The School of Architecture, University of Texas at Austin, has contributed more than 900 images to the Artstor Digital Library documenting two restoration projects of Mexican architectural landmarks in Oaxaca: the Templo y Exconvento de Santo Domingo de Guzmán and Teposcolula Open Chapel—elaborate reconstruction initiatives that both began in the mid-1990s.

The 16th-century Teposcolula Open Chapel is considered one of the iconic examples of a capilla abierta (open chapel)—a characteristic structure of Mexican Christian architecture where a permeable arcade rather than a closed wall links a church to its plaza, thereby accommodating greater numbers of worshippers. The nearby Santo Domingo de Guzmán, founded by Dominican friars in the 1570s, is an impressive baroque church and adjoining convent. The expansive site, built up over 200 years, features a series of cloisters and courtyards and a large sanctuary. Retablo paintings by Spanish master Andrés de la Concha are still visible inside the church.

Images in this collection were contributed to the School of Architecture’s Visual Resources Collection by José María Bilbao Rodríguez, David Alejandro García Echeverria, Benjamin Ibarra Sevilla, and José Enrique Lastra De Wit.

The University of Texas at Austin’s School of Architecture offers degree programs in architecture, architectural history, community and regional planning, historic preservation, interior design, landscape architecture, sustainable design, and urban design. The school’s Visual Resources Collection is comprised of a growing collection of digital images that support the teaching and research needs of the school’s faculty members and students.