50 years of the binomial González de León/Zabludovsky

From the collaboration of these two great architects emerged works that, over time, have become true icons of Mexican architecture. Here are three representative creations of this important architectural alliance.

 

This 2018 is also met 50 years of a very special association. It could be said that as a dumbbell these two architects came to determine much of the image of the city, while consolidating their own architectural language. We are talking about the architects Teodoro González de León and Abraham Zabludovsky, who collaborated for the first time in the year of 1968 in the housing unit Lomas de Silversmiths project.

A balanced and prolific union has since been created. González de León provided in his work the use of central spaces as meeting points within each building. Outside a courtyard or pedestrian street, he sought "an urban place where public life is incorporated, with a transition between the interior and the street, through large porticos, as a penetration of the city inside the building, and the other way around." While Zabludovsky developed, on the other hand, the use of the large walls and slopes, and the interpretation of the courtyard, in many public buildings, with connections between interior and exterior spaces.

Another aspect that highlighted this architectural binomial was the use of materials that did not require much maintenance, such as stone and concrete, the latter "characteristic of our epoch that adapts to all forms." González de León was referring to a phrase by Le Corbusier − in whose study he worked at the beginning of his career − which defined the concrete as the stone of the twentieth century: "For us it is the mouldable stone, which adapts to our plastic intentions, a material that Is molded ".

From the collaboration of these two great architects emerged works that, over time, have become real icons of Mexican architecture, and landmarks of this city. In their projects there are buildings of all kinds, but they emphasize those related to the world of the culture, like museums and centers of teaching that they carried out together with the collaboration of various artists. In this blog post we will present three representative creations.

Rufino Tamayo Museum

The design began in 1972, while the construction started up to 1979 and ended in 1981. It is a building that, both for the peculiarities of its design and for the plastic and functional solutions that it integrates, made Gonzalez de León and Zabludovsky the National Prize for Sciences and Arts, in the heading "Fine Arts", in 1982.

Considered one of the few examples in Mexico of contemporary architecture destined from its original project to the museum work, the building is harmoniously incorporated into the environment thanks to its pyramidal shape, which refers to the architectural heritage Prehispanic. In addition, it integrates into the site by virtue of its multi-level structure that concentrates on itself in blind volumes of concrete staggered towards the center which, being disguised with vegetal slopes, give the feeling that the building springs from the ground.

College of Mexico

Built in 1976 it has been home to one of the most traditional postgraduate education centers in Mexico. The conditions of the terrain − a highly irregular topography because it is the foothills of the Cerro del Ajusco, covered thousands of years ago by the lava of the Xitle − were the premise of the project. But it also gave importance to some special requirements of the architectural program, such as having sufficient isolation for the good development of the activities, teaching and research, and having a provision that would allow and encourage The interaction between people dedicated to different disciplines and academic positions. The architects had the study centers located around the high level of the courtyard, the seminars and the library; Therefore, they were solved in two levels, with Mezzanines, where the cubicles of the investigators were housed, and through double-height interior spaces that receive central light. While the interior with its large courtyard is integrated into nature, the exterior, Martelinado concrete, contrasts with the environment through a strong volumetry in which highlights the rhythmic geometry of the spans and shadows.

Banamex Headquarters

Between 1986 and 1988 this project was carried out to expand the headquarters of Banamex, located at the corner of Palma and Venustiano Carranza, where the earthquake of 1985 had left a vacuum.

To integrate the new building with the adjoining, the former palace of the Counts of San Mateo Valparaiso — of 1772, and one of the best specimens of the colonial Mexican Baroque —, the architects posed several strategies: the façade was adapted in height and the corner was It topped with a volume similar to that of the Prexistente Palace; The rhythm of the H-shaped windows, typical of the colonial era in the city, was also reinterpreted and added grain of marble and sand from red tezontle to concrete to harmonize with the monument in color and texture.

This work has been considered one of the best examples of dialogue between buildings of different eras in patrimonial environments. While still modern, the building knew how to respect the language of constructions in the historical center through a sensitive and wise analysis of the site, a sign of the enormous talent of these two architects.

By laureate Martínez Figueroa