Assessment and preservation of the Nativitas’ water plant.

Between stylistic monument and technical architecture

Abstract

The assessment and conservation of Mexico City’s water supply works as heritage in  the early 20th century,  can be viewed from two complementary perspectives: from the objectual point of view due to the quality of their  architecture, and from the systemic point of view due to their  historical importance  as a whole. However, this second assessment reveals somber aspects since water supply works are linked to ecological depredation and the destruction of the natural environment. Hence, the conservation of this monumental ensembles should not be based only on its contributions, but also on its consequences. This last idea constitutes a different approach to the meaning of heritage conservation and represents a critical stance against the ideals of the modernity that produced it. Coincidentally, in terms of the assessment and conservation of this case study: The 1905 Nativitas’ water plant, these same aspects are at work and provide an alternative strategy for the intervention of a building that is currently in disuse and in a state of ruin, even though it is part of the UNESCO International Declaration.