Jun 24, 2024
Within the framework of Professional Visits for Architecture organized by UNAM Chicago and the Faculty of Architecture (FA), its director, Juan Ignacio del Cueto, and Guillermo Pulido, head of that office, made a working visit to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and the University of Illinois at Chicago, institutions that are part of the University of Illinois System.
"Several proposals for academic linkage, student mobility, and the possibility of organizing high-level forums and exchanges of traveling exhibitions emerged," explained Del Cueto after the meeting he had with Francisco Rodríguez, director of the School of Architecture at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
The UNAM academics met with Elvira de Mejía, director and founder of the Initiative for Mexican and Mexican-American Students of the University of Illinois System, with whom they explored possibilities to leverage the recently signed collaboration agreement by UNAM Rector Leonardo Lomelí Vanegas and SUI President Timothy Killeen, which provides seed funds from both institutions for research projects in areas such as energy, water, food, health, and environment.
At the University of Illinois at Chicago, the FA director met with officials from the School of Architecture and faculty members, including Gwen Fullenkamp and Alexander Eisenschmidt, with the aim of advancing cooperation. He recalled that with this university, "there are notable precedents for collaboration, such as the exhibition on Félix Candela, so we must take advantage of our relationship to work more deeply in workshops in areas such as architecture, industrial design, urban planning, and landscape architecture."
Professional Visits, very enriching for students
Architect del Cueto emphasized that "the agenda of the professional visits was a very enriching experience for the students." This time, eighteen students from the Faculty of Architecture, the FES Acatlán and Aragón of UNAM, and other higher education institutions such as the National Polytechnic Institute, the Metropolitan Autonomous University, and the Autonomous University of Nuevo León participated.
"Chicago is the cradle of modern architecture. Here, the Chicago School of the late 19th century set an example of how high-rise buildings could be constructed. There is a huge influence from great architects like Louis Sullivan and especially Frank Lloyd Wright, who at the end of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century made very important works," and he noted: "Chicago is one of the must-visit sites for architectural pilgrimage in the world."
The program was organized jointly by the heads of Continuing Education at FA, Armando Carranco and Midori Endo, as well as the heads of Academic Mobility at UNAM Chicago, Erika Erdely (Academic Secretary) and Adriana Peguero (Coordinator of Mobility and Linkage), with the collaboration of professor Miguel Barbachano, a faculty member of the Faculty of Architecture, who led the group of students.
Barbachano commented that professional visits for architects involve "preparation and prior research work that makes it more valuable when having the opportunity to convey it to students live. Touring urban spaces involves addressing architecture in its different dimensions such as volume, plane, depth, space, and time," he pointed out.
Professional Visits is one of the academic programs of UNAM Chicago. They are carried out during inter-semester periods in conjunction with various UNAM faculties, allowing participants to learn about the practice of professions in the United States, as well as having a linguistic and cultural immersion experience.
