Mario Pani
Mario Pani Darqui (March 29, 1911 – February 23, 1993) was a Mexican architect and urbanist. He was one of the most active urbanists under the Mexican Miracle, and gave form to a good part of the urban appearance of Mexico City, with emblematic buildings (nowadays characteristic of Mexico City), such as the main campus of the UNAM, the Unidad Habitacional Nonoalco-Tlatelolco (following Le Corbusier's urban principles), the Normal School of Teachers (Mexico), the National Conservatory of Music and other big housing projects called multifamiliares.
Also recorded as Mario Pani Darqui
Mario Pani

Lola Álvarez bravo · Porset, C. (Marzo, 1952). Residencia en Cuernavaca. Arquitectura México 37, 95. · CC BY-SA 4.0
- Name
- Mario Pani Darqui
- Born
- 29 March 1911
- Birthplace
- Mexico City, Mexico
- Died
- 23 February 1993
- Education
- École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts, National Autonomous University of Mexico
- Spouse
- Margarita Linaae (married)
- Awards
- National Prize for Arts and Sciences (Mexico) (1986)
- Nationality
- Mexico
- Occupation
- architect · painter
- Honours
- National Prize for Arts and Sciences
- Languages
- Spanish
VALÉORINE Encyclopedia
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Documentary summary
Mario Pani Darqui (March 29, 1911 – February 23, 1993) was a Mexican architect and urbanist. He was one of the most active urbanists under the Mexican Miracle, and gave form to a good part of the urban appearance of Mexico City, with emblematic buildings (nowadays characteristic of Mexico City), such as the main campus of the UNAM, the Unidad Habitacional Nonoalco-Tlatelolco (following Le Corbusier's urban principles), the Normal School of Teachers (Mexico), the National Conservatory of Music and other big housing projects called multifamiliares.
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Documentary evidence
Documentary basis
Authority files
gnd · 1153231530 · wikidata · Q671960 · wikipedia · Mario Pani
In this article
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Mario Pani Darqui • Born — 29 March 1911 • Birthplace — Mexico City, Mexico • Died — 23 February 1993 • Place of death — Mexico City, Mexico • Education — École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts, National Autonomous University of Mexico • Notable Works — University City of the UNAM, Mexico, Unidad Habitacional Nonoalco-Tlatelolco • Spouse — Margarita Linaae (married) • Awards — National Prize for Arts and Sciences (Mexico) (1986)
Early life and education
Early life and education
Mario Pani Darqui was born on March 29, 1911, in Mexico City, and moved to Europe in early childhood. His parents were Dolores Darqui and Arturo Pani–Arteaga. Pani attended the Marist College, a Marist Brothers Catholic school in Genoa, Italy for three years (now Istituto Champagnat, Genoa); followed study at San Carlo College (Collegio San Carlo) in Milan, Italy; and the Lycée Janson-de-Sailly secondary school in Paris for four years. Pani continued his education at the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris for six years.
Career
Career
In 1938, he began the journal Arquitectura Mexico, which was published until 1979. He introduced the International Style in Mexico, and was the first promoter of big housing Tower block projects. Pani was a great innovator of the urban design of Mexico City, and was involved in the construction of some of its newer parts, developing or participating in the more ambitious and important city-developing plans of the 20th century in Mexico, like Ciudad Satélite (along with Domingo Garcia Ramos and Jose Luis Cuevas), Tlatelolco, the Juárez and Miguel Alemán tower blocks, and the condominium in Paseo de la Reforma, the first of its type in Mexico. He would found the National College of Architects (Mexico) in 1946.
Works
Works
• Illustration — National Conservatory of Music of Mexico Pani's works include: • Hotel Reforma (Paseo de la Reforma at Paris street, Mexico City, 1936) • Escuela Nacional de Maestros (Mexico City, 1945), designed with Enrique Yáñez • National Conservatory of Music of Mexico (Mexico City, 1946) • Hotel Plaza, now Secretariat of Urban Development and Housing • Secretaria de Recursos Hidráulicos (Mexico City, 1946, currently Embassy Suites) • Centro Urbano Presidente Alemán (Mexico City, 1949) • Centro Urbano Presidente Juárez (Mexico City, 1950, more than 50% destroyed after the 1985 earthquake) • Ciudad Universitaria of the UNAM (1950–1953) based on main plan designed by then student Teodoro Gonzalez de Leon • Ciudad Satélite (1956–1952) • Insurgentes 300 condiminium (Colonia Roma, Mexico City 1958) • Torre Insignia (Mexico City, 1962) • Unidad Habitacional Nonoalco-Tlatelolco (Mexico City, 1964, severely damaged after the 1985 earthquake) • Port of Entry, Nogales, Sonora • Reforma 268 (condominium) • Condominium on Río Guadalquivir between Paseo de la Reforma and Río Volga, Colonia Cuauhtémoc
Gallery
Gallery
• Illustration — Torre Insignia, a.k.a. Banobras Tower • Illustration — The Torres de Satélite, landmark of Ciudad Satélite, a Mexico City suburb • Illustration — Rectory Tower of the Ciudad Universitaria campus of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), Mexico City • Illustration — Multifamiliar Miguel Alemán, Mexico City • Illustration — Condominium on Paseo de la Reforma and Ave. Río Guadalquivir, Mexico City • Illustration — Hotel Reforma, Mexico City (1936) • Illustration — Hotel Plaza (1946), now Secretariat of Urban Development and Housing, Mexico City • Illustration — Ciudad Satélite (master plan), Greater Mexico City • Illustration — Conjunto Urbano Nonoalco Tlatelolco, Mexico City • Illustration — Unidad Habitacional Santa Fé, Mexico City • Illustration — Unidad Habitacional Jamaica, Mexico City • Illustration — Reforma 368 (1956) • Illustration — Condominio Acero, Macroplaza, Monterrey • Illustration — Parque España 55, Colonia Condesa, Mexico City, apartments tower.
Identity
Identity
Mario Pani is recorded as having studied at Beaux-Arts de Paris and National Autonomous University of Mexico.

Residencia Cuernavaca por Mario Pani Arq. Y silla de comedor de madera y mimbre, por la diseñadora Clara Porset.
Lola Álvarez bravo · Porset, C. (Marzo, 1952). Residencia en Cuernavaca. Arquitectura México 37. 95.
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 2 entries
1911
Mario Pani was born in 1911 at Mexico City.
1993
Mario Pani died in 1993 at Mexico City.
Awards and tributes
• 1986: National Prize for Arts and Sciences "fine arts" • On March 29, 2018, Google celebrated his 107th birthday with a Google Doodle.
Primary material
Documents and archives
reference work
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q671960: Mario Pani
Reputable secondary · Wikimedia Foundation
- “Mario Pani”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
scholarly publication
- 1947-b. Mario Pani—Multifamiliares, Modern Architecture in Latin America, 2015
Scholarly · Crossref registry · 2015
authority file
- Gemeinsame Normdatei 1153231530, Itinerari di storia. In ricordo di Mario Pani (Veranstaltung : 2016 : Bari).
General reference · Deutsche Nationalbibliothek
Literature
Literature
Literature
Mario Pani is connected to 1 other published record in the VALÉORINE Encyclopedia.
Pani, Mario, Oxford Art Online, 2003
Mario Pani—Multifamiliares, Modern Architecture in Latin America, 2015
Mario Pani y la enseñanza de la arquitectura, Bitácora arquitectura, 2012
Il costituzionalismo di Roma antica
Studi in onore di Barbara Scardigli Forster, a cura di Paolo Desideri, Mauro Moggi, Mario Pani con la collaborazzione di Alessandra Lezzeretti, Dialogues d'Histoire Ancienne, 2008
Scholarly footprint
Literature
Scholarly footprint
A count of publications is evidence of attention, not of standing, and is given here only as a measure.
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
scholarly publication
Institutional witnessauthority file
Gemeinsame Normdatei 1153231530, Itinerari di storia. In ricordo di Mario Pani (Veranstaltung : 2016 : Bari).Deutsche Nationalbibliothek
Secondary witnessreference work
Wikidata, structured authority record Q671960: Mario PaniWikimedia Foundation
Secondary witnessreference work
Secondary witness
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 16 August 2026.
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