Enrique Guerrero Larrañaga The construction for health and education in the mexican posrevolutionary ideology

Abstract

This article presents the architectural works of the Mexican modern architect Enrique Guerrero Larrañaga. Guerrero Larrañaga participated in the period following the Mexican Revolution building schools and hospitals during the 1940’s, 1950’s and 1960’s. He worked closely with protagonists of the modern movement in Mexico including Juan O’Gorman, Alberto T. Arai and Enrique Yáñez. In the 1940’s he worked in the CAPFCE, an organism linked to the ministry of education charged with building schools; following the functionalist tendency he built five public schools and oversaw the design of many more. The main body of his work is in the design of 21 hospitals, some of which were large complexes that included sports and social centers, as was the case in the large hospitals in San Luis Potosí, Aguascalientes and Mexicali, each with over 200 beds. Finally, a short review is given of houses built by Guerrero. The article is based on interviews with the architect and it attempts to communicate the philosophy of the period in which architects believed that through their profession and team work they could contribute to social welfare.