José Manuel Pérez Latorre in his studio at Paseo Sagasta. © Guillermo Mestre

Although it is said that no one is a prophet in his own land, the Zaragoza where José Manuel Pérez Latorre was born and where he lived his life and died this past 21 September is the location of the bulk of his eclectic work. After attending the Barcelona school during the years that Moneo taught there, the architect returned to his city in the 1980s to take charge of many of the projects that the new regional capital was carrying out. From the Iranian onyx cube that protects the remains of Caesaraugusta to the cathedral-like space that contains the municipal auditorium and the fragmented volumes of the Pablo Serrano Museum, not to mention the Aragon Pavilion at Expo 92 in Seville, his architecture also palpitates with his second calling, painting, always open to experimentation with forms and textures.