National Museum of Anthropology
Pedro Ramírez Vázquez + Rafael Mijares Alcérreca · Mexico City, Mexico · 1964
The National Museum of Anthropology is organized around a vast central courtyard whose defining element is a monumental cantilevered canopy supported by a single sculptural column. Exhibition halls ring the courtyard and open toward gardens, creating a clear circulation system for an enormous archaeological and ethnographic collection. Pedro Ramírez Vázquez and Rafael Mijares combined modern concrete construction with references to pre-Columbian spatial order and landscape. Opened in 1964, the museum became a model for large national cultural institutions in Latin America.