Armando Franco
(Mexico City 1921 – 2022)

 

Armando Franco is known within architectural circles as the co-author, alongside Teodoro González de León, of the master plan for the iconic UNAM’s Ciudad Universitaria project. He also collaborated on Casa Catán in Mexico City, one of the first Mexican projects to incorporate prefabricated elements—an idea he later developed further in the “Coahuayana” housing project in the state of Michoacán and the “Unidad Habitacional La Patera” in Azcapotzalco, Mexico City. In 1955, Armando Franco designed his COFRAN furniture collection for the newly established School of Design and Handicrafts at the National Institute of Fine Arts (INBA). His approach combined modernist, modular, and efficient design principles, integrating artisanal craftsmanship into industrial processes.