Planning

The need to have a building that would bring together the various offices of the Federation dates back to the administration of Governor Porfirio G. González around 1920.[4] The first preparations began after studying the different departments that the building would house, among which were the offices of the Post Office, Telegraph, Treasury, Assay, Verifiers of Weights and Measures and the Office of the Fourth Irrigation Zone, in addition to the secretariats of Education, National Agrarian Commission, Comptroller's Office, Agriculture and Development, as well as the Delegation of the Department of Health, the District Court, the Public Ministry Agency, the Circuit Court and a Warehouse. On December 27, 1927, the Technical Section of the Directorate of National Assets, directed by Manuel Guerrero, informed the state governor, Mr. Aarón Sáenz, of the preliminary project, which had been prepared by the architect Alberto Ortiz Irigoyen"), which consisted of adapting the Civil School building.[4]​.

This project did not prosper and was transferred to the Plaza de la República"), a property located behind the Government Palace. The land belonged to the municipality of Monterrey and a private individual, so it was necessary to make the exchange with assets from the Federation and the same construction company for this operation. This consisted of the delivery of the Plaza de la República") by the municipality, therefore, the Federation transferred two of the six previously expropriated blocks to the State of Nuevo León to build a parade ground and a barracks. military, on Calzada Madero; Meanwhile, the construction company FYUSA gave up the land of the Former Archbishopric, which was given to the municipality, which had previously exchanged the Plaza de la República, while the State gave the two blocks to the construction company FYUSA, to build its warehouses and warehouses.[5]​.

The contract for the work was signed until September 17 between the Ministry of Communications and Public Works and the construction company FYUSA, whose initial investment was 645,000 pesos at the time; nine days later, the architect Jorge de María y Campos was commissioned to travel to the city of Monterrey, and inspect the execution and completion of the works, for which he wrote various reports, as well as attached photographs that illustrated the progress of the work. construction.[4]​.

Construction and Development

The location of the building stood out for the use of modern materials and construction techniques for the time, such as the integration of the steel structure, carried out by the Monterrey Iron and Steel Foundry and the use of Portland cement. For the exterior decoration, different materials were considered such as cement paste and freshly chopped marble powder and artificial stone.[6]​ The ceremony of laying the first stone occurred on October 4, 1928, in which the governor of the state, Aarón Sáenz, met; the secretary of the interior, José Benítez; the Manager of FYUSA, Mr. Federico T. de la Chica"); the president of the Monterrey city council, Mr. Jesús María Salinas") and Baldomero de la Parra"), engineer of the construction company.[4]​.

Construction work progressed quickly, led by architect Manuel Muriel, following Petriccioli's specifications. The building was originally scheduled to be completed in six months, however, it was completed half a year later. At the end of the year, Architect Campos mentioned in his reports that the posts and foundations were completely emptied by the month of December, as well as the walls, side stairs and the steel structure of the first floor completed. By 1929, the interior dividing walls, the perimeter walls and the riveted steel structure up to the third floor were completed. In March of that same year, the construction of the building was unexpectedly interrupted, due to the armed uprising of General Gonzalo Escobar after his arrival in Monterrey, as well as bad weather, which caused the activities to be temporarily stopped from March 4 to 19. After this brief period, the work continued with the completion of the Zaragoza Street façade, while, in the month of April, the structure was completely erected, in addition to continuing with the placement of masonry for white partition walls. By May, the fifth floor of the building, the walls of the tower, as well as the finishing and decoration of the façade were completed. In summer, the building's tower was finally finished and work continued inside the enclosure to, finally, continue with the final coating.[4]​.

Towards the last months of work, work was concentrated on electrical and sanitary installations, carpentry, locksmithing, furniture and the installation of Otis brand elevators. Finally, on December 11, the building was handed over, meeting in the Plaza de la República with Architect Jorge María y Campos representing the Ministry of Communications and Public Works; Architect Manuel Muriel on behalf of FYUSA; and Luis G. Mitre, Federal delegate of the Comptroller's Office.[7]​.

El inmueble fue cayendo en desuso y olvido por las posteriores administraciones conforme pasaron los años, lo que tuvo como consecuencia el deterioro de su exterior y vandalismo del mismo. El espacio fue perdiendo protagonismo hasta ser ocupado por diferentes dependencias.

Sin embargo, desde 2019 el Gobierno del Estado de Nuevo León, junto a CONARTE y la Secretaría de Infraestructura, formularon el proyecto para convertir el edificio en un espacio cultural, formando de esta manera a LABNL Lab Cultural Ciudadano con el propósito de impulsar la creatividad e innovación, además de orientarse a la resolución de conflictos y problemáticas sociales, así como desarrollar proyectos relacionados con la Ciudad, Sustentabilidad, Inclusión, Diversidad y Derechos Humanos.[8]​ Para su construcción, se requirió de una inversión superior a los 80 millones de pesos, mismos que fueron destinados para la adaptación de espacios como oficinas, biblioteca, galería, salón polivalente, ocho residencias, cafetería, terrazas y mirador, además de dotarlo con laboratorios relacionados con la producción sonora, artes visuales y escénicas, tecnología, ciudad y digitales.[9]​.

Criticism and opposition

A few months after its opening, criticism from different groups did not wait, mainly from the city's artistic community combined with the context of the COVID-19 Pandemic, the economic burden and the crisis it generated;[10]​ To this must be added problems dragged by CONARTE such as the late payment of several artists for the Galeana Cultural Sphere project since 2019.[11]​.

For this reason, the group of artists from the Assembly of Independent Cultural Initiatives requested a breakdown of the budget assigned to the project, through a citizen petition on January 28, 2021. In the absence of a satisfactory response, the group protested in the vicinity of the Old Federal Palace, headquarters of the LABNL, where they criticized the investment of more than 100 million pesos in the midst of a health emergency, in addition to the opacity presented by CONARTE and the Ministry of Infrastructure.[12]​.

Planning

The need to have a building that would bring together the various offices of the Federation dates back to the administration of Governor Porfirio G. González around 1920.[4] The first preparations began after studying the different departments that the building would house, among which were the offices of the Post Office, Telegraph, Treasury, Assay, Verifiers of Weights and Measures and the Office of the Fourth Irrigation Zone, in addition to the secretariats of Education, National Agrarian Commission, Comptroller's Office, Agriculture and Development, as well as the Delegation of the Department of Health, the District Court, the Public Ministry Agency, the Circuit Court and a Warehouse. On December 27, 1927, the Technical Section of the Directorate of National Assets, directed by Manuel Guerrero, informed the state governor, Mr. Aarón Sáenz, of the preliminary project, which had been prepared by the architect Alberto Ortiz Irigoyen"), which consisted of adapting the Civil School building.[4]​.

This project did not prosper and was transferred to the Plaza de la República"), a property located behind the Government Palace. The land belonged to the municipality of Monterrey and a private individual, so it was necessary to make the exchange with assets from the Federation and the same construction company for this operation. This consisted of the delivery of the Plaza de la República") by the municipality, therefore, the Federation transferred two of the six previously expropriated blocks to the State of Nuevo León to build a parade ground and a barracks. military, on Calzada Madero; Meanwhile, the construction company FYUSA gave up the land of the Former Archbishopric, which was given to the municipality, which had previously exchanged the Plaza de la República, while the State gave the two blocks to the construction company FYUSA, to build its warehouses and warehouses.[5]​.

The contract for the work was signed until September 17 between the Ministry of Communications and Public Works and the construction company FYUSA, whose initial investment was 645,000 pesos at the time; nine days later, the architect Jorge de María y Campos was commissioned to travel to the city of Monterrey, and inspect the execution and completion of the works, for which he wrote various reports, as well as attached photographs that illustrated the progress of the work. construction.[4]​.

Construction and Development

The location of the building stood out for the use of modern materials and construction techniques for the time, such as the integration of the steel structure, carried out by the Monterrey Iron and Steel Foundry and the use of Portland cement. For the exterior decoration, different materials were considered such as cement paste and freshly chopped marble powder and artificial stone.[6]​ The ceremony of laying the first stone occurred on October 4, 1928, in which the governor of the state, Aarón Sáenz, met; the secretary of the interior, José Benítez; the Manager of FYUSA, Mr. Federico T. de la Chica"); the president of the Monterrey city council, Mr. Jesús María Salinas") and Baldomero de la Parra"), engineer of the construction company.[4]​.

Construction work progressed quickly, led by architect Manuel Muriel, following Petriccioli's specifications. The building was originally scheduled to be completed in six months, however, it was completed half a year later. At the end of the year, Architect Campos mentioned in his reports that the posts and foundations were completely emptied by the month of December, as well as the walls, side stairs and the steel structure of the first floor completed. By 1929, the interior dividing walls, the perimeter walls and the riveted steel structure up to the third floor were completed. In March of that same year, the construction of the building was unexpectedly interrupted, due to the armed uprising of General Gonzalo Escobar after his arrival in Monterrey, as well as bad weather, which caused the activities to be temporarily stopped from March 4 to 19. After this brief period, the work continued with the completion of the Zaragoza Street façade, while, in the month of April, the structure was completely erected, in addition to continuing with the placement of masonry for white partition walls. By May, the fifth floor of the building, the walls of the tower, as well as the finishing and decoration of the façade were completed. In summer, the building's tower was finally finished and work continued inside the enclosure to, finally, continue with the final coating.[4]​.

Towards the last months of work, work was concentrated on electrical and sanitary installations, carpentry, locksmithing, furniture and the installation of Otis brand elevators. Finally, on December 11, the building was handed over, meeting in the Plaza de la República with Architect Jorge María y Campos representing the Ministry of Communications and Public Works; Architect Manuel Muriel on behalf of FYUSA; and Luis G. Mitre, Federal delegate of the Comptroller's Office.[7]​.

El inmueble fue cayendo en desuso y olvido por las posteriores administraciones conforme pasaron los años, lo que tuvo como consecuencia el deterioro de su exterior y vandalismo del mismo. El espacio fue perdiendo protagonismo hasta ser ocupado por diferentes dependencias.

Sin embargo, desde 2019 el Gobierno del Estado de Nuevo León, junto a CONARTE y la Secretaría de Infraestructura, formularon el proyecto para convertir el edificio en un espacio cultural, formando de esta manera a LABNL Lab Cultural Ciudadano con el propósito de impulsar la creatividad e innovación, además de orientarse a la resolución de conflictos y problemáticas sociales, así como desarrollar proyectos relacionados con la Ciudad, Sustentabilidad, Inclusión, Diversidad y Derechos Humanos.[8]​ Para su construcción, se requirió de una inversión superior a los 80 millones de pesos, mismos que fueron destinados para la adaptación de espacios como oficinas, biblioteca, galería, salón polivalente, ocho residencias, cafetería, terrazas y mirador, además de dotarlo con laboratorios relacionados con la producción sonora, artes visuales y escénicas, tecnología, ciudad y digitales.[9]​.

Criticism and opposition

A few months after its opening, criticism from different groups did not wait, mainly from the city's artistic community combined with the context of the COVID-19 Pandemic, the economic burden and the crisis it generated;[10]​ To this must be added problems dragged by CONARTE such as the late payment of several artists for the Galeana Cultural Sphere project since 2019.[11]​.

For this reason, the group of artists from the Assembly of Independent Cultural Initiatives requested a breakdown of the budget assigned to the project, through a citizen petition on January 28, 2021. In the absence of a satisfactory response, the group protested in the vicinity of the Old Federal Palace, headquarters of the LABNL, where they criticized the investment of more than 100 million pesos in the midst of a health emergency, in addition to the opacity presented by CONARTE and the Ministry of Infrastructure.[12]​.