Most recognized architects in Latin America

Goodbye to Leopoldo Goût, one of the most recognized architects in Latin America

It was Gout who delivered in Mexico, to Rayo, the model of what is now the Rayo Museum building.
This week the news was announced that Leopoldo Goût, one of the most recognized architects in Latin America, had died at the age of 94, in his native Mexico.

Among his architectural works were the design of Cine Diana, located on Paseo de la Reforma, in Colonia Cuauhtémoc in Mexico City, where the famous Iron Mural by Manuel Felguérez was even located.

A prodigious creative, who in life united his structural talent with those who created art, one of them, the great master Omar Rayo.

It was Leopoldo Goût who was in charge of the design of the place, prepared by the architect of the famous Rayo Museum, in 1972, inspired by Mayan architecture. From that work, which today continues to conquer locals and visitors, and lovers of art and architecture, a friendship remained that remains intact, that of the teacher Leopoldo with Águeda Pizarro and her late husband, Omar Rayo.
“Leopoldo was the creator of one of the architectural jewels of Valle del Cauca, Colombia and the Americas, the Rayo Museum, flagship of Latin American drawing and engraving,” Águeda highlights, noting that the set of eight octagonal modules was inspired not only in Mayan architecture, but in the art of his friend, his buddy, his youth companion, Omar Rayo.

For her, her creative genius manifested itself several times in the design of buildings that, in turn, expressed the works of art of her friends. “And that is precisely why at this moment we have an exhibition of works by Rayo in the 70s and we show the link between these and the design of the eight octagonal modules of the Museum. It was a beautiful collaboration that still amazes visitors, as Leopoldo Gout created an incomparable sacred space in Roldanillo. Here the imagination of two friends shines who wove a constellation where the rainbow and its dragons live,” says Águeda, current director of the Rayo Museum.
The poet, cultural manager and writer who today serves as director of this great Museum, lamented the death of her great friend: “Dear Polo, you have not died because you live here forever. As long as I live I will remember your humor, your guajiridengues, your accent when telling the most absurd jokes, that you told me Aguedulce and you pampered Sarita. You are Mexico in Colombia and in our memory. Here we welcome you in your house of eights.”
In data

His full name was Leopoldo Goût Ortiz de Montellano, and only his nationality was known and not his exact place of birth. One of his many projects was the design of the Diana Cinema on Paseo de la Reforma, in Mexico, in the 60s, when it opened its doors to the public.

What caught the most attention at that time about his architectural work was the latticework that was used, which gave a particular seal to the Glorieta de la Diana, in the Aztec country.

In general, his creativity was manifested several times in the design of buildings that are still evident in the works of art of each of his friends.