Max Ludwig Cetto (February 20, 1903 – April 5, 1980) was a German-Mexican

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the stu ...

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing building ...

, and

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who pr ...

Life

Born in

Koblenz Koblenz (; Moselle Franconian language, Moselle Franconian: ''Kowelenz''), spelled Coblenz before 1926, is a German city on the banks of the Rhine and the Moselle, a multi-nation tributary. Koblenz was established as a Roman Empire, Roman mili ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, Max Cetto studied at the

Darmstadt University of Technology Darmstadt () is a city in the state of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Rhine-Main-Area (Frankfurt Metropolitan Region). Darmstadt has around 160,000 inhabitants, making it the fourth largest city in the state of Hesse a ...

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

and

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

. At the latter he studied with

Hans Poelzig Hans Poelzig (30 April 1869 – 14 June 1936) was a German architect, painter and set designer. Life Poelzig was born in Berlin in 1869 to Countess Clara Henrietta Maria Poelzig while she was married to George Acland Ames, an Englishman. Uncerta ...

, graduating as an engineer–architect in 1926 and worked then for the

New Frankfurt New Frankfurt (German: ''Neues Frankfurt'') was an affordable public housing program in Frankfurt started in 1925 and completed in 1930. It was also the name of the accompanying magazine that was published from 1926 to 1931 dedicated to interna ...

project. After 1929 he taught also some years at the Hochschule für Gestaltung Offenbach. In 1932 he took part in the competition for the design of the headquarters of the

League of Nations The League of Nations (french: link=no, Société des Nations ) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference that ...

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...

. Founder-member

Congrès International d'Architecture Moderne A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ad ...

, 1928. He moved to

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

in 1938, where he worked for Los Angeles-based architect

Richard Neutra Richard Joseph Neutra ( ; April 8, 1892 – April 16, 1970) was an Austrian-American architect. Living and building for the majority of his career in Southern California, he came to be considered a prominent and important modernist architect. He ...

on projects including the Kahn House (1939). Married Gertrud Catarina Kramis in 1940; children: Verónica, Ana María, and Bettina Cetto. He settled in

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

and became a

naturalized Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-citizen of a country may acquire citizenship or nationality of that country. It may be done automatically by a statute, i.e., without any effort on the part of the in ...

Mexican in 1947. As well as having a natural

affinity Affinity may refer to: Commerce, finance and law * Affinity (law), kinship by marriage * Affinity analysis, a market research and business management technique * Affinity Credit Union, a Saskatchewan-based credit union * Affinity Equity Par ...

with Mexico, he was able to incorporate his

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

an experiences into what he built there. The respect for nature he had learned from Neutra is evident in his handling of the volcanic terrain of the

Jardines del Pedregal Jardines del Pedregal ( en, Rocky Gardens) or simply El Pedregal (full name: El Pedregal de San Angel) is an upscale residential '' colonia'' (neighborhood) in southern Mexico City hosting some of the richest families of Mexico. It is also known as ...

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...

, where he

collaborated Collaboration (from Latin ''com-'' "with" + ''laborare'' "to labor", "to work") is the process of two or more people, entities or organizations working together to complete a task or achieve a goal. Collaboration is similar to cooperation. Most ...

with

Luis Barragán Luis Ramiro Barragán Morfín (March 9, 1902 – November 22, 1988) was a Mexican architect and engineer. His work has influenced contemporary architects visually and conceptually. Barragán's buildings are frequently visited by international ...

, constructing various houses amid the impressive scenery of the place without disturbing the volcanic lava or the vegetation. He also showed skill and great sensitivity in using the materials and techniques of the region. Notable examples of his work there are the studio house of 1944 for the surrealist painter

Wolfgang Paalen Wolfgang Robert Paalen (July 22, 1905 in Vienna, Austria – September 24, 1959 in Taxco, Mexico) was an Austrian-Mexican painter, sculptor, and art philosopher. A member of the Abstraction-Création group from 1934 to 1935, he joined the infl ...

in San Angel, the Quintana Weekend House at the Tequesquitengo Lake (1947), his own house (1949) and that built in 1951 for the painter Roberto Berdecio (b 1910). These and other houses elsewhere, where he combined a

Modernist Modernism is both a philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new forms of art, philosophy, an ...

approach with a respect for

ecology Ecology () is the study of the relationships between living organisms, including humans, and their physical environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere level. Ecology overlaps wi ...

, were highly influential in Mexican domestic architecture. He was

Professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who pr ...

of Architecture at the Faculty of Architecture

Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México 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 ...

, from 1965 to 1979. †Mexico City, 1980.

Books

* ''Modern Architecture in Mexico. Arquitectura moderna en México''. ranslated from the German into English by D. Q. Stephenson. Translated from the German into Spanish by Francisco Maigler Praeger, New York, 1961. Verlag Gerd Hatje, Stuttgart, 1961. *''Modern Architecture in Mexico/Arquitectura moderna en México'' Facsimile Edition, Museo de Arte Moderno, México, 2011

A more comprehensive list of publications

Cetto, Max, “Anmerkungen zur Zeit: das Mehr-scheinen-als-sein ist erfolgreich industrialisiert worden“, Baukunst und Werkform, Nr. 5, Frankfurt am Main, 1954, 247-249 Cetto, Max, “Architecture Mexicaine, 1968-1978”, Techniques et Architecture, No. 320, juin-juillet 1978, Paris, 122-123 Cetto, Max, „Arquitectura moderna en México”, Revista Arquitecto, año 4, No. 14, sept-oct 1979, México, 1979 Cetto, Max, „Brief eines jungen deutschen Architekten an Dr. Goebbels“, Die Neue Stadt, Mai 1933, Zürich, 26–28. Cetto, Max, “Candela, Felix” in

Gerd Hatje Gerd Hatje (14 April 1915 – 24 July 2007) was a German publisher. The publishing house that he founded in 1945, named the Humanitas Verlag, renamed in 1947 as Verlag Gerd Hatje, is internationally known for contemporary art, photography and archi ...

, ed. ''Knaurs Lexikon der Modernen Architektur'', Gerd Hatje, München/ Zürich,1963, 58–59. Cetto, Max, „Carta de un joven arquitecto alemán al Sr. Goebbels, Ministro del Reich de Propaganda e Ilustración del Pueblo”, traducida al español por Mariana Frenk Westheim. Se puede consultar en Dussel Peters, Susanne, ''Max Cetto: arquitecto mexicano-alemán'', UAM, 1995, pp. 70–73 Cetto, Max, „Eine Fabrik von 1903, Das Fabrikgebaude der Spielwarenfabrik Margarete Steiff, Giengen a.d. Brenz (Wttbg)“, Das Neue Frankfurt 4, Frankfurt/ Main, 1932–1933. Cetto, Max, „Gedanken zur Architektur der Zukunft - Entwicklungstendenzen in Mexiko“ Bauen in der Zukunft, 1. Internationaler Baukongress, DEUBAU ‚64, Essen, 4–6.6.1964, 9-28. (gekürzte Fassung erschienen in : Der Architekt, Nr.10, Essen, Oktober 1964, 311–314.) Cetto, Max, „Glas und Gesundheit,“ Frankfurter Zeitung, Okt.1929. Cetto, Max, “Influencias externas y significado de la tradición,“ en Roberto Segre, ed. ''América Latina en su arquitectura'', UNESCO, Siglo XXI eds., México,1975. Cetto, Max, “Lettre de Mexique”, Zodiac, Nr. 1, Milano, Ottobre 1957, 206. Cetto, Max, „Mexiko“ in Gerd Hatje (Hg.) ''Knaurs Lexikon der Modernen Architektur'', München/ Zürich, Verlag Gerd Hatje, 1963, 167–169. Cetto, Max, „Mexiko heute“ in Bauwelt, Nr. 52, Dez.1955, Berlin, 1078. Cetto, Max, ''Modern Architecture in Mexico; Arquitectura moderna en México'', F. Praeger, New York, 1961. Cetto, Max, ''Moderne Architektur in Mexiko'', Verlag Gerd Hatje, Stuttgart, 1961. Cetto, Max, “O Gorman, Juan” in Emanuel Muriel, ed., ''Contemporary Architects'', St. Martin's Press, N.Y., 1980, 594. Cetto, Max, „Reflexiones sobre la construcción en el futuro“, Revista Calli internacional, revista analítica de arquitectura contemporánea, No. 44, México, 1969, pp. 48–54 (traducción del alemán a cargo de Bettina Cetto). Con esta conferencia se inauguró un Congreso Internacional en Essen, Alemania, cuyo temario era la arquitectura en el futuro. Cetto, Max, „Richard Döcker, Terrasentyp“ (Buchbesprechung) in Das Neue Frankfurt, Frankfurt/ Main, September, 1930, 210. Cetto, Max, “Sobre la feria de Nueva York“, Arquitectos México, No. 22, México,1965. Cetto, Max, “Some Skeptical Remarks about Prophesying and Planning the Future of Architecture”, The Semester Review of the Clemson College of Architecture, Clemson, South Carolina, Spring 1971, 1-5 Cetto, Max, traducción al alemán y texto introductorio de Faber, Colin, ''Candela und seine Schalen'',

Callwey Verlag The Callwey Verlag is a German publishing house with the main focus on structural engineering and architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. ...

, München,1965 Cetto, Max, “Walter Gropius,“ Arquitectura Mexico, 102, México, Abril, 1970, 209–221. (Traducción del alemán a cargo de Bettina Cetto). Cetto, Max, “Why Mexican Architecture is Different”, in Sergio Bath et al. Symposium on Latin America, Wellesley: Wellesley College, Barnette Miller Foundation, 1963, 143–161. Cetto, Max, „Wohnbauten in einer Lavalandschaft Mexicos“ in Baukunst und Werkform, Heft 1–2, Frankfurt/Main, 1954, 37-58

Works

1926/30 Various Works, including park pavilions, university dental clinic, teachers seminary, old people's asylum, electrical generating/transforming plants, etc., for the Frankfurt Building Office. 1927 League of Nations Building. Geneva (competition project: with Wolfgang Bangert). 1939 Hotel, San José Purúa, Mexico (with Jorge Rubio). 1945 Wolfgang Paalen Studio, San Angel, Mexico City. 1946 Villaseñor House. General Cano. Tacubaya, Mexico City. 1947 Quintana Weekend House, Lago de Tequesquitengo, Morelos, Mexico. 1948 Hill House, Guerrero 10, San Angel, Mexico City (with John Mc Andrew). 1949 Tamayo House, Leibnitz 248, Col. Anzures, Mexico City. 1949 Max Cetto House, Agua 130, Pedregal, Mexico City. 1950 Pedregal Show House, Fuentes 130, Mexico City (in collaboration with Luis Barragán). 1951 Berdecio House, Fuentes, Mexico City. 1952 Friedeberg House, Agua 330, Mexico City. 1953 Boehm House, Agua 737, Mexico City. 1954 Kirk House, Creston 232, Mexico City. 1955 Deutsch Weekend House Tepoztlán, Morelos, Mexico. 1956 Reforma Office Building, Reforma 114, Mexico City. 1956 Deutsch House, San Jeronimo, Mexico City. 1957 Krupenski House, Pirules 106, Mexico City. 1959 Vetter House, Picacho 239, Mexico City. 1960 Ehni House, Fuente de Diana 45, Tecamachalco, Mexico. 1961 Cold Rolled Company Workshop, Calz. Del Moral 186, Iztapalapa, Mexico. 1962 Novick House, Avenida 3, 43, Las Águilas Mexico City. 1963 Kirchhoff House, Juárez 18, Tlacopac, Mexico City. 1964 Crevenna House, Av. San Jeronimo 136, Mexico City. 1965 Ezquerro House, Cerro del Tesoro, Coyoacán, Mexico City. 1966 Sevilla House, Santiago 258, San Jeronimo, Mexico City. 1966 Moore House, Genung Road, Ithaca. New York. 1967/68 Morelos Tanning Company, Cuautla, Morelos, Mexico. 1968/71 Office Building, Obrero Mundial 629, Mexico City. 1970/79 German Club of Mexico, Aldama 153. Tepepan, Mexico. 1974 Strötgen House, San Diego de los Padres 51, Club de Golf Hacienda, Mexico. 1975 Cold Rolled Company Office Building, Calz. del Moral 186, Ixtapalapa, Mexico. 1977 Frenk Weekend House, Jiutepec, Morelos, Mexico. 1979 Brody House, Cerro del Agua 43, Mexico City.

References

Sources

Dussel Peters, Susanne, ''Max Cetto Arquitecto mexicano-alemán'', UAM Azcapotzalco, México, 1995 Ricalde, Humberto G., ''Max Cetto Vida y obra'', UNAM, México, 2005 Cetto, Max, ''Modern Architecture in Mexico Arquitectura Moderna en México'', Facsimile Edition, Museo de Arte Moderno, México, 2011 https://web.archive.org/web/20140714205106/http://www.arts-history.mx/semanario/especial.php?id_nota=17022012144057

Literature

Aptilón, Alejandro and Alfonso Pérez-Méndez: ''Las Casas del Pedregal 1947-1968''. Ed. Gustavo Gilli, Barcelona / México 2007. Brockhoff, Evelyn: Zum Nachlaß von Max Cetto (1903–1980). In: Deutsches Architektur-Museum (Publishers): ''Architektur-Jahrbuch''. München 1996, P. 178–183. Canales, Fernanda: ''Arquitectura en México 1900-2010''. Bilingual edition, 2 vols. Arquine/Banamex, México 2014. Canales, Fernanda and Alejandro Hernández Gálvez: ''100x100. Arquitectos del siglo XX en México''. Arquine, México 2011. Carranza, Luis and Fernando Luiz Lara: ''Modern Architecture in Latin America. Art, Technology and Utopia''. University of Texas Press, USA 2014. De Anda Alanís, Enrique X.: La casa Cetto en el Pedregal de San Ángel: Aire, rocas y recuerdos... En: Universidad de México (Revista de la Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México), Núm. 516-517 (ene-feb), pp. 44–48, México, 1994 Dias Comas, Carlos Eduardo and Miquel Adria: ''La Casa Latinoamericana Moderna. 20 paradigmas de mediados del siglo XX''. Ed. Gustavo Gilli, Barcelona / México 2003. Dussel Peters, Susanne: ''Max Cetto. Arquitecto mexicano-alemán''. Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana Azcapotzalco, México 1995, . Dussel Peters, Susanne: "Die Architektur Hannes Meyers und Max Cettos. Von der deutschen Moderne nach Mexiko". In: Renata von Hanffstengel (Coord.): ''Mexiko. Das wohltemperierte Exil''. Instituto de Investigaciones Interculturales Germano Mexicanas, México 1995, P. 233–252. Eggener, Keith: Expressionism and Emotional Architecture in Mexico. Luis Barragán's Collaborations with Max Cetto and Mathias Goeritz. In: "Architectura, Journal of the History of Architecture", Nr. 25.

Deutscher Kunstverlag The Deutscher Kunstverlag (DKV) is an educational publishing house with offices in Berlin and Munich. The publisher specializes in books about art, cultural history, architecture, and historic preservation. History Deutscher Kunstverlag was fo ...

, München / Berlin 1995, P. 77–94. Escotto, Daniel: Max Cetto y la arquitectura de entreguerras. In: "Bitácora-Arquitectura", Nr. 9 (April–June 2003), P. 12–19. Escotto, Daniel: Pesquisas sobre Max Cetto. In: "Piso, Ciudad al Ras", Nr. 6 (Autumn 2004), P. 28–35. Garza Usabiaga, Daniel: Max Cetto. Protagonista del desarrollo de la arquitectura moderna en México. In: Max Cetto (†): ''Modern Architecture in Mexico. Arquitectura moderna en México''. (Facsimile edition) Museo de Arte Moderno, México 2011. Gómez, Lilia (Coord.): Entrevista con el Arquitecto Max L. Cetto. In: ''Testimonios Vivos. 20 Arquitectos'' (Cuadernos de Arquitectura y Conservación del Patrimonio Artístico, Mexico City 15.-16. September 1979?) INBA, México 1979. Haskell, Douglas: Mexico's Pedregal Gardens. In: house + home No. 10 (octubre 1952), pp. 126–133, Time Inc., New York, 1952 Hegemann, Werner: Poelzig-Schüler. In: "Wasmuths Monatshefte für Baukunst und Städtebau", March edition, 1931, P. 100–105. Henderson, Susan R. "Building Culture: Ernst May and the New Frankfurt, 1926-1932" (NY: Peter Lang, 2013). Heredia, Juan Manuel: The Work of Max Cetto. Restorations of Topography and Disciplinarity in Twentieth Century Modern Architecture. Dissertation, University of Pennsylvania, 2008. Heredia, Juan Manuel: Mexico and CIAM. Notes to Mexican Modern Architecture. In:"Bitácora-Arquitectura", Nr. 26, 27, México Liernur, Jorge Francisco: The (Latin) American Friend. Architecture and European Exile South of the Rio Bravo 1936–1948. In: Bernd Nicolai (Coord.): ''Architektur und Exil. Kulturtransfer und architektonische Emigration von 1930 bis 1950''. Porta Alba, Trier 2003, P. 157–167. Lluvera, Angela: A citta del Messico un giardino succulento. En: La Mia Casa (Rivista di arrendamento, design, architettura, arte) No. 175, pp. 56–59, Italia, 1985 Noelle, Louise: Cetto, Max. In: ''Arquitectos Contemporáneos de México''. Ed. Trillas, México 1989. Ricalde, Humberto: ''Max Cetto. Vida y obra''. Facultad de Arquitectura, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, México 2005. Rodríguez Prampolini, Ida: Architect Max Cetto. In: Max Cetto (†): ''Modern Architecture in Mexico. Arquitectura moderna en México''. (Facsimile edition) Museo de Arte Moderno, México 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20140714205106/http://www.arts-history.mx/semanario/especial.php?id_nota=17022012144057 {{DEFAULTSORT:Cetto, Max 1903 births 1980 deaths 20th-century Mexican historians National Autonomous University of Mexico faculty German emigrants to Mexico Technische Universität Darmstadt alumni Technical University of Munich alumni Technical University of Berlin alumni People from Mexico City People from Koblenz People from the Rhine Province 20th-century Mexican architects