Manuel Rocha Diaz (1936–1996) was a

Mexican Mexican may refer to: Mexico and its culture *Being related to, from, or connected to the country of Mexico, in North America ** People *** Mexicans, inhabitants of the country Mexico and their descendants *** Mexica, ancient indigenous people ...

architect. He was born in Mexico City in 1936 and died in 1996. He graduated in 1961 at

Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Mexico The National Autonomous University of Mexico ( es, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, UNAM) is a public research university in Mexico. It is consistently ranked as one of the best universities in Latin America, where it's also the bigges ...

where he studied with

Augusto H. Álvarez Augusto Harold Álvarez García (b. Mérida, Yucatán, December 24, 1914 – d. Mexico City, November 29, 1995) was a Mexican Modernist architecture, Modernist architect. Biography Álvarez was student of José Villagrán García. He taught a ...

. In 1960 he spent three months in Japan where he had a big influence on Japanese traditional architecture. In 1962 he married Mexican photographer Graciela Iturbide, with whom he had two sons, Manuel and Mauricio, and one daughter, Claudia who died at the age of six in 1970. He won a contest in 1970 to build the Bella Vista Golf Club in México City, and from there on he had a successful career. At the end of the 1970s he became a strong supporter of

Postmodern architecture Postmodern architecture is a style or movement which emerged in the 1960s as a reaction against the austerity, formality, and lack of variety of modern architecture, particularly in the international style advocated by Philip Johnson and Henry- ...

and claimed to be a follower of the internationally acclaimed Mexican architect Luis Barragán. His buildings became then a mixture of traditional Mexican and modern architecture. Rocha Diaz built in that period important works such as: the SACM recording studios (the first ones in Latin America capable of having a full orchestra with choir), the SACM cinemas that later became the Cineteca Nacional de México, the conventions center in Morelia México, etc. In 1988 he became numbered academic from the Colegio Nacional de Arquitectos. He died at 60 years old leaving two sons.

Selected Realizations

*Club de Golf Bella vista, Mexico City, 1971. *Casa redonda en tabachines, Mexico City, 1973. *SACM recording studios, Mexico City, 1977. *SACM cinemas, Mexico City, 1978. *Morelia Conventions center, Morelia Mexico, 1981. *Perinorte commercial center, México City, 1990.

Publications

Books

*Manuel Rocha Diaz. En búsqueda de una arquitectura mexicana / edited by Ignacio Maya Gómez and Jaime Torres Palacios, 2005 {{DEFAULTSORT:Rocha, Manuel 1936 births 1996 deaths Architecture firms of Mexico 20th-century Mexican architects Artists from Mexico City