On March 9, PRAGMATIKA.MEDIA collected five of his most iconic projects in honor of the anniversary of the artist's birth.
Casa-Estudio Luis Barragán, Mexico City, 1948
The concrete two-story studio house was built mainly in the Mexican architectural style, with bright color schemes influenced by the artists Rufino Tamayo and Jesus Reyes Ferreira. The rough walls of the facade are very similar in color and structure to the walls of neighboring buildings. The center of the interior is the garden. The house is sometimes compared to an oasis behind high walls, which does not allow the chaos of the city to enter. Luis Barragan lived in this house until his death in 1988. Later, the building was turned into a museum and has the status of a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Tlalpan Chapel, Mexico City, 1953
Luis Barragan, a devout Catholic, not only agreed to develop a project to expand the Capuchin chapel and monastery for free, but also financed part of the construction. The work took seven years to complete: the chapel was opened in 1960. The architect designed every detail, down to the priest's vestments, in an attempt to give shape to abstract ideas about faith and human destiny. The project's features include the expressive nature of materials and colors, an amazing play of light and shadow.
"Torres de Satélite, Nacalpan, 1958
In 1957, due to the growing urbanization of Mexico, a satellite city of Mexico City, Ciudad Satellite, was founded. The Mexican urban planner Mario Pani, who designed the new city, invited Luis Barragan to make a kind of "front door" to it. Barragan invited two of his friends to participate: the sculptor Matthias Gehritz and the painter Jesus Reis Ferreira.
The result of their joint work was the Torres de Satélite, which are colorful towers in the form of triangular prisms (the tallest is 52 meters, the shortest is 30 meters). The towers are set in the middle of a wide avenue and have become a symbol of the main entrance to Ciudad Satélite. The Torres de Satélite were used as the official emblem of the 1968 Olympic Games.
San Cristóbal Stables in Mexico City (Cuadra San Cristóbal), 1968
The San Cristobal Stables are part of the Los Cubles complex, which was designed by Luis Barragan in 1968. The complex has two ponds: a small one in front of the house for people, and a large one with a fountain in the yard for animals to drink from. It is assumed that a rider can go down into this pond on horseback to the sound of water falling from the aqueduct. The Los Cubles project combines elements of modernism and traditional Mexican architectural features. Calm shades contrast with bright colors - terracotta, shining white, bright pink.
Casa Gilardi in Mexico City, 1975-1977
Luis Barragan returned to work after taking a well-deserved vacation to design Casa Gilardi for Pancho Gilardi and Martin Luque, owners of an advertising agency in Mexico City. The building was designed to function as both a workspace and a bachelor pad.
The architect positioned the house around an old jacaranda tree that grew in the middle of the plot. A patio separates the main part in front from the entertainment area in the back. As in many of the architect's projects, color plays a significant role here. The bold shades are based on paintings by the same Jesus Reyes Ferreira and should be updated every few years to avoid fading.
