Museo Universitario del Chopo

The Museo Universitario del Chopo is a temple of iron and glass turned contemporary cultural center, housed in a spectacular Art Nouveau pavilion in the Santa María la Ribera district. Its twin steel towers and vast glazed hall make it one of Mexico City's most distinctive buildings.

The structure was prefabricated in Germany and assembled in Mexico in the early twentieth century, originally intended as an exhibition hall. For a time it held a natural history museum, its great nave filled with dinosaur skeletons, before becoming part of the National Autonomous University and reopening as a museum of contemporary art and youth culture.

Today the Chopo is known for its experimental spirit. Its programming embraces performance, alternative music, photography, fashion and the visual arts, and it has long been associated with the city's underground and countercultural scenes. The soaring interior, with exposed rivets and filtered daylight, lends itself to bold installations that would overwhelm a conventional gallery.

The building itself is the main attraction for many visitors, a rare surviving example of industrial-age iron architecture in Latin America, beautifully restored with a modern extension. It sits in Santa María la Ribera near the historic geology museum and the Morisco Kiosk, so the three make a rewarding architectural circuit. Reaching it is easy by Metro, and admission is modest. Rotating exhibitions mean there is usually something new to see, and a small shop and café round out a visit of an hour or two. The neighborhood has grown more lively and creative in recent years, and the temperate, dry season from November to April is the most comfortable time to explore both the museum and its surrounding streets on foot.