The architectural guided tours are designed to discover and delve into the history, design and construction of the building. During the tour, participants will learn about the historical context in which the building was designed, the pre-Hispanic and contemporary architectural references on which it is inspired, as well as its materialities and construction elements that establish a dialogue with the museum's own contents and make it one of the most important works of contemporary architecture.

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About the history of the building

Rufino Tamayo wanted the enclosure that housed his art collection to be inside the Chapultepec forest because of its natural beauty and cultural importance. For his design, the artist called on Mexican architects Teodoro González de León and Abraham Zabludovsky. For the construction of the museum, the city government granted land where the Azteca Golf Club was formerly located.

The project began in 1972 and the architects visited the best museums in the world to carry out their research. The final design, inspired by the pyramidal structures of pre-Hispanic cultures, is made up of a sequence of tiered platforms, without windows or doors, that rotate at 45 degrees in relation to the central courtyard. The architects chose concrete with crushed marble for both the exterior and interior of the building. The result earned them, in 1982, the National Prize for Sciences and Arts in the Fine Arts category.

In 2011, after more than 30 years of life, the museum closed for remodeling and expansion. The project was carried out by González de León himself who, in order to enlarge the enclosure, took on the task of extending the same forms, “like the growth of a plant”. The museum reopened in 2012.