Was born in Mexico City in 1949, where he studied architecture and practiced. He did postgraduate work at Cornell University, and was awarded an M.A. and a Ph.D. by the University of Essex (England). He has taught at universities in Mexico, Houston, Syracuse, Toronto, and at London’s Architectural Association.

In 1983 he became Director of Carleton University’s School of Architecture. He has lectured extensively around the world and is the author of numerous articles published in major periodicals and books.
He is also co-editor of a well-known book series entitled Chora: Intervals in the Philosophy of Architecture. Volume 7 will be published this Winter. In January 1987 he was appointed Bronfman Professor of Architectural History at McGill University, where he founded the History and Theory Master’s and Doctoral Programs. His book Architecture and the Crisis of Modern Science (MIT Press, 1983) won the Hitchcock Award in 1984.

Later books include Polyphilo or The Dark Forest Revisited (1992), Architectural Representation and the Perspective Hinge (co-authored with Louise Pelletier), and Built upon Love: Architectural Longing after Ethics and Aesthetics (2006).
His new book, Attunement: Architectural Meaning after the Crisis of Modern Science, will be published by MIT Press in the Spring of 2016.