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Architecture
The original layout of the University City divides the Central Campus into three major zones:

A. Olympic Stadium Because its size and functional design was unanimously approved by the construction committee, the Olympic Stadium was the first major work undertaken on the Central Campus. The stadium was designed for every kind of sporting event, from track and field to American football, and was the foremost venue of the 1968 Olympics. The stadium’s outer shell is adorned with a high relief mosaic in natural stone by muralist Diego Rivera, bearing the motto: “The University, the family and sports in Mexico”.

With a seating capacity of 80 thousand spectators, the stadium is accessed through forty tunnels, which, in turn, allow the facility to be vacated in a surprisingly short time. The stadium was the first to contemplate a dedicated press area known as the “Palomar”, or pigeon roost. This structure is perched along and atop the highest edge of the north rim and commands a view not only of the field of action, but also the campus itself.

B. Faculties and Schools
The buildings of the faculties and schools in this zone are situated around a mall known as the “las islas”, or the islands. These structures are grouped into five areas:

I. Government and Services. Like a sentinel watching over its domain, the Rectory Tower serves as headquarters for UNAM’s governing authorities. The trim, 12-story, prism stands adjacent to the stadium and is flanked by the Central Library, whose geometric, box-like design bears mural works by Mexican architect-painter Juan O’Gorman on all four sides.

II. Humanities. Since its construction at the north end of the Central Campus, the Humanities building has been the focal point of the great ideological debates of the second half of the twentieth century in Mexico, including the student uprising of 1968.

III. Biological Sciences. This building group stands at the opposite extreme of the mall from the Olympic Stadium and consists of the schools and faculties of Odontology, Medicine and the Biomedical Research Institute. These structures stand around a secondary mall area of their own.

IV. Sciences. This grouping stands along the south-central line of the Campus. It consists of the Faculties of Chemistry, Engineering, the Humanities Tower II, the Postgraduate Program Building and the Cosmic Rays Pavilion. These building are rather taller in design and provide a distinctive accent that contrasts to the horizontal structures in most other areas of the campus.

V. Arts and Museums. This building group constitutes the other grand doorway to the Central Campus. Among other important structures, its holds the Arts and Sciences Museum (MUCA) and the Faculty of Architecture.

C. Sports and Recreation Zone

The Sports and Recreation Zone is situated to the south of the Schools and Faculties Zone. The inclusion of this infrastructure evidences the designers’ congruence with the modern discourse that stresses sports and recreation as vital aspects of human well-being. Among American universities, the Central Campus of University City is a leader in terms of the number fields for practicing and watching sporting events. Along with the Olympic Stadium and the Central Library, the fronton courts located here have been widely acclaimed by specialists in the field of modern architecture

Indeed, the entire campus is valued and used as one of Mexico City’s essential, plentiful public spaces.

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References

• http://www.unam.mx/patrimonio/index.html