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All Mexico Mexico City Museo Universitario del Chopo (Chopo University Museum)

Museo Universitario del Chopo (Chopo University Museum)

This industrial Art Nouveau gem is a historic hotspot for Mexican counterculture.

Mexico City, Mexico

Added By
Mario Yair T.S.
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Rear of the building.   Mario Yair TS / Atlas Obscura User
Rear of the building.   Mario Yair TS / Atlas Obscura User
The museum.   Mario Yair TS / Atlas Obscura User
Interior.   Mario Yair TS / Atlas Obscura User
Details.   Mario Yair TS / Atlas Obscura User
Art Nouveau towers.   Mario Yair TS / Atlas Obscura User
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About

In 1902, José Landero y Coss bought the main hall of the machine room of Germany’s Gutehoffnungshütte mine. He had it shipped to Mexico piece by piece. Legend says that when Landero y Coss got off the train, he bought the first plot of land he saw and plunked the building there.

The structure, originally designed by Bruno Möhring in an industrial Art Nouveau style, has since had a rich history as a cultural hub. It has functioned as a national history museum, a Japanese art pavilion, and even as a film location. In 1975, was reopened as the Museo Universitario del Chopo (Chopo University Museum).

The museum became a hotspot for Mexican counterculture. There, Chopo Tianguis, a market selling goods catered toward emos, goths, and punks, thrived. The space also created a rock competition in an era when the style was demonized. The building also hosted a week celebrating gay and lesbian culture in Mexico in 1987, at a time when few other places in Mexico dared to because of AIDS.

In 2006, the museum was renovated, seeing the addition of a cinema and exhibition halls. Fortunately, these changes didn’t diminish the building’s beloved architecture. The museum currently focuses on exhibitions of conceptual art.

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Added By

Mario Yair TS

Edited By

maren

  • maren

Published

October 2, 2019

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Sources
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Museo_Universitario_del_Chopo
  • https://theculturetrip.com/north-america/mexico/articles/what-makes-the-chopo-university-museum-so-special/
Museo Universitario del Chopo (Chopo University Museum)
10 Calle Dr. Enrique Gonzalez Martinez
Mexico City, 06400
Mexico
19.441947, -99.156607
Visit Website
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Nearby Places

Cine Ópera

Mexico City, Mexico

miles away

Monumento a la Revolución

Mexico City, Mexico

miles away

Biblioteca Vasconcelos

Mexico City, Mexico

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Mexico City

Mexico City

Mexico

Places 180
Stories 17

Nearby Places

Cine Ópera

Mexico City, Mexico

miles away

Monumento a la Revolución

Mexico City, Mexico

miles away

Biblioteca Vasconcelos

Mexico City, Mexico

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Mexico City

Mexico City

Mexico

Places 180
Stories 17

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