William Carroll

Professor Watson
Project III
February 22, 2023

Project III: A Photo Analysis on the Laws of the Indies

The Americas allowed for Western Europe to not only expand their ideological ideals but

their religious ideals and sovereign wealth. European ideas of architecture and urban planning

also implemented itself upon the landscape of the Americas and fused with its predominating

context. The image above depicts an ordinance which newly founded Spanish towns were to

follow, however, it is noted that the architecture and urban planning of these spaces resonated

with its dominating context. In addition, these urban spaces eventually converted preexisting

cultural and urban traditions within the Americas. The diagram of the Laws of the Indies,

produced by Logan Wagner, represents the urban ideals instituted by the Spanish government,

however, it doesn’t depict the interpretation of this ordinance and its impacts it had on the

preexisting Mesoamerican culture.

1
Logan Wagner, et al., “Forming Spanish Towns in Mesoamerican Culture,” in Ancient Origins of the Mexican Plaza: From Primordial Sea to Public Space (Austin:
University of Texas Press, 2013), 49
 William Carroll
Professor Watson
Project III
February 22, 2023

This diagram is a pictorial representation of Ordinance 113 of the Laws of the Indies.

Instituted in 1573, this ordinance “established the physical parameters for urban layouts, the

shape, dimensions, and orientations of the open space… and surrounding street grid”2. This

diagram represents this orthogonal rigidity in circulation as well as spatial plan. Straight avenues

segment these eight boxes, revealing an imposing plaza upon the proposed urban scape. This

rigidity came with little interpretation since strict ratios and proportions came with the

declaration of the ordinance. The underlying philosophy was that “the size of the plaza should be

proportionate to the number of inhabitants.”3 Therefore, having good proportions for the plaza

allowed for these newly implemented Spanish Towns to accommodate urban population growth.

The implementation of these plazas was not an uncommon precedent found within the Americas

as “mendicant friars, also expressed their admiration for those Mesoamerican plazas and open

spaces.”4 The Laws of the Indies, represented by this diagram, was a declaration by the Spanish

government to impose a rigid, mathematical plan for newly established Spanish Towns to allow

for centralized population growth. The geometric, orthogonal plan drawn by Logan Wagner

represents this rigidity in ordinance.

Although urban planning may propose a perfect plan through writing, the interpretation

and repercussions of this proposition is not seen through the rigid and diagrammatic image. One

of these instances appears within the refounding of Mesoamerican towns by Spaniards. In this

case, since these preexisting towns already adorned plazas towards the heart of their urban scape

2
Logan Wagner, et al., “Forming Spanish Towns in Mesoamerican Culture,” in Ancient Origins of the Mexican Plaza: From Primordial Sea to Public Space (Austin:
University of Texas Press, 2013), 49
3
Logan Wagner, et al., “Forming Spanish Towns in Mesoamerican Culture,” in Ancient Origins of the Mexican Plaza: From Primordial Sea to Public Space (Austin:
University of Texas Press, 2013), 49
4
Logan Wagner, et al., “Forming Spanish Towns in Mesoamerican Culture,” in Ancient Origins of the Mexican Plaza: From Primordial Sea to Public Space (Austin:
University of Texas Press, 2013), 47
 William Carroll
Professor Watson
Project III
February 22, 2023

and possessed qualities that conformed with the surrounding contextual environment, “these

(newly found) town layouts did incorporate, or adapt to, the existing… spaces.”5 Therefore, the

cases where urban conversion took place from the Mesoamerican culture to the Spanish culture,

the pre existing urban scape dominated the plan proposed by the Laws of the Indies. Essentially,

concepts from the established ordinance were imposed on this environmentally determined urban

plan, contrasting the rigid intention of the ordinance itself. However, the shared conceptual idea

of the plaza between the Mesoamerican cultures and the Spanish culture allowed for the

functionality of the plaza to remain as the center of urban affairs. The plaza rather shifted its

cultural and functional definitions towards the Christian Spanish culture.

Conversion, and the implication of this ideal plan upon the preexisting Mesoamerican

cultures, is another element of which this simplistic diagram does not depict. During the

conversion process of indigenous cultures to the Spanish culture, open spaces, much like the

precedents found within the Laws of the Indies and Mesoamerican cultures, were utilized for

public use, especially in religious ceremonies. Klor de Alva highlights that the three-pronged

conversion process of indigenous cultures allowed for the “continuation of precontact patterns of

state-level religious rationalization, organization, and extensive use of ceremonial space.”6

Therefore, open spaces were common among the Mesoamerican landscape and as mentioned in

class discussion were centers of commercial, social, and religious use. The plan proposed by the

Laws of the Indies were of nothing new to the preexisting culture, however, it’s the imposition of

the function of the plaza that instigates these repercussions. The diagram drawn by Wagner is a
5
Logan Wagner, et al., “Forming Spanish Towns in Mesoamerican Culture,” in Ancient Origins of the Mexican Plaza: From Primordial Sea to Public Space (Austin:
University of Texas Press, 2013), 47
6
Logan Wagner, et al., “Forming Spanish Towns in Mesoamerican Culture,” in Ancient Origins of the Mexican Plaza: From Primordial Sea to Public Space (Austin:
University of Texas Press, 2013), 51
 William Carroll
Professor Watson
Project III
February 22, 2023

plain representation of what the ordinance had ordered these towns to conform to. The

functionality of the plaza, which is represented by the absence of a plain square, is a shared

understanding brought by the colonists and friars, and imposed upon the landscape of the

Americas. The differing definitions between the functionality of the plazas between the

Mesoamerican cultures and the Spanish cultures is something that the diagram does not reveal, in

addition to the repercussions of this conversion through lost cultural and architectural identity.

The diagram drawn by Logan Wagner is a simplistic view of the Laws of the Indies

imposed by the Spanish government. It’s an accurate way of representing the rigid composition

of the urban space as well as the proportioning which dictates its geometric shape. However,

Wagner’s diagram doesn't depict the interpretation of this plan upon certain Spanish urban scapes

found within the new world and its conformity to preexisting cultural urban scapes and natural

boundaries. In addition, Wagner’s diagram doesn’t portray the conversion process between these

ideal urban plans, the differing definitions between the functionality of these plazas, and the

implications that these plazas had upon the cultural landscape.