México-Tenochtitlán, siete siglos de historia
Have you heard about the beautiful legend of the founding of Tenochtitlán, the capital of the Aztecs? According to legend, the patron deity, Huitzilopochtli, encouraged the Aztecs or Mexica peoples to leave their ancestral homeland of Aztlan in search of a new place. Huitzilopochtli told them to look for a place where they saw a great eagle perched on a cactus. The cactus would be growing from a rock. When they saw this sign in the middle of Lake Texcoco, they settled and founded their city early in the 15th century. They founded their city on a lake island.
What is a founding myth? The myths that propel the founding of cities have very important, real consequences for natural and human landscapes. So why do we commemorate the mythical founding of Tenochtitlán? This video is the 2-dimensional version of a larger project that recreates digitally the historical and spatial transformation of the Valley of Mexico, from a lake basin to a megalopolis. The video traces the founding landscape of Tenochtitlan in the early 15th century through to the Spanish conquest in the first decades of the 16th and across colonial times up until the 19th century. Moving through cycles of desiccation and urbanization, the video traces five centuries of one of the most drastic stories of reshaping of an ecological landscape that any global megalopolis has carried out in modern times. The collaboration between Tomás Filsinger, Gerardo Jesús Medina and Edgar Lara Paredes traces the development of the Valley of Mexico from before the foundation of Tenochtitlán until the beginning of the 21st century. The 3D/virtual reality version will be released soon online. The project will take the user through canals, chinampas, homes, and Aztec temples, just before the arrival of Hernán Cortés.
CREDITS
Thomas Filsinger: UIA ’76 Graphic Designer with UCLA ’86 MFA. He is passionate about using design for the dissemination of knowledge primarily through maps. He has focused on 2 topics in particular: the Basin of Mexico and its civilizations through the millennia and in Celeste Cartography and cosmography.
Jesús Gerardo Medina: 3D artist and software developer specializing in computer graphics. He has worked on video games and educational content applications. He is also passionate about history.
Edgar Lara: He is currently a PhD candidate at the CIDE, Centro de Investigación y Docencia Económicas. His research revolves around Lake Xochimilco and villages native to southern Mexico City. He has knowledge in digital humanities and their application in history.
Luis Pérez: (Mexico City,1951). From 1971 onwards he has dedicated much of his time to the research of the pre-Columbian instrumentation of Mesoamerica. This research took him throughout all the Mexican territory to study the musical traditions of its native people. He learned directly from the living sources and collected samples of musical instruments and songs of different native speakers including the Maya, Nahua, Mazateco, Yoemem, Comcaac, Raramuri, Wixarika. His vast repertoire includes collaborations with Cirque de Soleil, Kitaro, James Horner. His LP “El Ombligo de la Luna” (1981) was chosen as one of the 25 most important records of contemporary Mexican Music.
We would like to thank Professor Juliette Levy, from UC Riverside, who helped us coordinate the sharing and dissemination of this wonderful project.
ESPAÑOL:
Este video es la versión en 2 dimensiones de un proyecto de reconstrucción digital en realidad virtual de la cuenca del valle de México. La colaboración entre Tomás Filsinger, Gerardo Jesus Medina y Edgar Lara Paredes traza el desarrollo del valle de México desde antes de la formación de Tenochtitlán hasta inicios del siglo XIX. En la versión en 3D/realidad virtual, que pronto estará en línea, el proyecto llevará al usuario a través de canales, chinampas, hogares y templos aztecas justo antes de la llegada de Hernán Cortés.
CRÉDITOS:
Tomás Filsinger: diseñador Gráfico UIA ’76 con MFA de UCLA ’86 es un apasionado de usar el diseño para la difusión del conocimiento principalmente a través de mapas. Se ha concentrado en 2 temas en especial; La Cuenca de México y sus civilizaciones a través de los milenios y en la Cartografía Celeste y la cosmografía.
Jesús Gerardo Medina: artista 3D y desarrollador de software con especialización en gráficos por computadora, ha trabajado en videojuegos y aplicaciones de contenido educativo. También es un apasionado de la historia.
Edgar Lara: Actualmente cursa el doctorado en el CIDE. Sus investigaciones giran en torno al Lago de Xochimilco y pueblos originarios del sur de la ciudad de México. Tiene conocimiento en humanidades digitales y su aplicación en la historia.