Ruth Rivera Marín

Ruth María Rivera Marín (18 June 1927 – 15 December 1969 She was the first woman student of the College of Engineering and Architecture at the National Polytechnic Institute. She was a delegate in the 1964 International Architects Congress held in Budapest.

She was the head of the Architecture Departments at the Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes from 1959 to 1969 (which ran the Museo Nacional de Artes Plásticas at the Palacio de Bellas Artes). However, she had been involved with INBA almost since its foundation, assisting Enrique Yáñez in archiving Mexico's modern architecture.

Rivera published many articles and books. She managed the Journal Cuadernos de Arquitectura y Conservación del Patrimonio Artístico of the INBA, which initially had a supplement called the Cuadernos de Arquitectura (Notebook of Architecture). The Notebook became a separate publication under Rivera and evolved into "one of the most important publishing projects for the Institute" discussing both technical and artistic components of architecture. Though its publication lasted only from 1961 to 1967, its theoretical and practical significance and value as the basis for teaching spurred an effort concluded in 2014 to collect all 20 volumes and digitize them as a lasting reference.

Rivera died on 15 December 1969 in Mexico City. Posthumously, the Architecture Center at INBA was renamed in her honor.

Memberships Rivera was a member of many institutions. Some of her active work in both national and international organizations were in the College of Architects of Mexico, the Mexican Society of Architects, the Mexican Association of Art Critics, and ICOMOS, the Subcommittee on UNESCO Museums. She served as the President of the International Union of Women Architects.

Selected Architectural works 1954 reconstruction of Teatro de la República, Querétaro, Mexico 1959–60 Hall of Mexican Visual Arts , INBA, Mexico City 1959–60 collaboration with architect Manuel de la Parra on repurposing the Prison of Dolores Hidalgo into the Regional Artesan's Museum and Cultural Center 1959–60 repurposing the former Convent San Miguel de Allende as the Cultural Center Ignacio Ramírez 1961–62 collaboration with Guillermo Rossell, to convert the former home of Aquiles Serdán into the Museo de la Revolución, Puebla City, Mexico 1961–64 collaboration with Ramiro González del Sordo for the campus of the School for Design and Crafts 1961–64 Teatro Comonfort 1961–64 collaboration with Pedro Ramírez Vázquez on the Museum of Modern Art, Chapultepec 1961–64 collaboration with René Martínez Ostos on the Teatro de Comedia Jiménez Rueda of INBA, Mexico City 1965–67 restoration work on Escuela Nacional de Pintura, Escultura y Grabado "La Esmeralda", Mexico City 1967 collaboration with Ramiro González del Sordo and Jorge Luna to convert the Palace of the Count of Buenavista into the San Carlos Museum of European Painting 1969 House of Culture in Aguascalientes City, Mexico

Selected publications