Sixty years ago, the Museum of Modern Art in New York presented Latin American Architecture Since 1945, turning attention to a part of the world that seemed ready to assume a major role in architecture and design. Military coups and economic turmoil in the 1960s and ’70s, though, put an end to such optimism. Now the region is a dynamic force once again, and the museum has mounted an ambitious exhibition, Latin America in Construction: Architecture 1955–1980. São Paulo–based Leonardo Finotti took new photographs of many of the buildings in the show (running through July 19).

Read Justin McGuirk's review of the exhibition in this month's issue of Architectural Record.