Page 173 - Libro Max Cetto

In Cetto’s Proximity Bettina Cetto

the entrance gate and the sculpture by Mathias Goeritz– with an equally appealing and
commercial house. Very satisfied with the result, he was given the design and execution of
the second model home, on the adjacent lot.
In all the publications I know, which are not few, prior to 1976 –when the book by the
young Argentinean curator Emilio Ambasz appeared– both houses were published as being
of the exclusive authorship of Max Cetto. This is because these were projects commissioned
to him by clients. The developers –Luis Barragán and Alberto Bustamante– were the clients
and Max Cetto the architect. 27
Cetto never declared himself to be the author or coauthor of the projects he made
28
when working for Barragán from 1939 to 1943. On his resume, my father states that,
during these initial years in this country, he worked with the architects Villagrán, Barragán
and Rubio, after which he opened his own atelier in Mexico City as a member of the So-
ciety of Mexican Architects and the National College of Mexican Architects. In his list of
works in Mexico, he merely said that, during this period, he: “Supervised works by José Vi-
llagrán García and worked as an architectural designer on various projects in collaboration
with the architects Luis Barragán and Jorge Rubio.” In the interview with Lilia Gómez –in
which it was nevertheless made clear that the young Yucatecan architect did see Cetto more
as a partner– he said, “Now, the work I did, I did as an employee, so I could never claim
29
its authorship, and it has set sail under the name of another architect.” The situation was
completely different following 1947, when he opened his own atelier and had obtained
Mexican citizenship. He signed his own projects, he was no longer anyone’s employee and
30
he published his works as his.
In the model home at Avenida de las Fuentes 140, whose construction concluded in
1951, the gridded windows and split-level high-ceilinged living room reappear. On page
180 of his book, Cetto expressed his sadness that, as the house was a project designed by
him for the Jardines del Pedregal de San Ángel development company for promotional and
sales purposes, while he was away:

[…] even before an occupant was found, the leitmotif of the house was timidly given up.
The bank of lava which surrounds the swimming pool on the west and south sides and
then goes through the house was originally intended not only to support the bedrooms
on the top floor, but also was to run as an exposed rock wall under the gallery of the

27 Emilio Ambasz, The Architecture of Luis Barragán (New York: Museum of Modern Art, 1976). This attractive book,
with photographs by Armando Salas Portugal, was presented as an exhibition catalog. In fact, it was published prior to the
exhibition and an exhibition as such of Barragán’s work did not take place, simply a slideshow of beautiful photographs.
In any case, the lack of rigor of the young Argentine can be seen by the lack of mention of Clara Porset, who designed
the furniture and accessories that appear in some of the images. Nor is it right to say that the Torres de Satélite were
created by Luis Barragán in collaboration with Mathias Goeritz, when it was actually the other way around. Other strange
information provided by Ambasz relates to the Jardines del Pedregal subdivision, asserting that the first house was built
around 1945 and that, by 1950, there were already 50 residences. His knowledge of the site is evidently not firsthand. But
to award coauthorship to Barragán in the design of the two model homes constitutes an unnecessary gesture, as, given his
genius, Barragán already shone so brightly. This was also the beginning of an historiographic error that would, from then
on, multiply ad infinitum.
28 Curriculum vitae dated April 14, 1972, signed by Max Cetto. Archivo Max Cetto, Uam Azcapotzalco.
29 Gómez, “Entrevista,” 119.
30 One “fact” that might seem irrelevant at first glance, but is not so due to its recurring nature –such is the path often
traveled by historiographic errors if no one puts a stop to them– is that Cetto received the land to build his house as pa-
yment for work. The source is as follows: “in exchange for agreeing to help Barragán with the design of El Pedregal’s two
Demonstration Houses on Avenida de las Fuentes, Cetto received a rocky 1,800-square-yard building lot on Calle Agua”
(Keith Eggener, Luis Barragán´s Gardens of El Pedregal (New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 2008, 44). Nothing
could be further from reality. My father acquired –that is, he bought– the land to build the home for himself and his
family at a cost of $6.00/square meter (Mexican pesos). I have this information imprinted on my memory, as we all did
at home. Because there were no small lots for sale in the early years of Jardines del Pedregal, the concession that Barragán
and Bustamante made to Cetto was to divide an approximately 3,000 square meter lot to make the purchase more feasible.
Our lot, where the Cetto house at Agua 130 was built, measures approximately half the size of the original lot. I even
have a letter from Barragán and Bustamante, dated 1952, in which they inform Maximiliano Cetto that the telephone
connection is ready for “the land you acquired.”

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