The Juan O’Gorman Tour

Born in 1905, just 5 years before the Mexican Revolution, of an Irish father and Mexican mother, Juan O’Gorman spent his first years in the colorful mining city of Guanajuato in the central highlands of Mexico where, early on, he began to refine his unique artistic sensibility.

During the revolution, the O’Gormans moved back to Mexico City. During his high school years, Juan met the young Frida Kahlo, with whom he developed a lifelong friendship. After honing his skills with some of the most famous architects in Mexico he launched out on his own, at the tender age of 24, building what is considered the first functionalist houses in Mexico, one of which was designed for his friends Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera.

In 1932, Juan O’Gorman joined the SEP, the Mexican Ministry of Education, where his attention and interest drove him to focus on building functional and affordable schools in Mexico City and across the country. During the same period, O’Gorman designed a number of private residences for influential political figures and founded the School of Engineering and Architecture at the IPN (National Polytechnic Institute), one of Mexico’s most prestigious science and technology universities.

By the age of 30, the young O’Gorman, disillusioned by government bureaucracy and corruption, abandoned the practice of architecture, which he no longer considered to be an effective medium for social transformation or for his artistic expression.

It was in painting, murals, and mosaics, that O’Gorman eventually found the creative outlet he so desperately needed. Years later, when he resumed his career as an architect, his vision had radically altered and morphed from simple functionalism to a more organic and decorative approach to the art.

Our Juan O’Gorman Tour will have you discover an architect and artist with an intricate mind whose personal life was in many ways as complex as his work.

• Visit of the first Modernist complex in Mexico designed by Juan O’Gorman, including the Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera house & studio and, the house he designed for his father in 1929
• Private visit of the property that the architect built for the American-born composer Conlon Nancarrow
• Extensive tour of the UNAM campus, a World Heritage Site with a particular focus on it’s central library, designed and decorated by Juan O’Gorman in the 1950’s
• Discover one of the architect’s last murals “Credit transforms Mexico” at the HSBC Headquarters on Reforma avenue

Your Juan O’Gorman tour includes:

• Transportation in a VW Beetle convertible or vintage VW Combi bus
• Your guide (a licensed architect) during the 4 1/2 hour tour
• Admission fees to all the properties and sites visited
• Photo permit for all locations
• Bottled water
• Hotel pick-up & drop-off (for private tours only)

Not included in your Juan O’Gorman tour are:

• Meals
• Purchases you may choose to make along the way
• Gratuities you may choose to give at your discretion

2022-2023 rates for The Juan O’Gorman Tour: