Luis Barragan Biography

Luis Barragan Biography

Early Life

Luis Barragan (1902-1988) was a famous architecture and engineer by profession who had learned architectural skills, which saw him revolutionize modern architecture with his use of bright colors. His works since then have influenced architects visually and conceptually. He stimulated interest in native architecture in places where he visited including North Africa and the Mediterranean. Luis Barragan won the Pritzker award, which is the highest award in the field of architecture in the year 1980. Luis Barragan was born in Guadalajara, Mexico and he had special abilities in planning and designing of structures which contributed to his great career in the field of architecture. Luis Barragan underwent through an engineering training at his early stages which saw him acquire a degree from Escuela Libre de Ingenieros at the age of twenty-three years. After his graduation, Luis Barragan travelled extensively to Spain and France. In 1931, he lived in Paris where he attended Le Corbusier’s lectures[1]. He then returned home where he practiced architecture at his home city in Mexico until 1936. Barragan buildings are internationally recognizable, and they are still visited by international professors and students up to date. His home, Luis Barragan House and Studio, was declared a UNESCO World Heritage

Career

Barragan had a lot of interest in his carrier where he planned and designed more than a dozen homes at his home town Guadalajara. His first building was Casa Cristo which today houses state Architects Guild[3]. His homes are near to what today is termed as Guadalajara downtown, and all these homes are just separated by a walking distance. From the interest of his career, Barragan constructed one of the most attractive homes which were declared as World Heritage site in 2004 which is captioned below[4].

Description of Important Works

Many who are familiar with Luis Barragan know him for his striking works as one of the Mexico’s most revolutionary architects. During his time, Barragan designed numerous structures some which he developed alone while in some other structures collaborated with different architects. In the year 1945, Barragan designed residential development of Jardines del Pedregal in Mexico[5]. Barragan did not just stop at this but he continued doing other works year after a year. In the year 1947, Barragan planned and designed the construction of one of his own homes[6]. This year Barragan had double projects as he also developed for the construction of Studio in Tacabaya. In the year 1955, this great architect also had some other double plans. He rebuilt the Convento de las capuctinas Sacramentaries in Tlalpan, in Mexico City.In the same year, Barragan was also involved in the planning and construction of Jardines del Basque in Guadalajara. In the year 1957 this iconic architect in collaboration with Sculpture Mathias Goeritz planned the construction of Torres de Satellite[7]. In the year 1964 Barragan was also involved with another important work which he collaborated with Joan Sordo Madaleno. This collaboration saw the two architects design the Lumas Verdes residential area building in municipality of Naucalpan in Mexico. After all these great works, Barragan was still not done with his actions. In the year 1967, he created one of his best- known works, the San Cristobal Estates equestrian development in Mexico City. All these buildings planned by Barragan are notable of their bright colors, beautiful use of light, minimalist inspires clean and flat surfaces, and water features. This kind of design places Luis Barragan as one of the most influential architects in the world who changed the world by his architectural skills. Barragan had a great attraction to horses, and one of his works is the design of a pool intended for providing horses water for drinking. Barragan is said to have been influenced by the nature of their family’s home where natural landscapes and red clay earth soil were inspiration to his architectural works. During his career time when modern architects made slabs by use concrete, Barragan used natural stones and wood to erect the slabs of his constructions. All these great works of Barragan

are shown in the images below;

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Barragan was also a great religious man. At the reception ceremony of his award for being a great architecture in the year 1980[8], Barragan donated to construct one of the most world’s recognized piece of construction. He designed the Tlapan Chapel alone, and he was involved in the construction of this magnificent building from the bottom to the top. Inside the chapel, Barragan planned a special illumination to show the relationship between the human life and destiny[9]. The Tlapan Chapel is illustrated in the image below

Luis Barragan was an architect who no architect today is capable of designing buildings as he did. The qualities of the buildings which Luis Barragan built are rarely found on today’s buildings. The buildings which Barragan constructed had color and atmosphere which were very attractive. The Mexican firm Estudio constructed by Barragan has recently been used by the president of the United States of America Donald Trump to visualize on his plan to build a wall along the country ’s border. In response to the proposal, a group of interns at the Guadalajara-base studio which is one of the Barragan’s homes came up with a conceptual design which would celebrate Mexico’s architectural heritage. The sizeable solid barrier will run several kilometers from the Pacific Ocean to the Gulf of Mexico and will be painted with bright color in memory of the great architect Barragan who was the 20th-century winner of the Pritzker prize. Barragan came out of retirement to design the Casa Gilardi for Pancho Gilardi and Martin Luque who were the owners of the advertising agency in Mexico City at that time. This was the last project which Luis Barragan designed. Barragan had designed this building for the two men so that it may function as a studio of the two men in their early twenties. Barragan arranged the property around the jacaranda tree where a courtyard separates the primary volume at the front from the areas for entertaining towards the back. Barragan worked without any recognition until the year 1975 when he was honored with a retrospective at the Museum of Modern art in New York City. The important acknowledgement of Barragan’s works came in the year 1980 when he was awarded the Pritzker prize which is a dream for every architecture.

Assessment of Significance

The works of Luis Barragan are used as references in modern architecture. There are several pieces of evidence which prove the significance of Barragan’s works and that he deserved the acknowledgement he acquired. The proofs which show the importance Luis Barragan’s works are discussed below. First, there is a film created for design video channel which gives a tour around the last house designed by the Mexican architect. This shows that Barragan’s works are still significant in modern architectural works. The original drawings by Barragan are currently on loan from the Swiss-based Barragan Foundation. The Barragan Foundation has control over the architect’s archive[10]. The presence of an archive for the iconic architect is a clear indication of the significance of his works. Early this year, an artist has created a diamond from the Barragan ’s cremated ashes campaigning for the return of his archive back to Mexico. The United States is using Luis Barragan’s works to visualize on how they can construct a wall along the border of the country. John Pawson has included several pictures of Luis Barragan’s projects. This shows that the works of Barragan have great significance in modern life in the training of young architects. Also, several professors and students still up to date visit Barragan’s projects from all over the world. His works are being used in the present architectural works because the current architects use his projects as references. Most modern architects do not apply, but the ideas which were used by Barragan’s are still being used today by the modern architects.  It has also be proved that Louis Kahn consulted Barragan in designing the Salk Institute in California. This complex is arguably the most impressive aspect of construction and Barragan’s idea was used in the design. Kahn had suggested that a garden should be included in the space between the building, but when Barragan was consulted, Barragan advised Kahn to include just the water feature between the buildings and up to today this complex is still ranked among the great architectural works on the planet. Till his Last day, Barragan was a highly rated consultant on the matters of landscape design. Both national and international architects used to consult him during his retirement about landscape design because of his ability to vision out outdoor space in relation to the surrounding environment. The influence of Barragan’s works is still present in Mexican ’s, especially in Ricardo Legorattas projects. One of the projects uses the concepts and color of the great architect Luis Barragan, and it is desirable. This project reflects the importance of the intersection of native culture and the elegant modern design. With over 30 completed works, Luis Barragan’s jobs are still an essential reference to the modern day architects.

Velonis, Kostis. “Monument for a Forgotten Education (based on Goeritz’s and Barragan’s “Torres de Satélite”, 1958).” (2016)..

Heynen, Hilde. “Genius, gender and architecture: The star system as exemplified in the Pritzker Prize.” Architectural Theory Review 17, no. 2-3 (2012): 331-345.

Júlbez, José María Buendía, Juan Palomar, and Guillermo Eguiarte. The life and work of Luis Barragán. Rizzoli International Publications, 1997.

Martínez, Antonio Riggen, and Luis Barragán. Luis Barragán: Mexico’s Modern Master, 1902-1988. Monacelli Press, 1996.

Smith, Clive Bamford. Builders in the sun: Five Mexican architects. Architectural Book Publishing Company, 1967.

Ambasz, Emilio, and Luis Barragán. The Architecture of Luis Barragan. NY: Museum of modern art, 1976.

AndA AlAnis, Enrique Xavier de, Galaor CARBONELL, Fernando CURIEL, Carlos GONZALEZ LOBO, Ramón VARGAS SALGUERO, Ignacio DIAZ MORALES, Francisco GILLARDI, and Luis BARRAGAN. “Luis Barragán, Clásico del Silencio.” Colección Somosur 6 (1989).

Lifang, W. A. N. G. “BEYOND THE FASHION── ON THE MEXICAN ARCHITECT, LUIS BARRAGAN [J].” WORLD ARCHITECTURE 3 (2000).

Eggener, Keith L. “Contrasting Images of Identity in the Post-War Mexican Architecture of Luis Barragan and Juan O’Gorman.” Journal of Latin American Cultural Studies 9, no. 1 (2000): 27-45.

Thorne, Martha, and Colin Amery. The Pritzker Architecture Prize: the first twenty years. Harry N. Abrams, 1999.

Martínez, Antonio Riggen, and Luis Barragán. Luis Barragán: Mexico’s Modern Master, 1902-1988. Monacelli Press, 1996.

[1] Heynen, Hilde. “Genius, gender and architecture: The star system as exemplified in the Pritzker Prize.” Architectural Theory Review 17, no. 2-3 (2012): 331-345.

[2] Júlbez, José María Buendía, Juan Palomar, and Guillermo Eguiarte. The life and work of Luis Barragán. Rizzoli International Publications, 1997.

[3] Martínez, Antonio Riggen, and Luis Barragán. Luis Barragán: Mexico’s Modern Master, 1902-1988. Monacelli Press, 1996.

[4] Smith, Clive Bamford. Builders in the sun: Five Mexican architects. Architectural Book Publishing Company, 1967.

[5] Ambasz, Emilio, and Luis Barragán. The Architecture of Luis Barragan. NY: Museum of modern art, 1976.

[6] AndA AlAnis, Enrique Xavier de, Galaor CARBONELL, Fernando CURIEL, Carlos GONZALEZ LOBO, Ramón VARGAS SALGUERO, Ignacio DIAZ MORALES, Francisco GILLARDI, and Luis BARRAGAN. “Luis Barragán, Clásico del Silencio.” Colección Somosur 6 (1989).

[7] Lifang, W. A. N. G. “BEYOND THE FASHION── ON THE MEXICAN ARCHITECT, LUIS BARRAGAN [J].” WORLD ARCHITECTURE 3 (2000).

[8] Eggener, Keith L. “Contrasting Images of Identity in the Post-War Mexican Architecture of Luis Barragan and Juan O’Gorman.” Journal of Latin American Cultural Studies 9, no. 1 (2000): 27-45.

[9] Thorne, Martha, and Colin Amery. The Pritzker Architecture Prize: the first twenty years. Harry N. Abrams, 1999.

[10] Martínez, Antonio Riggen, and Luis Barragán. Luis Barragán: Mexico’s Modern Master, 1902-1988. Monacelli Press, 1996.