Serie 03 – Luis Gallardo

Architecture for gods archive

The Heroic Military College is a project that, in the collective imagination, is perceived as a complex imbued with a sense of grandeur and mystery. Experiencing it in person revealed that Agustín Hernández’s design is even more imposing and majestic than I had imagined, with a unique and almost mystical atmosphere—partly due to the architectural work itself, and partly to the military theme and the symbol of power that the armed forces represent.

The College is a sculptural ensemble—a small city within the city, where bold structures of varying geometries emerge and engage in dialogue with one another. Each building contributes to the whole without losing its individuality. Multiple elements coexist and come together in a monumental architectural unity. And in the background, the hills and the landscape turn the drill yard into a kind of amphitheater surrounded by mountains—a true stage.

Agustín Hernández was a bold modernist, yet deeply respectful in reviving traditions and ancestral knowledge. His work is a fusion of ancient culture and contemporary technology. Slopes, fretwork, pre-Hispanic symbols, pure geometry, plazas, platforms, stairways, ramps, terraces, and buildings—all come to life anew in concrete, steel, aluminum, and glass.

Hernández reminds us that we are heirs to two cultures with different spatial understandings, now fused into one. Through this synthesis, he builds a bridge that defines aspects of our cultural identity and presents them to the world. His architecture is deeply connected to the rich tradition of Mexican visual arts. It expresses the spirit of our country while remaining universal in its language.

The images I present in this photographic intervention aim to go beyond simply documenting a building. They seek to spark reflection—between user and context, between architecture and its intended function, between scale and the sense of collectivity represented by the armed forces, between military discipline and the symbolic architecture of the complex, between the ancient features of pre-Hispanic cultures and the elements of contemporary architectural design.