Enrique Yáñez (néEnrique Yañez de la Fuente; 1908 – 1990) was a Mexican architect.[1] He was a theorist of functionalist architecture, and specialized in Mexican hospital architecture.[2]
Early life and education
Enrique Yañez de la Fuente was born on June 17, 1908, in Mexico City.[3]
Yáñez is considered to be the cornerstone of Mexican social and hospital architecture, he worked on the building concepts of the Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS), and the Institute for Social Security and Services for State Workers (ISSSTE) under Carlos Obregón Santacilia, and published numerous specialist literature. He was a member of Colegio de Arquitectos de la Ciudad de México (CAM-SAM), and formed the Union of Socialist Architects (Unión de Arquitectos Socialistas) in 1938.[4][5]
His building for the Sindicato Mexicano de Electricistas [es] (or Mexican Union of Electricians) was completed in 1940 in cooperation with artists David Alfaro Siqueiros and Fermín Revueltas Sánchez, was one of the first buildings in the country with integrated fine art reliefs.[3][5][6] Siqueiro's mural "Portrait of the Bourgeoisie" (1940) for Sindicato Mexicano de Electricistas headquarters was completed with the help of six assistants, and was politically controversial.[7][8]
From 1945 to 1952, Yáñez worked on the construction of the La Raza National Medical Center [es], and a series of other hospital buildings followed. La Raza National Medical Center's design was used as a model for other hospitals across Mexico.[9] The National Medical Center for the SSA was built between 1954 and 1961, with artwork by José Chávez Morado, David Alfaro Siqueiros, Luis Ortiz Monasterio, and Luis Nishizawa.[3] The National Medical Center for the SSA was damaged in the 1985 earthquake.[4] Between 1964 and 1978, Yáñez designed other healthcare buildings, including the maternity hospital "Maternidad de Nonoalco", the central hospitals of Torreón, Tampico and Saltillo, and the ISSSTE Regional Hospital Lic. Adolfo Lopez Mateos in Mexico City.[4][10]
Yáñez was a "numbered member" (or miembro de número) of the Academia de Artes since 1984.[1] He died on November 24, 1990, in Mexico City.[1]
Yáñez was included as part of the group exhibitions, Latin America in Construction: Architecture 1955–1980 (2015), and Crafting Modernity: Design in Latin America, 1940–1980 (2024) both at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.[11]
Works
San Cosme School Center (1936), Mexico City, Mexico; now the Escuela Secundaria Anexa a la Normal Superior (ESANS)
SME headquarters building (1938), 45 Antonio Caso Street, Tabacalera neighborhood, Mexico City, Mexico; part of the bachelor's thesis
^"110 years of the birth of Enrique Yañez". Grupo MARQ. 2018-06-22. Retrieved 2024-05-24. Mexican Union of Electricians, the Escuela Normal Superior, the National School of Chemical Sciences of the UNAM and a large number of health buildings, such as the hospital La Raza, hospital General López Mateos, hospitals Lung cancer, oncology, OB/GYN, and nutrition at the National Medical Center; The maternity Hospital in Nonoalco and the general hospitals of Torreón, Tampico, Saltillo, Veracruz and Ciudad Juárez; among others.