Acoustic study and architectural proposals to improve acoustic comfort in a university campus of Mexico City

This study presents the results of a detailed acoustic investigation, systematized and with adequate equipment to the current regulations, carried out in an avenue of intense vehicular traffic located in front of a recently built architectural complex, based on concrete, aluminum, glass, and other materials, called the Postgraduate Unit, belonging to the National Autonomous University of Mexico. These measurements show that, in the initial design of the buildings, the most current knowledge about exterior-interior sound insulation through their facades was not considered. The data collected and the interviews conducted reveal that the Sound Pressure Levels rise, altering the Interior Acoustic Comfort, necessary for the performance of daily academic, administrative and research activities, resulting in permanent inconveniences for users, in addition to the saturation of areas, lack of adequate spaces and excessive unscheduled expenses. Paradoxically, empty spaces are observed in areas with high Sound Pressure Levels, which means that there is a certain level of architectural failure.

Download Full-text

Evaluation of the Acoustic Comfort in University Classrooms, Based on the Brazilian Technical Standard NBR 10152—Use of Noise Mapping and Acoustic Barriers to Counter Noise on a University Campus

Current Urban Studies ◽

10.4236/cus.2021.92016 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 09 (02) ◽

pp. 238-251

Author(s):

Paulo Henrique Trombetta Zannin ◽

Thomas Jefferson Vieira ◽

Andrei Rei Rodrigues Silveira

Keyword(s):

Technical Standard ◽

University Campus ◽

Noise Mapping ◽

Acoustic Comfort ◽

University Classrooms

Download Full-text

Architecture and transformation in Mexico City’s UNAM University Campus

VLC arquitectura Research Journal ◽

10.4995/vlc.2021.13028 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 8 (1) ◽

pp. 151

Author(s):

Alejandro Leal ◽

Bruno Cruz ◽

Alejandro Pérez-Duarte

Keyword(s):

Mexico City ◽

Social Aspects ◽

Housing Project ◽

University Campus ◽

Apartment Building ◽

World Heritage Sites ◽

Heritage Sites ◽

Intermediate Space ◽

Starting Point

<p>Architecture in permanent transformation is the starting point of this article, focused on the interaction between material and social aspects of a case study on modern Mexican housing, observing the building’s life in relation to its inhabitants. The Multifamily Apartment Building for Teachers (Multifamiliar para maestros), a faculty housing building at the UNAM campus, is a mid-twentieth-century experimental housing project, developed at the beginning of Mexico City´s densification. Today it is registered in UNESCO’s World Heritage Sites. The case study sheds some important insights into the transformations of a spatial modern utopia facing inhabitants' needs. Numerous differences were detected between the original idea behind the building’s architecture and the reality of its users today, revealing not only the ambiguous nature of the building but also problems derived from the country’s accelerated modernization. The results show contrasting approaches of the intermediate space between the building’s conception, and the constant process of becoming a home, where the scope of its habitability is negotiated. </p>

Download Full-text

The carbon footprint of a public university campus in Mexico City

Carbon Management ◽

10.1080/17583004.2019.1642042 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 10 (5) ◽

pp. 501-511 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Rubén Mendoza-Flores ◽

Rodolfo Quintero-Ramírez ◽

Irmene Ortiz

Keyword(s):

Mexico City ◽

Carbon Footprint ◽

Public University ◽

University Campus

Download Full-text

Soil contamination by Toxocara spp. eggs in a University in Mexico City

Revista Brasileira de Parasitologia Veterinária ◽

10.1590/s1984-29612012000300022 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 21 (3) ◽

pp. 298-300 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Carlos Antelmo Celis Trejo ◽

Camilo Romero Núñez ◽

Adelfa del Carmen García Contreras ◽

Germán Eduardo Mendoza Barrera

Keyword(s):

Soil Contamination ◽

Mexico City ◽

Zinc Sulphate ◽

Soil Characteristics ◽

Soil Samples ◽

University Campus ◽

Egg Viability ◽

Negatively Associated ◽

Zinc Sulphate Solution ◽

Contamination Levels

The contamination levels of Toxocara spp. eggs in soil samples from a university campus in Mexico City were evaluated and analysed according to garden size, and were related with the percentage of Toxocara spp. eggs and its viability according to the soil characteristics. A total of 1458 soil samples collected in 15 gardens (six large and nine small) were analysed by sedimentation-flotation with zinc sulphate solution on at 33%. Contamination was low (12.9%), and egg viability was high (65.5%). The size of the garden had no influence on the presence and viability of Toxocara spp. eggs. Contamination was negatively correlated with the percentage of vegetation (r = -0. 61, P < 0.01) and the viability was negatively associated with the percentage of clay in the soil samples (r = -0.51, P < 0.04). The size of the garden did not influence the presence and viability of Toxocara spp. eggs.

Download Full-text

CO2 variability in the Mexico City region from in situ measurements at an urban and a background site

10.20937/atm.52956 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Eugenia González del Castillo ◽

Noémie Taquet ◽

Alejandro Bezanilla ◽

Wolfgang Stremme ◽

Michel Ramonet ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mexico City ◽

Growth Rates ◽

Urban Areas ◽

Layer Growth ◽

Dry Season ◽

University Campus ◽

City Region ◽

Air Masses ◽

Long Term Trends

Urban areas are important contributors to the increase of global CO2levels due to human activities, but continuous records of CO2concentration in cities are scarce, especially in the developing world. In this study we present five years of simultaneous, in-situmeasurements at a university campus in the south of Mexico City (UNAM) and at a high-altitude station, the Altzomoni atmospheric observatory (ALTZ), 60 km apart from the first site. The characteristics of the daily cycles, seasonality, and long-term trends were extracted from both time series. The features of the daily and seasonal cycles at UNAM are dominated by the dynamics of the boundary layer growth, while the seasonality at Altzomoni is determined by both the local meteorology and the photosynthetic activity of the vegetation. Annual CO2 growth rates of 2.4 and 2.6 ppm yr-1 were estimated for UNAM and Altzomoni, respectively, in close agreement with reported global growth rates and with previous estimates of total column CO2trends. The simultaneous monitoring at the urban and the mountain sites revealed a regular exchange of air masses between the city and its vicinities. The annual cycle at UNAM shows a secondary CO2maximum at the end of the dry season likely due to incoming air parcels enriched with emissions from agricultural burnings. Likewise, the daily CO2cycle at ALTZ during the dry season shows evidence of a daily afternoon arrival of polluted air masses from the neighboring urban areas. This study lays the foundation of an upcoming expansion in the CO2measurement sites and capabilities in the metropolitan area of Mexico City.

Download Full-text

Pani Darqui, Mario (1911–1993)

Routledge Encyclopedia of Modernism ◽

10.4324/9781135000356-rem1288-1 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Ivonne Santoyo-Orozco

Keyword(s):

Mexico City ◽

Early Career ◽

Urban Transformation ◽

University Campus ◽

Housing Projects ◽

Yacht Club ◽

National School ◽

The University ◽

Contemporary Architecture ◽

Huge Variety

Mexican architect Mario Pani spent his formative years between Belgium, Italy, and France due to his father’s diplomatic posts. After graduating from the Écoles des Beaux-Arts (1934), he returned to Mexico just prior a period of massive urban transformation in Mexico City. During his first decades in Mexico, Pani worked intensively to establish his career, quickly winning his first commissions, perhaps the most important of which was the Hotel Reforma (1936), which Pani controversially took over from Carlos Obregón Santalicia. Indeed, his early career in Mexico saw him actively participating in many competitions against the most renowned architects of his time. In 1938 he founded the magazine Arquitectura/México (1938–1979) not only to disseminate contemporary architecture in Mexico but also to republish material from international magazines. Over the course of his career, Pani designed a huge variety of projects. These included educational buildings, such as the National Conservatory of Music (1946), the National School of Teachers (1947), and his famous Rectory Building in Mexico City (1952); touristic complexes such as the Acapulco Yacht Club (1955); administrative centres like CondominioAcero in Monterrey (1959); and urban plans such as the Medical CenterMasterplan (with Jose Villagran Garcia, 1942), the University Campus of the National Autonomous University (with Enrique del Moral, 1952), among many others. However, Mario Pani is more commonly remembered for his housing projects.

Download Full-text