The Japanese Embassy in Mexico: a Fortunate Association, a Threatened Heritage

Abstract

An examination of the architectural value of the Japanese Embassy in Mexico, designed by Kenzo Tange, Pedro Ramírez Vázquez and Manuel Rosen Morrison, which is in danger of being demolished. The context of mid-century Mexican architecture is addressed in order to situate this work within its historic moment, thus confirming its importance. This building was the result of an intellectual encounter between one Japanese and two Mexican architects, who exchanged ideas, concepts and criteria, resulting in a building with an innovative formal design, due to the use of reinforced concrete, and the flexibility of its structural concept, which allows it to be adapted to different uses. This article is essentially based on the archive of the architect Manuel Rosen Morrison, held by the Archive of Mexican Architects at the National Autonomous University of Mexico’s Faculty of Architecture.