The Origins of Urban Education in Mexico The Institute of Planning and Urbanism Directed by the Architect Hannes Meyer (1938-1941)

Abstract

The Institute of Planning and Urbanism (Instituto de Planificación y Urbanismo, IPU) was the first institution of higher learning of its kind in Mexico. Operating from 1940 to 1941, it resulted from a fruitful encounter between the Swiss architect Hannes Meyer —who residing in Mexico proved eager to implement his experiences from the German Bauhaus and Soviet urban planning— and a group of young Mexican architects committed to the social and technical orientation of their profession. In this paper a historical methodology is used to describe the nature of the program in relation to the educative program and the research works involved. It states that the IPU represented a key moment to begin planning and urbanism thinking in Mexico and that it would not have happened without the fructiferous encounter between one of the leaders of the european modernist movement (Meyer) and a new generation of Mexican arquitects (Cuevas, Yáñez, Cacho y Leduc). However, the institution had a short life, it closed a year and a half later, in the summer of 1941. This paper also points out the factors that interfered with the development of the urban field in these years. Contrary to existing studies, this article emphasizes the IPU’s achievements, the legacy for Mexican urban planning, and offers several explanations for its short existence.