Alberto T. Arai (March 29, 1915 – May 25, 1959) was a Mexican architect,

theorist A theory is a systematic and rational form of abstract thinking about a phenomenon, or the conclusions derived from such thinking. It involves contemplative and logical reasoning, often supported by processes such as observation, experimentation, ...

and writer, of Japanese descent. Born in

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

, the fourth son of a Japanese ambassador in Mexico, Kinta Arai, Alberto T. Arai studied also philosophy, espousing

neo-Kantianism In late modern philosophy, neo-Kantianism () was a revival of the 18th-century philosophy of Immanuel Kant. The neo-Kantians sought to develop and clarify Kant's theories, particularly his concept of the thing-in-itself and his moral philosophy ...

and becoming politically a socialist artist. He became a supporter of Functionalism, with its emphasis on the social applications of architecture, and was also a founder, with Enrique Yañez, of the Unión de Arquitectos Socialistas (1938), helping to draw up a socialist theory of architecture. He was one of the most active participants and attempted to put his socialist theory into practice on two unexecuted

project A project is a type of assignment, typically involving research or design, that is carefully planned to achieve a specific objective. An alternative view sees a project managerially as a sequence of events: a "set of interrelated tasks to be ...

s in the same year: the building for the

Confederation of Mexican Workers The Confederation of Mexican Workers (''Confederación de Trabajadores de México'' (CTM)) is the largest confederation of labor unions in Mexico. For many years, it was one of the essential pillars of the Partido Revolucionario Institucional ...

and the Ciudad Obrera de México, both with Enrique Guerrero and Raúl Cacho (1937), and his social worries on the unexecuted General Hospital project (to be built in the city of Leon, Gto). He was one of the commissioners to take topographical records from the recent discovered Mayan ruins of Bonampak, in an expedition organized by the National Institute of Fine Arts (1949). His urbanistic knowledge give him the opportunity to make urban planning to several cities along the country. Also he developed the theory of architectural regionalism, which attempt the use of material resources and take care of the human needs of each particular area.Arai, Alberto T., "Regionalismo Arquitectónico" en Regionalismo, Conaculta.INBA, México, 2003. Later, when Mexico opted for a developmental policy, Arai became a standard-bearer for nationalism in architecture. He re-evaluated traditional building materials, such as tree trunks, bamboo, palm leaves and

liana A liana is a long-Plant stem, stemmed Woody plant, woody vine that is rooted in the soil at ground level and uses trees, as well as other means of vertical support, to climb up to the Canopy (biology), canopy in search of direct sunlight. T ...

s, using them in a plan for a country house that was adapted to the warm, damp climate of the

Papaloapan The Papaloapan River () is one of the main rivers of the Mexican state of Veracruz. Its name comes from the Nahuatl ''papaloapan'' meaning "river of the butterflies". In 1518 Juan de Grijalva's expedition spotted the river, naming it Río de Alvar ...

region, and various essays to improve the country and popular houses. The building of the Ciudad Universitaria, Mexico City, gave him his greatest architectural opportunity when he designed the "Frontones" de Ciudad Universitaria (1952). In these he used the

volcanic A volcano is commonly defined as a vent or fissure in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most often fo ...

stone In geology, rock (or stone) is any naturally occurring solid mass or aggregate of minerals or mineraloid matter. It is categorized by the minerals included, its Chemical compound, chemical composition, and the way in which it is formed. Rocks ...

of the area to great effect in truncated pyramid shapes inspired by

Pre-Columbian In the history of the Americas, the pre-Columbian era, also known as the pre-contact era, or as the pre-Cabraline era specifically in Brazil, spans from the initial peopling of the Americas in the Upper Paleolithic to the onset of European col ...

pyramids A pyramid () is a Nonbuilding structure, structure whose visible surfaces are triangular in broad outline and converge toward the top, making the appearance roughly a Pyramid (geometry), pyramid in the geometric sense. The base of a pyramid ca ...

. This was his contribution to the early landscaping-architecture, by using the volcanoes surrounding the view as a theme for his design. His numerous books and articles addressed conceptual problems in Mexican architecture and art. His last building was the clubhouse (Kaikan) of the Japanese Association, see

Japanese community of Mexico City Mexico City has a community of Japanese Mexican people and Japanese expatriates that is dispersed throughout the city. Many Japanese persons had moved to Mexico City in the 1940s due to wartime demands made by the Mexican government. Multiple Japa ...

, who was inspired on ancient Japanese and ancient Mexican architectural design, but with modern techniques and materials, successfully a modern looking piece.

References

''Who is who'', 1950, ''Biografía y Geografía de Mexico'', Porrúa, 1960, ''Enciclopedia de Mexico'', 1970 1915 births 1955 deaths 20th-century Mexican writers 20th-century Mexican male writers Mexican people of Japanese descent Artists from Mexico City Writers from Mexico City Architecture firms of Mexico 20th-century Mexican architects {{Mexico-architect-stub