Muralism and Architecture: Art Fusion at Mexico’s University City

Abstract

University City is one of the best examples of twentieth-century Mexican architecture. It has been declared a World Heritage Site by Unesco for it managed to synthesize tradition and avant-garde to create a place where the articulating landscape design is able to assign emptiness a compositional value; while the harmonious layout of the buildings and their careful construction merge with murals that play an important role in forming their identity. These grand scale murals (1952-1956) were capable of communicating the values and spirit of the Mexican revolutionary movement, such as progress and social reform, while also teaching people about the country’s history and its social struggle. The result is a very realistic, didactic, and even narrative art which appeals to the masses.