[6] In 1927, he graduated from Academy of San Carlos, the Art and Architecture school at the National Autonomous University of Mexico.

[5] In 1929, O'Gorman purchased a plot containing two tennis courts in Mexico City's San Ángel colonia.

The building's forms were strongly influenced by the work of Le Corbusier, whose theories of architecture O'Gorman studied.

"[14] After 6 years of functionalist projects, O'Gorman turned away from strict functionalism later in life to focus on painting and murals, including works at the Mexico City airport in 1937 [15] and "Credit Transforms Mexico" for the International Bank on Reforma Avenue, now moved to HSBC.

[16] After being asked by Edgar Kaufmann Sr. to submit a proposal for murals for the Pittsburgh Young Men's & Women's Hebrew Association, O'Gorman spent a weekend at Fallingwater, which inspired him to return to architecture,[17] this time a more organic architecture, combining the influence of Frank Lloyd Wright with traditional Mexican constructions.

[18] Juan O'Gorman's most celebrated work due to its creativity, construction technique, and dimensions, are the four thousand square meters murals covering the four faces of the building of the Central Library at Ciudad Universitaria at UNAM.

A mural commission in Pátzcuaro, Michoacan resulted in the huge "La historia de Michoacán" in the Biblioteca Pública Gertrudis Bocanegra in a former church.