1924-2022

There was a contradictory and fertile moment when Ibero-American countries wanted to merge the codes and principles of the Modern Movement with vernacular traditions, especially pre-Columbian, in which they found a powerful source of indentity. Agustín Hernández Navarro, who died in his home city of Mexico on 10 November at the patriarchal age of 98, clearly belonged to this time. Graduated from the UNAM School of Architecture in 1954, Hernández was a direct disciple of the first generation of modern architects in Mexico, developing his work when the process of reviewing modernity gave way to a brutalism with Aztec and Mayan echoes, that is: a double brutalism that wanted to be contemporary and traditional at the same time. These traces are clear in the most prominent works of Hernández, from the Folkloric Ballet of Mexico (1968) in Cuernavaca – directed by his sister, famous dancer Amalia Hernández – to the Heroic Military Academy (1976) – a hybrid of huge concrete bunker and archaeological site evocative of Teotihuacan –, via the dozens of projects built throughout his long career, always sustained by his pursuit of creative independence.