From Mexico City to Monterrey: brief history of a modern college city

Abstract

Although little known, the Ciudad Universitaria (CU) of Monterrey, which is today the main campus of the Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León (UANL), was the second of its kind to be built in Mexico, behind only its homologous Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), in operation since 1952. On June 28th, 2007, the latter (his first college circuit) was inscribed by UNESCO in the list of sites that are Cultural Heritage of Humanity, by virtue of his exceptional qualities as a monumental complex which incorporates in the context of Twentieth-century Modernity, urbanism, architecture, engineering, landscaping and plastic arts. In Monterrey it could have resorted it international standards, especially Americans, given the closeness with the United States, but the campus of El Pedregal de San Ángel was the primary reference. The Monterrey CU reveals similar commitment to modern approaches, including “artistic integration” of its constituent elements, beyond the unfortunate changes that have suffered some of them over time. Others, however, retain an extraordinary value.