Maria Antônia, as it is known, occupies the former headquarters of the School of Philosophy, Sciences, and Languages of the University of São Paulo, along with the USP Theater, in a complex of buildings classified as the city's historical heritage.

They saw the Liceu as a way to put into practice a method of teaching considered innovative, as advocated by Antônio de Sampaio Dória and Lourenço Filho.

For this, the students' daily routine included learning to read, write, and calculate, as well as developing mental practices, the ability to observe, imagine, and conclude.

[5][3] After having occupied several addresses in the city of São Paulo, such as Glete Alley, Brigadeiro Luiz Antônio Avenue and República Square, the rectory of USP acquired the buildings located at Maria Antônia Street in 1949.

The city center was seen as a university campus and the USP's School of Philosophy, Sciences and Letters was the political and cultural pole of the region.

[7] From 1949 to 1968, the time when the USP's faculty operated in the building, many of the main Brazilian personalities taught and studied at the institution, in many fields of politics, culture, and science, such as former president Fernando Henrique Cardoso, sociologist Florestan Fernandes, and many others.

[7] The building has a high cultural and political significance, because during the military dictatorship in Brazil, instated in 1964, the space was the arena of resistance of the student movement, which fought for the restoration of democracy.

[7][2] The Command for Hunting Communists group was formed by students and policemen, and some of them received military training and carried guns.

[8] During the conflict, student José Guimarães, 20, was the victim of a bullet fired from Mackenzie's premises and attributed to a member of the Command for Hunting Communists.

In 2012, the Joaquim Nabuco building, which also belonged to USP, began to host the exhibitions of the Maria Antônia University Center.

As a result, USP was once again playing an active role in the center of São Paulo, from which it had been expelled during the harshest years of the military dictatorship.

The space open to art seeks to give visibility and stimulus to artists and also to young authors, post-graduates and graduates from USP, who are responsible for producing the texts that accompany the exhibitions.

In twenty years of operation, the institution has established itself as a center of cultural reference in the city, carrying out diversified activities oriented towards a comprehensive concept of education.

The center has exhibition spaces, auditoriums and classrooms, in which it hosts modern and contemporary art shows, music presentations, film screenings, courses, seminars and debates.

[6] The restoration and renovation process started in 2002 and was in the responsibility of the company UNA Arquitetos, which sought to maintain the historical characteristics of the building.