MetroABQ Blog

These sculptural buildings both stand on the National Hispanic Cultural Center campus, on 52 acres at the edge of the Barelas neighborhood in the MetroABQ’s South Valley. The Torreon, or tower, houses the largest fresco in North America, by NM artist Frederico Vigil, called Mestizijo del Mundos, or ‘World’s Mixed Races.’
Across the courtyard is a stylized Mayan Pyramid, top, which houses three art galleries surrounding a sculpture garden. The interior of the pyramid has Romanesque architectural features, below. The NHCC has a great mix of ‘hispanidad’ styles, with architectural features mimicking styles from Spain, Mesoamerica and early New Mexico.
Below is the foyer of the Intel Center for Technology and Visual Arts. Besides the Torreon, the NHCC also has three other buildings: History and Literary Arts Building, Roy Disney Center for Performing Arts, and the Education Building, which houses the Instituto Cervantes, a Spanish language learning center.