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Starting with 40 students in a rented home, UFM was able within a decade, to buy 40 acres in the center of the city. On this semi-abandoned land, reclaimed from sewage and trash, in that violent and beautiful capital, a serene campus emerged. Its curving brick buildings, dripping with greenery, grand old trees, and meandering walking paths, formed a peaceful oasis of academic freedom.
George Gilder
Life after Google
American investor, author, economist, and cofounder of the Discovery Institute
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Constructing buildings
that contribute to the UFM mission
Spaces that allow students to make the most of their potential and learn about the ideas of freedom.
UFM creates learning experiences that enable students to realize their potential and empower them to take on the responsibility for their own acquisition of knowledge. They create concrete situations, where the student actively poses questions, engages in further readings to develop rational capacities, collaborates with others, solves problems through creative thinking, and assumes responsibility for the learning process. They challenge them to take the initiative, make decisions, and be accountable for results.
In this way, over the years, the campus has adapted to interdisciplinary education, which is creating new and innovative ways for students to learn. Spaces have been created for discussion and teamwork, the latest technology has been made available so that students can play a pivotal role in their university intellectual growth process.
There are various experiential learning methodologies, such as problem-based learning, case-based learning, project-based learning, cooperative learning, clinical practice, simulations, etc. Buildings and spaces are critical for this learning process. UFM needs to create adequate spaces; laboratories, workshops, studios, clinics, kitchens, coworking spaces, and even gardens, among others, to design and deliver knowledge, and develop skills.
Manuel F. Ayau
Speech During the Inauguration of the Academic Building
April 1987
Muso Ayau Library
With the construction of this 4-story building at the heart of the campus UFM will ensure that future generations learn the legacy of Muso—the man whose spirit is the heart of UFM’s story.
UFM has been spreading the ethical, legal, and economic principles of a society of free and responsible persons for more than 50 years. To celebrate such an important mission, they are building the Muso Ayau Library, in memory of the innovator, rebel, and first president of this university.
The project is for a four-story building in which spaces for reading and dialogue will converge, and where the ideas of freedom can take shape and be disseminated. The building is designed to encourage dialogue and seek solutions to today’s problems. Inside, a special space will be dedicated to Muso´s private library, which contains his books and writings, a source of inspiration for those who follow his ideas.
With Muso Ayau´s Library UFM intends to narrate their past, communicate their present, and keep their principles alive as embodied in the UFM mission.