-whirl. Also arcade houses and trampolines.
Vehicles: Many of the vendors transport their goods using cars and trucks. These fill space around the main square.
Color Key El Mercado: The shed (el jacalón) at the center of town has been used primarily to hold major events and the weekly plaza. It has begun to be used by resident vendors to sell produce, food and other goods on a daily basis. La Plaza: The plaza is a traditional “farmer’s market”. Every wednesday local vendors set up in the town square to sell everything from household items to livestock. This lasts from sun-up to sun-down. La Feria: The fair is an annual festivity held during the month of August. Vendors from all over Mexico are invited, along with carnival booths and rides. They are primarily out-of-towners whose booths serve as their shelter for the duration of the fair.
Vendor Stalls
Vendors Antonia
Manuel
German & Juana
Antonia is a resident of Piaxtla and a vendor that sells grilled corn
Manuel sells small trinckets like the popular turtle bobble-heads
German & Juana create personalized bracelets by wrapping color-
in the zocalo. She told me that compared to other people she had
made of small gourds and wood for 25 pesos ($2.00). He came to
ful thread to a strip of plastic. The couple made themselves stand
the luxury of going home every night and sleeping on her own bed.
Piaxtla with his mother who has been coming to the Feria for the
out from others of the same trade by their quickness and designs.
However if this was not the case she would not have a problem
last 5 years. Manuel told us that they move all year round, selling
They hold a custom-made stand that holds pre-made bracelets with
staying in the zocalo since she believes it to be safe and a produc-
knickknacks and crafts. Their trip begins in their hometown and
popular names and colors. Their stand is comprised of three hinged
tive way of keeping the merchandise in one place. At night she locks
takes them all around Mexico. They explain that they used to be able
boards that can be folded and easily carried. When a customer ap-
everything to the bench she uses as her vending post and returns
to travel by bus but that is now difficult because bus lines are not
proaches them, they set down their board to display their work.
the next day with corn for grilling and the traditional toppings of
being as accommodating due to their large quantities of merchan-
They have a small notebook where they write the requested names
chile powder, lime and salt. Her stand is a public bench, a small
dise and their booth components. Now they must hire truck drivers
or words struggling a bit with spelling. The couple place themselves
table and a small charcoal grill. This is her first time selling corn in
that take them to their destination for a fee. For the duration of the
in the zocalo near the kiosko and await for passerbys. Their three
the zocalo, and knows that the festival is a great time to make extra
festival they live in their booth to keep an eye on their merchandise.
children sit patiently, using cardboard to make the cement softer
money. Though she has children who are working in the U.S. she
and cooler, as they learn the crafts of their parents. They explain
doesn’t like to just sit and wait for them to send her money, as she
that they have learned many crafts and skills in their city of Taxco,
believes many in the town do. At the beginning of the month An-
located in the neighboring state of Guerrero. But the bracelets allow
tonia was in the zocalo by herself and later she was joined by her
them to travel light and are very popular, especially with the young
husband and granddaughter who would kept her company. Since
people that are visiting from the U.S. Other than their display they
Antonia locks her property to the metal bench it has created a small
have a backpack in which they carry their materials and one bench
circle where people that she knows gather, this is also enforced
for Juana to sit on. They also carry with them a plastic tarp that they
since her friend has also set up shop in front of her, selling gum and
use as a protective canopy. Their establishment relies on their place-
candy. They enjoyed being able to chat in the time between sales.
ment since they are in the very center of the zocalo they can use the cement bench of the zocalo as a sitting place, eating place and resting area.
Section: North to south. Mercado and kiosko
August 15th 2012 Second Plaza of the month.
PLAZA TIMELINE PLAZA TIMELINES
The weekly market is held every wednesday, though most vendors arrive the night before to set up. The plaza sprawls accross the square and takes a different shape every week. This timeline shows the duration of the plaza from 5 am where the vendors wake to display their merchandise until 5 pm when the square is thouroughly cleaned by municipal waste management.
5 am
7 am Stage
11 am
1 pm
Vendors Ines
Maria
Lupe is originally from Chinantla a nearby town (it’s divided from
Ines is a resident of Piaxtla. Butchering and meat selling have been
Maria was very happy to be selling in the town, she was a strong
Piaxtla by a street). She moved to Piaxtla because there she had the
her family’s trade for generations and they are also known for their
believer of the quality of the sweets that she sells. She offered all
opportunity of putting up her own business. She decided that veg-
pozole (a white hominy soup) and their tacos. She can be found
kinds of traditional Mexican sweets, such as chilcacayote, a red
etables would be the best product to sell since the town does not
selling food in the mercado on some days and selling meat dur-
candied squash and famous sweet potato treat known as camote.
have a supermarket and has access to fresh produce only during
ing the wednesday plaza. She explained that the new president has
She encouraged her customers to sample her merchandise to prove
the Plaza on wednesdays. Since the mercado in Piaxtla is an open
helped the merchants organize in the mercado by paving the floor
its quality. She believed that the freshness of her sweets were what
shed, it was easy for her to set-up and in this year her business has
with bricks and demarcating pathways for customers to traverse the
maintained her customers happy. She took turns with her husband
grown from having a table of produce to having six tables stacked
market place with ease. The pathways also mark different sections
and son travelling back and forth from her town to transport fresh
with fruits, vegetables and flowers. Lupe travels to Acataln to find
of the market during the plaza, so that meat sellers are all in one
products when she ran low. Maria arrived in Piaxtla after going to a
fresh produce once a week and relies on her children or husband to
place, the bakers in another, etc. While talking to Ines other vendors
festival in the city of Acatlan and was planning to stay there for the
take care of the stand, which has become a permanent fixture of the
asked if they could set their establishment next to hers since it was
remainder of the week with her son while her husband left to set up
mercado.
empty and she explained to them that this location was for meat
for a festival in Cholula. They slept in their booth , which measured
sellers. It’s a new system that also has some political complexity. An
ten feet in length by a depth of six feet. She was located in the west-
association of vendors, of which Ines is a member, pooled money
ern edge of the zocalo, surrounded by other booths that also sold
together to help improve the mercado and the shed. She believes
sweets. She felt that the competition was essential for maintaining a
that this grants them more right to have their business housed with-
high quality product.
Lupe
3 pm
in the structure of the shed.
5 pm
Elevation: South facade of mercado.
August 22nd 2012 Third Plaza of the month.
MARKET TIMELINE PLAZA TIMELINES
Though the weekly plaza is organized in a very organic manner, there are new attempts to make business within the shed more orderly. Pathways were made to create sections for different types of vendors. So the meat sellers are grouped together in one section while the baked goods are in another. The mercado is also used during other days of the week though not in the same scale as the weekly market. The schedule is similar however, with people setting up fruit stands and makeshift kitchens for selling food. It is a known fact that in most Mexican cities it is in the market places that you find their culture. The best food, the local styles, regional goods and crafts. And as Piaxtla grows, El Mercado must also adapt.
5 am
7 am
11 am
1 pm
Vendors Felipe
Santos
Marta
3 pm
Felipe and his brother were only in the town for the main week of
Santos is participating in Piaxtla’s festival for the first time. He is a
Marta is from Acatlan, a city an hour away from Piaxtla. She was in
the festival. They came from the city Puebla and once they were
member of the Otomi tribe from the north section of the state of
town for the duration of the festival, selling clothing from different
done in Piaxtla they were going to another festival in Cholula. Fe-
Puebla from a town as remote as Piaxtla. He ended up in Piaxtla
regions of Mexico. She was in town for about two weeks, during the
lipe was responsible for one large booth and his brother for another.
because a friend who has participated in the festival invited him.
first week her son kept her company and in the last week her hus-
Each had a combination of hand made wooden items ranging from
His craft is a trade he learned in his hometown in the Sierra Norte
band arrived with new merchandise. She explained that she needed
spoons to back massagers. They explained that they did not find the
of Puebla. The region’s artisans are well known for creating intricate
help from both of them assemble and disassemble her establish-
festival to be as prosperous as it had been in past years and that a
and beautiful objects using bead work and bark paper. He found it to
ment because the metal bars are too heavy for her to do it alone.
lot less people seemed to be in Piaxtla compared to prior years. Like
be very popular in Piaxtla and because of this he plans to come back
Once the festival is over she will hire someone from the next town
the rest of the vendors that were stationed in the zocalo they slept
next year and bring others from his town. Santos explained that after
to move her things to the next festival. In previous years she had
in their booths and found that this was the best way to save money
months of saving he was finally able to purchase his stall, which
relied on public transportation but this has changed since buses no
and protect their merchandise. When I asked if they found this way
was designed by him and constructed by a metal smith in his town.
longer make as many local stops and limit pick ups. Like the oth-
of living uncomfortable they responded that it was fine since their
Santos explained that he decided on the measurements based on
ers who come for the festival, she sleeps in her booth and relies on
booth, measuring ten feet in length, offered them much more space
the money that he had at the time, “if one had the money to have a
being with her merchandise to protect it. The benefits to sleeping in
than other people there.
bigger stall done” he explained “then one could”. He also took into
her booth are not having to waste money for hotels and not having
consideration the amount of space that he needed for his work and
to move her merchandise.
the fact that towns like Piaxtla charge vendors a fee relative to the dimensions of the stalls. The booth is a metal framed structure measuring five feet in length and a depth of 6 feet. The table top where he places his merchandise is three feet deep and rises three feet. The total height of the booth is seven feet with a gable roof. Putting the stall together is very simple and since his merchandise is small he does not use much of the space underneath other than to have some personal items and extra merchandise. Santos explained that his booth did not have boards rising between the table top and the floor that many use to sleep on. Instead he set his booth against the the park, so that he could sit on the ledge during the day and sleep on it at nigh. Santos was originally planning to stay in Piaxtla for two weeks but once he was there he realized that staying until the end of the month was beneficial since many of the that were going back to the U.S. were doing so a the end of the month. This is the time that many use to buy last minute gifts and souvenirs.
Elevation: North facade of zocalo and kiosko.
5 pm
August 29th 2012 Fourth Plaza day of the month.
Additional Observations In addition to the social texture of the market, the town’s center is surrounded by textures and patterns that give the town a strong identity associated with the festivities of the month. For the market to be successful there must be activities occuring at different times of the day that solidify the identity of the town when the market is not in place.
Textures
Tarps that protect market stands from the elements.
Detail from the church’s facade.
Detail from the market place floor.
La Procesion
La Iglesia
Tiendas
La Quema
Throughout the month a series of events in peoples houses happen
The church is an essential part to the town’s organization and de-
The area has some permanent convenience stores that are open all
A big part of the festival is the Quema which is a sequence of
to commemorate the Virgin, However the biggest and most im-
velopment. Since the main reason for the festival is the Virgin of the
week long. However the lack of fresh produce makes the mercado
fireworks that occur in celebration of the virgin and the peo-
portant is the procession that happens on August 14th. On this day
town the church also goes through some transformations to accom-
essential. Some of the retailers complain that the mercado and the
ple that will soon be returning to the United states. The Quema
each year a different patron family organizes the events surrounding
modate the increase in population. When larger events are prepared
plaza were taking customers away but when observing the items
happens in between the mercado and municipal buildings.
the Virgin and are responsible for laying a floor pattern on the path
in the church a large tent is set-up to go outside the church creating
that are sold in each establishment they are not competing with
that will be used by the procession. Beginning at the patron fam-
a “new” church in the front part of the church, this way the facade
each other but complement themselves.
ily’s home the procession goes through main streets and ends at the
becomes the altar and the path to enter the church becomes the
church where a larger group of people awaits.
central aisle, when no larger events are plan the church returns to its common state.
Elevation: North facade of the church