Mexico City: MUAC

Mexico City is vast- traffic is bad. My first trip there I kept to very central of the city, but having acquired an amazing book on the architecture of the city in that visit, my list of what to visit on return grew vast and well, further.

I always travel to a neighborhood and then stay in that area so when it came to going south of the city, I grouped together this building MUAC (Museo Universitario Arte Contemporáneo) and the Anahuacalli Museum (the working artist studio areas is where the magic and living legacy of Diego really is at). I was hoping to complete a triangle with a visit to the Monumental Casa de Emilio El Indio Fernández (less architectural and more cultural) but ran out of time.

I think what I remember most about this museum are the various outdoor atriums with a singular chair. The clean rooflines framing a beautiful sky- the chair as if calling to take a a moment away from contemplating the art inside for contemplating the outside.

I’ve learned while writing this is that the architect is Teodoro González de León who turns out is quite prolific and designed 3 of the buildings I have or will write up – one per 3 of my visits. What I enjoy about his buildings is that he creates long views across a horizon on the exterior with an unbroken effort, but inside this building there’s so much depth into the perspective with this building as well. From the floor plan, you can see the long hallways- almost as if the hallways were drawn first with the gallery spaces to be filled in between.

This space in the photograph above was blocked off and not open to the public. It wasn’t clear if it was community or teaching or sculptural gallery space, but what caught by eye was the circular sky lights as I didn’t see them present in any other part of the building.

This part of the campus has many buildings worth visiting, including perhaps a performance at Sala Nezahualcóyotl. While I had the agenda which took me off campus, I would be eager to spend some time on foot exploring the area.

The exhibitions were all thoughtful, well displayed and curated (see below for a sound based one that was exceptional). I’m still curious to where all the art is in Mexico City- it seems to be a little bit here and there, distributed. What am I missing? https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-art-lovers-guide-mexico-city … seems like I’ll just need to visit again as I’ve barely scratched the surface. MUAC is an architectural gem, the floor plan in and of itself is a thing of beauty, and I think if I lived in Mexico City- I would take advantage of this university’s wealth of resources for art and music.

Address: Av. Insurgentes Sur 3000, C.U., Coyoacán, 04510 Ciudad de México, CDMX, Mexico

Website: Mexico City Write-up