The narrative begins with Thomas Sinclair Gore, an architect and engineer—and the great-grandfather of Mexico City Modern co-founder Roberto Díaz González. Working in Mexico City during the early 20th century, Gore contributed to the development of a rapidly modernizing capital, offering a personal introduction to the architectural transformation that would follow.
The presentation then examines the evolution of Modern Mexico City through the work of seven influential figures: Thomas Sinclair Gore, Juan O’Gorman, Luis Barragán, Francisco Artigas, Mario Pani, Augusto H. Álvarez and Pedro Ramírez Vázquez.
O’Gorman made Modernism functional. Barragán made it emotional. Artigas made it residential. Pani made it metropolitan. Álvarez made it precise. Ramírez Vázquez made it monumental.
Collectively, their work demonstrates how Mexico City reinterpreted the international language of Modernism—through volcanic stone, vivid color, dramatic light, gardens, art, craftsmanship and a profound connection between architecture and landscape. Mexico City did not simply adopt Modernism – it transformed it.
The narrative is also distinctly personal. Francisco Artigas, a defining figure in Mexico City’s midcentury residential movement, was the grandfather of Mexico City Modern co-founder Cristina Artigas.
Through these two family legacies, Roberto Díaz González and Cristina Artigas connect more than a century of architectural history with the city they continue to explore and celebrate today.
Presented by Mexico City Modern, Seven Architects Who Shaped a City offers a personal and architectural journey through the individuals, residences, buildings and ideas that contributed to one of the world’s most distinctive expressions of Modernism.
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