Of the twentieth-century large-scale design interventions inscribed into the Latin American city, the university campus is the most salient symbol of progress. The academy became an epicenter of twentieth-century architectural and urban experimentation and a unique urban development within major Latin American cities. The project examines the design and legacy of the principal Latin American campuses built in the past 60 years. Furthermore, the project traces the continental and transcontinental design influences that shaped these grounds, and map their spatial evolution. Finally, it explores the relevance of the autonomous university campus as an urban development pole in the city. The massive urban expansion that occurred in major Latin American cities in the postwar era created a widespread impetus for new learning environments. Several Latin American nations that viewed education as an emblem of progress and civility established university-cities. This trend drew influential architects and planners, creating synergies between schools of architecture and planning, national and international design practitioners, and visual artists. Among the exemplars of this synergy is the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), where a master plan by Mario Pani and Enrique del Moral, UNAM School of Architecture professors, was complemented by architectural contributions by midcentury Mexican Modernists, and works from world-renowned Mexican artists. Similar synergies are seen in the Universidad de Puerto Rico, with Henry Klumb heavily influenced by Frank Lloyd Wright, and in Carlos Raúl Villanueva's Ciudad Universitaria in Caracas. The Latin American campus became a unique architectural laboratory, generating a design dialogue across national borders and continents. While some of these campuses have been studied as national projects, and others have not been profiled at all, an examination of them as a continental enterprise has yet to be proposed. The publication, by singling out the architectural value of each campus and pairing it with texts from influential Latin American Architectural historians raises a unique awareness about the state of these grounds in order to equalize the conservation policies for each of these institutions, which today are unbalanced from campus to campus, and in some instances, from building to building within a single university.

Form and Pedagogy: The Design of the University City in Latin America

Arts & Photography

Alfaro, Carlos Garciavelez

Architecture

Applied Research & Design

Unique in scope, scale, and civic aspiration, Mexico City is the ideal laboratory to test the capacity of urban design to construct a spatial synthesis from the geometric and organizational complexity of the city’s layered urban scenarios. Between Geometry and Geography: Mexico City examines―through photography, archival material, and analytical drawings―the urbanistic evolution of Mexico City. The volume focuses specifically on the relationship between major public works projects and the urban fragments they have created in order to construct a visual analysis of the most dominant urban morphologies at play in the city. Organized in seven topical chapters ―From Lake to City, From City to Metropolis, Mobility Networks, Logistical Footprints, Housing Stock, Hydrological Landscapes, and Urban Visions― the book tests the ability of design to confront and break down the perceived immensity of Mexico City by singling out and analyzing key urban projects that have shaped the city for over 600 years. Furthermore, central to this volume is an exploration of how the methodological diversity of urban design can help rethink ongoing mobility projects in the city as the backbone for much more ambitious and integral urban projects of diverse scope and ambition. The volume also includes a collection of writings by Loreta Castro Reguera, Pablo Landa, Louise Noelle, Peter G. Rowe, and Mario Schjetnan along with photo spreads from Archivo Fundación ICA and from Iwan Baan. The pieces introduce a more diverse set of views on the exceptional urban richness of Mexico City―the largest metropolis of the Spanish-speaking world. Published in both Spanish and English

Mexico City: Between Geometry and Geography

Corrêa, Felipe

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Alfaro, Carlos Garciavelez. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Alfaro, Carlos Garciavelez

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Alfaro, Carlos Garciavelez. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Form and Pedagogy: The Design of the University City in Latin America

Mexico City: Between Geometry and Geography