Juan O’Gorman

By LatAm ARTE

Juan O’Gorman was a Mexican architect, painter, and muralist born on July 6, 1905, in Coyoacán, Mexico City. He was the son of Cecil Crawford O’Gorman, an Irish-born painter, and Encarnación O’Gorman. He studied architecture at the National Autonomous University of Mexico and graduated in 1927. Early in his career, he designed houses and functionalist buildings; one of his first projects was the house-studio for Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo. In the 1930s he worked for the Mexican government designing schools and public buildings. He also painted murals, often with themes of national identity, history, and social justice. One of his most famous architectural works is the Central Library at the University City of UNAM, featuring a large mosaic façade that narrates Mexican culture. Later in life he developed a style that blended functional modern architecture with organic elements, drawing from indigenous traditions and the natural landscape. His own house, known as “La Cueva,” was built partly integrating with natural rock formations. Although that house was later demolished, his legacy lives on in the many buildings, murals, and paintings he left behind. He passed away on January 18, 1982, in Mexico City. O’Gorman is remembered as a leading figure of Mexican modernism, someone who bridged architecture and art in deeply meaningful ways.