Teodoro González de León (1926—2016) was one of Mexico City's most celebrated architects. His designs continue to exert a strong influence across the capital's visual landscape.
He graduated from the National School of Architecture at the UNAM in the 1940s. It's not well-known that he was among the group of students, along with Carlos Obregón Santacilia, Carlos Lazo Barreiro. and Mario Pani Darqui, who came up with the designs for the original University City Campus. Today it's a UNESCO World Heritage Site. He left before construction began in the 1950s.
Arriving in Paris in 1947, he went to work as a draftsman in Le Corbusier's studio. There he put in work on the famous Unité d'Habitation de Marseille. The design of that series of housing complexes has had a staggering influence over nearly everything built in Mexico thereafter.
When González de León returned to Mexico City, he began a career trajectory that spanned decades. Many of his projects were collaborations with architect Abraham Zabludovsky (1924-2003).
The work is characterized by the use of chiseled concrete, modernist lines and angles, and broad open spaces, patios, porticos, and light. In these pages, the National Auditorium, the Tamayo Museum and the Reforma 222 complex are just a few of his most famous works. Even more appear in the entries below.
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