UNAM Sculpture Space

UNAM Sculpture Space, a hidden Land Art jewel in the south of Mexico City [Photo report]
This space dedicated to environmental art, one of the most important public art works in Latin America, is located in the UNAM Ecological Reserve

Redacción / La Prensa

The Sculpture Space of Ciudad Universitaria is a walkable work that marked the transformation of sculpture in Mexico and those who visit it can experience the various sensations generated by the artistic proposal framed in land art or environmental or ecological art, a proposal that places a symbolic structure within a natural landscape for its conservation, as occurred with the petrified lava of the Xitle volcano that is located in the center (monumental work).
Located in the UNAM Ecological Reserve, south of Mexico City, it was inaugurated on April 23, 1979 and was developed by six artists belonging to the Abstract and Geometric Art movement: Helen Escobedo, Hersúa, Sebastián, Federico Silva, Manuel Felguérez and Mathias Goeritz.

This is a public art work built on a natural terrain surface, consisting of a circle of 120 meters in diameter and made up of 34 triangular prisms, which, in turn, are placed on an annular stone base that contains a “sea of lava” in the center. It is made up of two parts, a platform and a series of geometric figures.
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This space also has large-format individual works by each of the artists who created it, forming the Sculpture Walk: Las Serpientes del Pedregal and Ocho Conejos, by Federico Silva; Ave Dos, by Hersúa; Coatl, by Helen Escobedo; Colotl, by Sebastián; Corona del Pedregal, by Mathias Goeritz, and Variante de la Llave de Kepler, by Manuel Felguérez.
The Sculpture Space was a proposal –due to its abstract/geometric forms– that freed public sculpture in Mexico from its official and commemorative function. It can be said that UNAM, by allowing six sculptors to explore new modes of abstraction to act, contributed to a change of model in the field of public art, according to art historian and academic of the UNAM Institute of Aesthetic Research, Rita Eder.

The Sculpture Space, one of the most important works of public art in Latin America, which is part of the heritage of the National University, is located in the University Cultural Center, at Mario de la Cueva s/n, Ciudad Universitaria; it can be visited freely, except for the main complex, which is open Monday to Friday from 7:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Admission is free.
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