Antonio Rivas Mercado

Antonio Rivas Mercado (26 February 1853 – 3 January 1927) was a Mexican architect, engineer and restorer. He is considered the preeminent Mexican architect of the late 19th century and early 20th century. His most famous project was the design of the Independence Column in downtown Mexico City. He was the director of the Academy of San Carlos from 1903 to 1912.

Early life and education Rivas Mercado was born in Tepic in the then Territory of Tepic, on 26 February 1853. His parents decided to send him to study in Europe at the age of 10. Eventually, he studied Fine Arts and Architecture at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris.

Rivas Mercado was Director of the Escuela Nacional de Bellas Artes in Mexico City from 1903 to 1912. He instituted new methods of study and design and is said to have modified the curriculum of the "Architecture and Civil Engineering" major in order to make two different ones out of it. During his tenure he funded Diego Rivera's scholarship to study painting in Europe.

President Venustiano Carranza commissioned Rivas Mercado to renovate the Military Academy annex of Chapultepec Castle to better accommodate a presidential residence. Shortly after his work on Chapultepec Castle, he moved back to Paris. However, he returned to Mexico in 1926 and died a few months later in Mexico City, aged 74.

Gallery of projects

Personal life He was the father of Antonieta Rivas Mercado.

On 26 February 2019, Google celebrated what would have been Mercado's 166th birthday with a Google doodle.