The resignification of architectural heritage. A contemporary vision in Zacatecas and Jalisco

Abstract

Art and architecture merge in the architectural heritage, reconfiguring its symbolic elements that allow it to insert and project itself into the contemporary social context. The resignification of architectural heritage shows the dominant and dogmatized worldviews of society, but also exposes its projects in continuous change. It also exposes the social back-and-forth, which from generation to generation provides concrete meanings embodied in its reutilization, preservation, and adaptation, of which its exhibition is part today. The aim is to comparatively analyze the resignification of the Rafael Coronel Museum in the city of Zacatecas and the Cabañas Cultural Institute in the city of Guadalajara. Buildings distinguished by The United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as Cultural Heritage of Humanity, the first, for being inside the perimeter of the Downtown of the city of Zacatecas, which is recognized in this way; the second, for being a building that, in a particular way, has been turned into an architectural and cultural symbol of the people of Jalisco. In both buildings, artistic activities different from their original function are promoted, an architectural transformation that transcends its history and culture. It is argued how the architectural heritage is retaken from new perspectives in which its value and appreciation is transformed for the safeguarding of the work of art; furthermore, visualizing how art revitalizes it and contributes to its conservation.