Last year I spent a week in Mexico City with my aunt, a retired Mexican history professor. What an architectural treat! I’m finally getting a chance to share a few of the highlights.

Palacio de Bellas Artes- Inside this recently restored, golden-topped, art nouveau building are several spectacular murals by Diego Riviera

Casa de los Azulejos- This is the dining court inside a department store in the Centro Historico. The mural wraps around all sides of the light-filled courtyard. I don’t have a photo of the outside of the building, and old palace covered in blue and white tiles

Bold red-orange facade in Centro Historico

Another facade in the Centro Historico, this one a bit less flashy, but has a variety of artful details

Aunt Susan at the giant sundial at UNAM

Approaching the Biblioteca Central UNAM – This walkway seemed a bit out of scale, but the shade was nice

Biblioteca Central – UNAM – The Central Library at UNAM was built in 1948, a collaboration between artist and architect Juan O’Gorman, and Architects Gustavo Saavedra and Juan Martinez de Velasco. The exterior is covered in murals depicting the history of Mexico and made out of stones collected from around the country.
Around the Biblioteca Central was a grid of grass squares and concrete pathways that seemed like they could be a giant board for a game. The simple white painted arrows on some of the paths direct bikers properly through the maze.

Grid of lawn squares and concrete paths

The graphic simplicity of bike path through UNAM

Zona Rosa Art Deco Industrial

Zona Rosa greenery

Zona Rosa Glass and Steel

Fuente de la Diana Cazadora

Amber Dome- Museo de Arte Moderno de Mexico

Living Roof – Jardin Botanico, Chapultapec

National Museum of Anthropology Fountain Column

Marquee – Polanco

Mural and Fountain in Los Danzantes Coyoacan
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