Conciliación entre modernidad y tradición arquitectónica en el noroeste mexicano

Built between 1950 and 1959, the Sacred Heart of Jesus Church represented the culmination of the collaborative work of parishioners, lay groups, and the then Diocese of Sonora to establish the first 20th-century parish on the urban periphery, serving a growing migrant and low-income population. Designed by José López Moctezuma, the church exhibits characteristics of traditional sacred architecture and the formal and constructive grammar of the first phase of the Modern Movement (MoMo). This paper first provides a contextual overview to explain the situation of the Church in Sonora after decades of conflict with the State, and the sociocultural characteristics of the communities that participated, under the leadership of Bishop Juan Navarrete and other priests, in the organization and construction of the church and its establishment as a parish. Following this, descriptive and interpretive analyses of the building’s architectural and symbolic qualities are undertaken, and some final observations are offered as conclusions.