Background
At fourteen years old, Muñoz Mariño lost his father, and moved with his family to Quito where they faced a tough economic situation.
At fourteen years old, Muñoz Mariño lost his father, and moved with his family to Quito where they faced a tough economic situation.
In the 1930s, after the resignation of President Isidro Ayora in 1931, Ecuador went thru seventeen governments in a decade. At the Mejia School, one of the most notable learning institutions in Quito, Professor José Enrique Guerrero had great influence on Muñoz Mariño with his style. Muñoz Mariño"s passion was also architecture.
He painted buildings, evaluating their proportions, which helped in his becoming one of the most talented architects of Ecuador in recent decades.
He co-wrote a study titled Ecuador en gráficos (Ecuador in graphs), which he traveled to Guayaquil to present with the help of Benjamín Carrión. He was fascinated with the city, and having just graduated from high school, he got a job at Tucker Mc Klure, which was in charge of building the roads between Guayaquil-Salinas, and between Quito-Esmeraldas.
This experience eventually defined his vocation as an architect. He yearned to move to Mexico to study architecture, and with the support of Benjamin Carrion and the Minister of War, he was able to do lieutenant
In 1974 he worked on the project Huayra Huanca (El origen del tiempo), which was commissioned by the Mexican government in accordance with a proposal by Oswaldo Guayasamín.
Unfortunately his design was never built. In 1962 and 1964 he exhibited his work in Mexico City and in its College of Architects. He has traveled almost 100 cities around the world, of which he has painted 74.
Artists and intellectuals belonged to two camps: one with Marxist socialist tendencies, and a conservative group.