Introduction

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The greatest lesson was given to us by the Aztecs and Mayas' old towns, the perfect architectural example of an urban ensemble, where the pyramidical temples, piazzas and holy courtyards meet in such convincing synthesis of order and space relations. These are perhaps the world's best examples of comprehensive urban design.

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The main architectural problem of the proposed campus was whether we should have centralisation or dispersion. Reviewing trends abroad of other universities, we agreed with the professors that, in view of the local conditions and customs, and the site's topography and environment, the layout of the campus proper should be as compact as possible, while the halls of residence and staff quarters would be placed at some distance from the campus.

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We proposed to make the buildings self-protecting against the monsoon rain and the intensive sun and glare by cantilevering the floors one over another. The humanities building was designed accordingly as a series of reverse pyramids along a climatic and functional utility principle. The widest upper floors consisted of spacious lecture rooms, on the middle floors were the less spacious seminar rooms, and on the lowest floors were the offices and laboratories. This solution proved useful and efficient, because all the continuous openings protected by simply turning glass louvres are, de facto, open and they catch breezes along the whole elevation line. At the same time they are protected from sun and rain by the cantilevering terraces.

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While clearing the bush, we strove to preserve the wooded sites with their beautiful trees. We worked at first with hundreds of farmers and labourers, who understood our approach that trees should be saved. Then the contractors' bulldozers arrived, and alas, modern technology was in some places victorious over our architectural intentions. On the whole however, the university's natural landscape in and around the campus was saved and integrally connected with the new gardens and buildings.

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