ARCHITECTS OF MEXICO CITY: FRANCISCO J. SERRANO

FRANCISCO J. SERRANO (1900-1982) was a civil engineer and architect whose Art Deco and modernist buildings grace Colonia Condesa and other areas of Mexico City. He is part of an architectural dynasty.

His father, J. Francisco Serrano, designed several notable buildings in the city, such as the Edificio La Esmeralda (1892) and the Edificio Paris (1907) in the Centro Histórico.

His son, Francisco Serrano, (www.franciscoserranoarquitecto.com) is best known for his design of Terminal 2 of the Mexico City airport and the office buidling known as 'Los Pantelones'.

                                                  Edificio Jardines, Amsterdam 285, at Sonora

The second Serrano, Francisco J., is probably best known as the architect of the swanky Edificio Basurto in Condesa, but as you wander around the colonia, you'll notice that many of the best Art Deco buildings are his. An early work, the fanciful Edifico Jardines at the corner of Sonora and Amsterdam (across from Starbucks) features multiple balconies, terraces and mini-lighthouses on top. The streamline house at the corner of Michoacán and Avenida Mexico looks like a set for a Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers movie.

Several of his houses have been altered or covered over with commercial signage, or have disappeared behind giant trees. But he undoubtably left the mark of his creative vision on Mexico City. Surprisingly, there is no monograph about him.

  

                                           Avenida Amsterdam, corner of Michoacán

Huichapan 20

Amsterdam 285

                                           

                                                                Pasaje Polanco

Here is a list of buildings I've been able to attribue to him:

COLONIA CONDESA

Laredo 5, 1933

Amsterdam 110, 1931

Laredo 22 (externsively remodelled), 1942

El Plaza Condesa (Parque España),1946

Edificio Casa Jardines, Amsterdam 285, 1928-30

Edificio Basurto, 1942-45

Nuevo León 68, 1952

Michoacán 43, 1935

Avenida Mexico 75, 1934

Nuevo León 120, 1936

Campeche 302, 1932

Amsterdam 206, 1935

Avenida Mexico 123, 1932

Chilpancingo 39, 1946

Chilpancingo 46, 1931

Parque España 49

Parque España 59

Huichapan 20

COLONIA ROMA

Edificio Rio de Janiero, Orizaba and Durango, Roma (ground floor remodel)

Edificio Anahuac, Queretaro 109, Colonia Roma (1932)

Edificio Acro, Insurgentes at Quintana Roo, 1937

Edificio Glorieta, Insurgentes at Chilpancingo, 1938

POLANCO

Pasaje Polanco, c. 1938

Emilio Castelar 6

Emilio Castelar 24

E.C. and Galileo, corner house

Arquimedes and Newton, corner house

Newton and Aristoteles

Conjunto San Carlos, Moliere, Seneca and Masaryk

CENTRO

Cine Teresa

OTHER

Faculty of Engineering, UNAM (collaboration), c. 1954

Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe Church, Santa María de la Ribera