Ignacio Díaz Morales

Ignacio Díaz Morales (November 16, 1905 – September 3, 1992) was a Mexican architect, civil engineer, and educator. His work helped define contemporary architecture in the state of Jalisco. Díaz Morales was a founding member of the movement Tapatia School of Architecture, and in 1948 he founded the architecture department at the ITESO, Universidad Jesuita de Guadalajara (now part of CUAAD at University of Guadalajara).

Early life and education Ignacio Díaz Morales was born on November 16, 1905, in Guadalajara in Jalisco, Mexico, to parents Trinidad Álvarez Tostado and José Díaz Morales.

Career From 1928 to 1936, the four students including Barragán, Díaz Morales, Castellanos, and Urzúa introduced a new type of architecture to the Jalisco region, called the Escuela Tapatía de Arquitectura (English: Tapatia School of Architecture). The architect group collectively embraced 'traditional modernity' a return to traditional values while also acknowledging contemporaneity principals.

Díaz Morales designed several train stations for the American railway company Ferrocarril del Pacífico from 1930 to 1938, where he brought together German and Austrian exiles after World War II, such as Mathias Goeritz, and Díaz Morales served as director of the school department from its beginning in 1948 until 1963.

He was an honorary member of the American Institute of Architects, as well as was awarded the National Academy of Architecture Award in 1986, and the National Prize for Arts and Sciences award in 1989.

Death and legacy Díaz Morales died on September 3, 1992, in Mexico City. He is buried in a crypt at Templo Expiatorio del Santísimo Sacramento, a church in Guadalajara.