UNM starts $130 million rebuild of humanities building

University of New Mexico officials broke ground on Thursday, Oct. 22, for a new $130.5 million Humanities and Social Sciences building. The project replaces the original Humanities building, which opened in 1974 and was demolished in 2025 after engineers determined it had reached the end of its usable life due to structural issues and flooding.

The new structure will house eight academic departments, four interdisciplinary institutes, and the Language Learning Center. It will also feature modern, accessible classrooms. Nearly every first-year student starting on the Main Campus will take a class in this building while fulfilling their degree requirements in the humanities.

UNM President Steve Goldstein described the construction as a reflection of the university's values. "The buildings we raise tell our students, our neighbors, and the world who we are and what we hold dear," Goldstein said. He characterized the new space as a home that matches the ambitions of the faculty it will house.

State and university leaders joined the ceremony to mark the start of construction. Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, who leaves office at the end of 2026, urged for continued state investment in UNM students and faculty. "Let's keep building, shall we?" she said. Provost Barbara Rodriguez, a UNM alumna, noted that the new building will help students in fields ranging from healthcare to quantum science develop critical thinking and communication skills.

Jennifer Malat, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, emphasized that the goal extended beyond increasing square footage. "These disciplines are not a luxury," Malat said. "They are how a society remembers, questions and imagines." She added that for many students, the languages and histories studied in the building are living traditions connected to their families and neighbors.

The design, created by Studio Tsien and Albuquerque firm SMPC Architects, draws inspiration from New Mexican sites such as Acoma Pueblo and Bandelier National Monument. The building will include a Digital Humanities lab, a recording studio, and a campus living room. Faculty and staff also requested community-focused spaces, leading to the inclusion of an events area and a community kitchen for cooking and cultural celebrations.

The facility is scheduled to open in Spring 2029. It will stand on the same site where the previous Humanities building was located. The new structure aims to serve as a central hub for academic and community activities on the Main Campus.