La Jornada: Exhibition investigates the new languages ​​of Mexican architecture

The exhibition Atlas of contemporary architecturecurated by anthropologist Pablo Landa, seeks to reflect on the new form that Mexican society gives to its buildings and how they reflect the needs of its inhabitants. Made up of more than 200 pieces, the exhibition brings together models, sketches, plans, videos, documents and photographs about the way in which different social groups in contemporary Mexico have conceived their homes, museums, parks and other buildings.

The exhibition has 16 thematic cores divided into four venues: the first is the Museum of Architecture (Munarq) of the Palace of Fine Arts; the second is the Justino Fernández room, in that same venue; the third, the Diego Rivera Mural Museum, and the fourth is the Laguna gallery, located in the Doctores neighborhood.

In interview with The DayPablo Landa explained the curatorial process of the exhibition, through which he collected information on structures from 2000 to 2025.

“By having this database we began to discover that it was from 2010 onwards that there was an important change in the typologies and language of architecture in Mexico. We gave priority to common points, which we could call ‘national identity’. There we realized that the old architects were focused on creating from scratch, while currently they focus on renovating already built structures.”

More participation of women

One of the most interesting contributions – Landa assured – is the regionalization of the country, because some areas have already created an independent vision about what they are building; Likewise, a greater participation of women in construction processes is observed.

“The majority of architectural firms were concentrated in Mexico City, but now they already exist in almost all the big cities, so there is a plurality of ideas and inspirations. We also notice that more and more women are leading the projects, which is a very Mexican characteristic, since it does not happen in other nations,” said the curator.

He added that the contemporary architectural works are “of great quality and quantity” and that the projects reflect that they are not isolated creations, but rather schools, social exchanges and learning processes. “We are reimagining the country and who belongs to it. The identity of Mexicans is transforming into something new and buildings can tell us a lot about it.”

For the general coordinator of Munarq, Andrea Izureta, this dialogue regains relevance because it leads to considering the points of view of the different parts of Mexican society on the construction of the future and the needs of each population.

“The research lasted three years. Pablo focused on organizing and describing what has been done in the first two decades of the 21st century. There he detected that different architectural typologies began to emerge and that is why it was decided to name this exhibition Atlas, a concept that defines an order,” commented Izureta.

Geography of power

“Pablo Landa proposes a narrative. We must not forget that architecture is, above all, a dialogue between society and power. As a reference we have the buildings that were made in the 20th century, in which the construction processes were mostly directed by the State. Now we see a much more privatized field and this led us to consider where this dialogue is taking place, who produces it and where it is housed.

“In the current century, what can define it is ‘tell me where something is built and I will tell you where the capital moved’. Many times we do not consider it, but what we are seeing is a geography of power, because history has told us that architecture has a reciprocal relationship with the dynamics of social relations,” the expert concluded.

The exhibition Atlas of contemporary architecture It will remain open to the public until the end of September, when it will converge with the Mextrópoli festival, also focused on that discipline.