4 Vargas Salguero, Ramón. The Empire of Reason, Mexican Architecture in the 20th Century. Mexico 1994, página 66 5 González Pozo, Alberto. José Villagrán García, Mexican Architecture of the 20th Century, Mexico 1994, p. 105 6 Vargas Salguero, Ramón. El imperio de la razón, La arquitectura mexicana del siglo XX , México 1994, p. 73 7 Balslev Jorgensen, Lisbet. Arne Jacobsen 1902-1971, Revista 2G número 4, Barcelona 1997 , p. 11 The International Style The International Style was seen as an option that suited everyone: it gave the impression of adapting to the particular demands of each user; it responded to the image of progress and modernity that the upper classes requested -large glass windows, diaphanous structures, hygienic image and contact with nature-, and for the rentiers, there was no doubt that the new architecture was cheaper. If Walter Gropius had said in 1953 that "there is no such thing as the International Style, un- less one wants to speak of a certain technical achievement of our time and which belongs to the intellectual baggage of any civilized nation" 7 , Augusto H. Alvarez reiterated the same point when he stated that "if what I do belongs to the International Thus, Mexico, by the hand of this young avant-garde archi- tect, was one of the first places where modernity flourished, outside of its European origins. From Discourse to Practice The architect and theorist, José Villagrán, vindicated the social importance of architecture and broke the anathema that the modern and the national were opposed to. The nation had been decanted to history for centuries and was refractory to the present, while the modern seemed to lack origin and nationality. What he preached was not an aesthetic, but a professional ethic, taking up the Porfirian flag of 'towards a national modern architecture’. 4 An author of notable hospital centers, his greatest legacy would be his doctrinal weight and his starting point, predominantly idealistic, he claimed the "values in architecture" - useful, logical, aesthetic, and social - around which the Villagranian theoretical discourse revolved. 5 Two of his students -Juan O'Gorman and Juan Legarreta- disagreed with their teacher's thesis in one substantial aspect: the disproportionate importance attributed to "sentimental factors, to so-called spiritual needs". They sought efficiency and objectivity, exhorting the 'technical architecture' that at the time came to be pejoratively qualified as "functionalist". 6 Under Juan O'Gorman, Mexico entered the Modern Move- ment with the workshops of Diego Rivera and Frida Kalho (1932), where the areas are reduced to a minimum, the struc- ture becomes independent of the facades and the coverings disappear. Taking the studio that Le Corbusier designed for the painter Ozenfant in 1929 as a starting point, O'Gorman presented a design in which the artist's studio was considered the building's main area, around which the rooms and domestic services revolve. The open first floor, the large north-facing windows, designed to ensure the best light in the studio, and the zenithal lighting, followed Corbusian principles. Rivera's public relevance, coupled with the highly innovative character of Juan O'Gorman's design, quickly made this house the central focus of discussions about the validity of functionalism in the local environment. While the composition is radically functionalist, it is also sensitive to certain Mexican values such as the intense use of color and the organ wall, common in rural communities. In turn, as William Curtis pointed out, the red volume that was Rivera's studio residence and Kahlo's blue volume began to resemble the figures of the artists: Rivera, large and corpulent, with his arm on Frida's frail shoulder.
Q Edificio Jaysour, Augusto H. Álvarez. Q Jaysour Building, Augusto H. Alvarez. V Capilla Capuchinas, Luis Barragán. V Capuchinas Chapel, Luis Barragán.
4 Vargas Salguero, Ramón. El imperio de la razón, La arquitectura mexicana del siglo XX, México 1994, página 66 5 González Pozo, Alberto. José Villagrán García, La arquitectura mexicana del siglo XX, México 1994, p. 105 6 Vargas Salguero, Ramón. El imperio de la razón, La arquitectura mexicana del siglo XX , México 1994, p. 73 De la mano de Juan O’Gorman, México entra en el Movi- miento Moderno con los talleres de Diego Rivera y Frida Kahlo (1932), donde las áreas se reducen al mínimo, la estructura se independiza de las fachadas y los recubrimientos desaparecen. Tomando como punto de partida el estudio que Le Corbusier proyectó para el pintor Ozenfant en 1929, O’Gorman presentó un diseño en el que el estudio del artista fue considerado el ámbito principal de la edificación, en torno al cual giran las habitaciones y los servicios domésticos. La planta baja libre, los grandes ventanales orientados a norte, dispuestos a asegurar la mejor luz en el taller de trabajo, y la iluminación cenital, siguieron los principios corbusianos. La relevancia ética profesional, retomando la bandera porfirista de ‘hacia una arquitectura moderna nacional’. 4 Autor de notables centros hospitalarios, su mayor legado sería su peso doctrinario y su punto de partida, predominantemente idealista, reivindicaba los “valores en la arquitectura” –útil, lógico, estético y social- en torno a los cuales gira el discurso teórico villagraniano. 5 Dos de sus alumnos –Juan O’Gorman y Juan Legarre- ta– discreparon de las tesis de su maestro en un aspecto sustancial: en la desmesurada importancia atribuida a los “factores sentimentales, a las llamadas necesidades espiri- tuales”. Buscaron la eficiencia y la objetividad, exhortando la ‘arquitectura técnica’ que en su momento llegó a calificarse peyorativamente como “funcionalista”. 6
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