In the late 1940s , he worked on murals again , at the Secretaria de Rucursos Hidraulicos and the children ’s area of the Miguel Alemán housing complex with Mario Pani . This prompted an interest in a concept called “ plastic integration ” combining art and architecture . In 1950 he returned to Europe , studying Venetian mosaic techniques in Italy . His next major project with Pani was for the Benito Juárez housing project covering 4,000 m2 . The concept of this project was to have the works clearly visible to cars passing by the buildings . However , this work was destroyed along with most of the housing complex in the 1985 Mexico City earthquake . A monument to the Juarez project was created by a student of Mérida , Alfonso Soto Soria , at the Fuentes Brotantes housing complex in the south of Mexico City using the plans of the original work . Other projects of this type included the glass mosaic murals at the Reaseguros Alianza Building in Mexico City ( 1953 ) , the artwork at the Torre Banobras in the center of Tlatelolco , the Cine Mácar and the Museo Nacional de Antropología ( 1964 ) . In Guatemala , he also created murals and other monumental works including the Palacio Municipal of Guatemala City ( '' La mestiza de Guatemala '' , ) , the Chancellery of Guatemala ( '' Glorificación de Quetzal '' , 1955 ) , the Instituto Guatemalteco de Seguridad Social , at the Crédito Hipotectario Nacional and at the Bank of Guatemala ( 1956 )
1985 Mexico City earthquake
1985 Mexico City earthquake
Carlos Mérida