Celebrations at Mexico's Museo Experimental El Eco

"El Eco's story reflects Mexico's creative climate in the 1950s, when Muralism was nearing its final phase. By then, Goeritz, who arrived in Mexico in 1949, was part of the city's progressive scene. "Goeritz was a point of contact between Mexico and the European vanguards, including the Bauhaus and Spain's Altamira school," says Pablo Landa, the museum's director. "He synthesised both into a unique project.""

"In 1952, the Mexican gallerist and restaurateur Daniel Mont commissioned Goeritz to create a new venue, including a bar, giving him total creative freedom. Goeritz, primarily a sculptor, envisioned an inhabitable sculpture in which varied disciplines would coexist. The space also embodies his Emotional Architecture Manifesto (1953), centred on the emotion a space inspires, here achieved through steep angles and striking colours."

"The project did not last long. After Mont's sudden death in 1953, it was repurposed as a cabaret, bar and theatre. In 2004, the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (Unam) acquired the then-abandoned property and restored it. "Every aspect was considered," Landa says, "from the patio floor to Goeritz's exact palette, influenced by Luis Barragán, with whom he was close and collaborated on other projects.""

Museo Experimental El Eco is a distinctive 1950s building in Mexico City, marking the 20th anniversary of its reopening with new commissions and a cross-disciplinary performance. The milestone coincides with the institution's progress toward national heritage status. Mathias Goeritz arrived in Mexico in 1949 and became part of the city's progressive scene, linking Mexican and European avant-gardes. Commissioned in 1952 by Daniel Mont, Goeritz conceived an inhabitable sculpture embodying his Emotional Architecture Manifesto, using steep angles and vivid colours to provoke feeling. The project was short-lived, later repurposed, and restored by UNAM in 2004 with careful attention to original details.

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