Mexico City became one of the centers of architectural modernism in the Americas in the first half of the twentieth century. Invigorated by insights drawn from the first published histories of Mexican colonial architecture, which suggested that Mexico possessed a distinctive architecture and culture, beginning in the 1920s a new generation of architects created profoundly visual modern buildings intended to convey Mexico's unique cultural character. By midcentury these architects and their students had rewritten the country's architectural history and transformed the capital into a metropolis where new buildings that evoked pre-conquest, colonial, and International Style architecture coexisted. Through an exploration of schools, a university campus, a government ministry, a workers' park, and houses for Diego Rivera and Luis Barragan, Kathryn O'Rourke offers a new interpretation of modern architecture in the Mexican capital, showing close links between design, evolving understandings of national architectural history, folk art, and social reform. This book demonstrates why creating a distinctively Mexican architecture captivated architects whose work was formally dissimilar, and how that concern became central to the profession.

This book explores the modern architecture the modern architecture of Mexico, with an emphasis from the early 1980s to the present day. It is particularly appropriate now, given a renewed interest in the recent modern architecture of Mexico, and as the w

Since the mid 1970s, there has been an extraordinary renewal of interest in early modern architecture, both as a way of gaining insight into contemporary architectural culture and as a reaction to neoconservative postmodernism. This book undertakes a critical reappraisal of the notion of modernity in Mexican architecture and its influence on a generation of Mexican architects whose works spanned the 1920s through the 1960s. Nine essays by noted architects and architectural historians cover a range of topics from broad-based critical commentaries to discussions of individual architects and buildings. Among the latter are the architects Enrique del Moral, Juan O'Gorman, Carlos Obregón Santacilia, Juan Segura, Mario Pani, and the campus and stadium of the Ciudad Universitaria in Mexico City. Relatively little has been published in English regarding this era in Mexican architecture. Thus, Modernity and the Architecture of Mexico will play a groundbreaking role in making the underlying assumptions, ideological and political constructs, and specific architect's agendas known to a wide audience in the humanities. Likewise, it should inspire greater appreciation for this undervalued body of works as an important contribution to the modern movement.

The first of two histories written in English on Mexican architecture in the entire colonial period, Early's book sheds new light for North Americans on the diverse and changing society of the scene of colonial New Spain.

"This book showcases 26 Mexican architects' contemporary design in a wide variety of interior and exterior spaces"--Preface.

Current architecture in Mexico reflects the rich variety of local, exotic traditions and international avant-garde design. The authors present examples of architectural forms in Mexico City that express every aspect of Mexican life.

Representative homes built by 12 architects working in Mexico are profiled with text and numerous color photographs. Modernism as well as the natural and human environment of Mexico influences all the architects profiled. Categorized under the headings colorists, personal visions, and functionalists, the profilees include Jorge Robles, Agustin, Hernandez, Abraham Zambludovksy. Isaac Broid, Carlos Santos Maldonado, and J.B. Johnson. Also included is an introductory chapter that discusses the history of Mexican design from the Aztecs to the Modernists. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR