El Moro Building (Loteria Nacional)
The slender Art Deco tower of the National Lottery, one of the first skyscrapers in the world built on flexible foundations against earthquakes.
At a glance
- Type
- Office tower, seat of the National Lottery
- Period
- 1936-1946
- Style
- Art Deco
- Location
- Paseo de la Reforma, Mexico City
- Coordinates
- 19.4352, -99.1472
- Architect
- Manuel Ortiz Monasterio
Overview
El Moro rises 107 metres at the junction of Paseo de la Reforma and Avenida Juarez, a stepped Art Deco shaft of pale stone that has housed the Loteria Nacional since 1946. Together with the Monumento a la Revolucion and the Palacio de Bellas Artes it defines the Deco-era skyline of central Mexico City.
History
Begun in 1936 and delayed by engineering challenges on the soft lakebed soil of the capital, the tower pioneered a flexible foundation system designed to ride out earthquakes – knowledge that proved its worth in the 1957, 1985, and 2017 quakes, all of which the building survived undamaged. The nightly lottery draws broadcast from its ground-floor hall made it familiar to every Mexican household.
Architecture and Design
Manuel Ortiz Monasterio composed the tower as a series of telescoping setbacks culminating in a fluted crown, with vertical window bands emphasizing height. The lottery hall preserves its Deco interior of marble, bronze, and the drum cages from which winning numbers have been drawn for eight decades.
Cultural significance
The building is a beloved Mexico City landmark and a monument of engineering history: its earthquake-resistant design influenced tall construction throughout seismic Latin America. The Loteria Nacional itself, founded 1770, is woven into Mexican popular culture, and El Moro is its public face.
Visiting today
The lottery hall on the ground floor can be visited, and evening draws are open to the public. The tower anchors the western end of the Alameda Central walk, near the Monumento a la Revolucion and the Franz Mayer Museum.
Getting there
Hidalgo metro station (lines 2 and 3) is one block away; the Reforma bus corridor passes the front door.
Sources and resources
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