Max Ludwig Cetto (February 20, 1903 – April 5, 1980) was a German-Mexican architect, historian of architecture, and professor.
Born in Koblenz, Germany, Max Cetto studied at the Technische Hochschulen in Darmstadt, Munich and Berlin.
He moved to San Francisco in 1938, where he worked for Los Angeles-based architect Richard Neutra on projects including the Kahn House (1939).
[1] Cetto married Gertrud Catarina Kramis in 1940 and bore three children: Verónica, Ana María and Bettina.
The respect for nature he had learned from Neutra is evident in his handling of the volcanic terrain of the Jardines del Pedregal, Mexico City, where he collaborated with Luis Barragán, constructing various houses amid the impressive scenery of the place without disturbing the volcanic lava or the vegetation.
These and other houses elsewhere, where he combined a Modernist approach with a respect for ecology, were highly influential in Mexican domestic architecture.
Cetto, Max, “Anmerkungen zur Zeit: das Mehr-scheinen-als-sein ist erfolgreich industrialisiert worden“, Baukunst und Werkform, Nr.
320, juin-juillet 1978, Paris, 122-123 Cetto, Max, „Arquitectura moderna en México”, Revista Arquitecto, año 4, No.
14, sept-oct 1979, México, 1979 Cetto, Max, „Brief eines jungen deutschen Architekten an Dr. Goebbels“, Die Neue Stadt, Mai 1933, Zürich, 26–28.
Cetto, Max, „Carta de un joven arquitecto alemán al Sr. Goebbels, Ministro del Reich de Propaganda e Ilustración del Pueblo”, traducida al español por Mariana Frenk Westheim.
Se puede consultar en Dussel Peters, Susanne, Max Cetto: arquitecto mexicano-alemán, UAM, 1995, pp.
Cetto, Max, “Influencias externas y significado de la tradición,“ en Roberto Segre, ed.
Knaurs Lexikon der Modernen Architektur, München/ Zürich, Verlag Gerd Hatje, 1963, 167–169.
Cetto, Max, Modern Architecture in Mexico; Arquitectura moderna en México, F. Praeger, New York, 1961.
Cetto, Max, Moderne Architektur in Mexiko, Verlag Gerd Hatje, Stuttgart, 1961.
Cetto, Max, “O Gorman, Juan” in Emanuel Muriel, ed., Contemporary Architects, St. Martin's Press, N.Y., 1980, 594.
Cetto, Max, „Richard Döcker, Terrasentyp“ (Buchbesprechung) in Das Neue Frankfurt, Frankfurt/ Main, September, 1930, 210.
Cetto, Max, “Sobre la feria de Nueva York“, Arquitectos México, No.
Cetto, Max, “Some Skeptical Remarks about Prophesying and Planning the Future of Architecture”, The Semester Review of the Clemson College of Architecture, Clemson, South Carolina, Spring 1971, 1-5 Cetto, Max, traducción al alemán y texto introductorio de Faber, Colin, Candela und seine Schalen, Callwey Verlag, München,1965 Cetto, Max, “Walter Gropius,“ Arquitectura Mexico, 102, México, Abril, 1970, 209–221.
Cetto, Max, „Wohnbauten in einer Lavalandschaft Mexicos“ in Baukunst und Werkform, Heft 1–2, Frankfurt/Main, 1954, 37-58 1926/30 Various Works, including park pavilions, university dental clinic, teachers seminary, old people's asylum, electrical generating/transforming plants, etc., for the Frankfurt Building Office.
1948 Hill House, Guerrero 10, San Angel, Mexico City (with John Mc Andrew).
1950 Pedregal Show House, Fuentes 130, Mexico City (in collaboration with Luis Barragán).
Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. Dussel Peters, Susanne, Max Cetto Arquitecto mexicano-alemán, UAM Azcapotzalco, México, 1995 Ricalde, Humberto G., Max Cetto Vida y obra, UNAM, México, 2005 Cetto, Max, Modern Architecture in Mexico Arquitectura Moderna en México, Facsimile Edition, Museo de Arte Moderno, México, 2011 https://web.archive.org/web/20140714205106/http://www.arts-history.mx/semanario/especial.php?id_nota=17022012144057 Aptilón, Alejandro and Alfonso Pérez-Méndez: Las Casas del Pedregal 1947-1968.
Carranza, Luis and Fernando Luiz Lara: Modern Architecture in Latin America.
44–48, México, 1994 Dias Comas, Carlos Eduardo and Miquel Adria: La Casa Latinoamericana Moderna.
Dussel Peters, Susanne: "Die Architektur Hannes Meyers und Max Cettos.
Protagonista del desarrollo de la arquitectura moderna en México.
20 Arquitectos (Cuadernos de Arquitectura y Conservación del Patrimonio Artístico, Mexico City 15.-16.
Henderson, Susan R. "Building Culture: Ernst May and the New Frankfurt, 1926-1932" (NY: Peter Lang, 2013).
En: La Mia Casa (Rivista di arrendamento, design, architettura, arte) No.