A modernist who welcomed the emotional landscape into his architectural designs, Luis Barragán created modern homes as sanctuaries for communing with the self. Rather than echo the approach of the Bauhaus and International styles, which touted a stripped down essentialist functionalism (Le Corbusier calling the house, “a machine for living”), Barragán instead turned to the richness of traditional Mediterranean and Mexican homes, marrying those aesthetics with his mix of minimalist planes, shapes, and lines, maximalist color, nature’s presence, and his own take on sensuality and the spiritual.

Luis Barragán at his project Cuadra San Cristobal — Photo via laeramainstream.com

A self-taught architect trained as an engineer, Barragán, born in 1902 in Guadalajara, Mexico, was raised in the city, as well as at his family’s ranch home in the countryside. There, he met the raw brilliance of the sun, its play of shadows throughout the day, and the colors and textures of pueblo life. These elements all later found their way into his architectural designs, where he alchemized them into the aesthetic he’s known for.

Barragán’s houses, which celebrate beauty, serenity, silence, and solitude are intended to be places of refuge from the outside world. Oases of monastic calm and introspection, they’re often set behind anonymous exteriors that reveal nothing of their richness inside. Like nesting dolls, protective walls envelop what is within, so those within can in turn envelop themselves. It is architecture as poetry, for life as a poem.

In his twenties, Barragán traveled throughout Paris, Spain, and Morocco, where he encountered French modernist architect Le Corbusier’s work, the French landscape designer Ferdinand Bac’s philosophies, and the Moorish architecture of the Alhambra, all which made lasting impressions on him. Returning to Mexico, he delved into architecture, first designing Spanish style homes locally in Guadalajara, and then more modernist creations in Mexico City after he moved to the capital in 1936. Initially exemplifying a strong Corbusian influence, by the 1940s, he was well into his own modern style, informed not by any formal education, but feeling and intuition.

In his homes, Barragán crafted the spatial experience through the use of volume, perspective, and light, orchestrating an internal progression that he called, “architectural striptease” (- The New Yorker).

Indirect light in hallway by modern architect Luis Barragán — Photo by David Wakely via blog.bolon.com

Visual texture was added with latticework, ribbon windows, the graphic zigzag profiles of stairs, color, antiquities, folk arts, and nature (the inspiration to incorporate indigenous folk arts into his designs came from his friend Chuco Jesus Reyes, who was also instrumental in the research of traditional dye methods, that resulted in the colors Barragán used in his homes).

Gardens were not afterthoughts in his designs, but necessities that enhanced the sense of seclusion, and added beauty, an element he prized not for its superficial qualities, but spiritual. These outdoor spaces would often include plaza-like expanses, where horizons multiplied through sky and water, and fountains added nature’s dynamism. On rooftop terraces, the sky became a ceiling that directed down the shadows he felt were “a basic human need” (- The New Yorker).

Minimalist modern rooftop terrace with peach walls & shadows at Casa Pedregal by modern architect Luis Barragán — Photo by salva lopez via openhouse-magazine.com

Barragán was a real estate investor and developer, as well as architect and designer, and he purchased several plots of land on which to realize his own work. Unintimidated by out-of-the-way locations or challenging environments, his homes became desirable places and aspirational locales.

Some of his most well known projects include:

Casa Ortega:

Built around 1942 in Tacubaya, Mexico, in today’s Hidalgo District of Mexico City (originally a separate nearby working class town), this house was designed as a home for himself, and he lived in it until 1947, when he sold it to the Ortega family. The project was a chance to test out what would later become his trademark architectural style, with interiors and gardens of varying elevations and volumes, an Alhambra-like aesthetic, and a modernist use of space. The terraced gardens have a rambling feel created through hidden paths, sculptures, and stairs.

Jardines del Pedregal & Casa Pedregal:

Casa Pedregal & lava garden landscape design by modern architect Luis Barragán — Photo via brit.co

An early and especially visionary development project of Barragán’s was the residential subdivision he created between 1947 and 1950 on 850 acres of rocky lavascape (purchased with friend and realtor José Alberto Bustamante) on the southern edge of Mexico City, called Jardines del Pedregal de San Ángel. This avant-garde idea envisioned an exclusive community of elegant modern homes built around the lava landscape that was created centuries before by the nearby Xitle volcano.

With the goal of these homes co-existing with and celebrating their environment, Barragán minimized his impact on the terrain by carefully excavating building sites, rather than leveling them completely, and the organic variations in the topography informed how he designed his homes, i.e., where the landscape was higher or lower, so too would be his floors.

One of the most iconic houses in the Jardines del Pedregal project is Barragán’s Casa Pedregal (Casa Prieto-Lopez), which features peachy coral pink walls, views of the lava gardens, simple modernist lines, a sleek backyard swimming pool, Mexican crafts in the decor, and elegant moody interiors. Set against the sharp, rocky outcroppings outside, his smooth minimalist shapes and planes complement, while contrasting with the natural landscape.

Modernist minimalist door & peach colored wall at Casa Pedregal by modern architect Luis Barragán — Photo via ariellevey.com

Casa Barragán:

Barragán’s own house, Casa Barragán, was his home for forty years, and where he lived from 1948 until his passing. It’s located directly next door to his Casa Ortega in the Tacubaya neighborhood of Mexico City, and is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, as well as a museum run by the State of Jalisco and the Fundación de Arquitectura Tapatía Luis Barragán.

Colors and light meet in his play with volumes and transitions, as narrow low ceilinged passageways spill into spacious, light filled, open volume interiors accented with bold pinks and yellows.

Interior room at Casa Barragán by modern architect Luis Barragán — Photo by Charles Avignon via zenstandcuriousity.com

The peaceful environment emanates a vibrant, intentional calm. Catholic iconography encourages a chapel feeling, while floating stairs add a taste of danger and illusion, as they seemingly float untethered.

All of the rooms look out on the garden, and the living room brings the outdoors inside with a wall sized floor to ceiling window.

Jacaranda tree, purple flowers & outdoor dining table at Casa Barragán by modern architect Luis Barragán — Photo by Nin Solis via nytimes.com

On the rooftop terrace, dignified angles and sculptural edges rise up to meet the sky that’s framed by these planes and colors.

Modernist roof terrace with pink & peach colored walls at Casa Barragán by modern architect Luis Barragán — Photo via archeyes.com

Capilla de las Capuchinas Sacramentarias del Purisimo Corazon de Maria Tlalpan:

Barragán designed this chapel and garden over three years, from 1952-1955, and then bequeathed them to a reclusive order of Franciscan nuns in Tlalpan, near Mexico City. Bathed in golden yellow light, his minimalist modern design has a rich simplicity and moving, peaceful feeling. Yellow walls, yellow glass, warm wood tones, natural light, and a golden triptych by artist Mathias Goeritz are accented by the visual texture of rays of light piercing through a lattice work design.

Las Arboladas:

Dedicated to the equestrian lifestyle, this residential subdivision created in 1957 takes the modernist planes and landscapes of his private homes, and turns them into customized pathways and water troughs for horses, accented with fountains, pools, and his trademark use of color.

Torres de Satellite:

Built in 1958 as a design collab with artist and sculptor Mathias Goeritz, the Torres de Satellite are a massive grouping of stele-like sculptures in Mondrian-like hues, that stand between 100 and 165 feet tall, amidst waves of traffic in northern Mexico City. Originally commissioned to promote the new housing development, Ciudad Satellite, it was one of several public projects Barragán took on in his professional career.

Los Clubes, Egerstrom House & Cuadra San Cristóbal Stables:

Built between 1963-1964, Los Clubes was another residential subdivision, for horses and lovers of the equestrian lifestyle, that Barragán designed in Mexico City.

The pool at Cuadra San Cristobal by modern architect Luis Barragán — Photo via erikacarlock.com

The Egerstrom House and San Cristóbal stables sit on 7.5 acres within the Los Clubes community, and were built for the Egerstrom family between 1966-1968 (a collaboration with architect Andres Casillas). Designed around stables for breeding thoroughbred race horses, the property features a wide open plaza with pools, fountain, and walls of color.

Horse & rider, fountain, pool & colored walls at Cuadra San Cristobal by modern architect Luis Barragán — Photo by Rene Burri / Magnum via thenewyorker.com

Casa Gilardi:

Casa Gilardi, a townhouse built in 1977 in the San Miguel de Chapultepec neighborhood of Mexico City, was the last project Barragán saw to completion before his passing, eleven years later in 1988. Unlike some of his more anonymous façades, this house brings his love of color to the exterior.

Built around a jacaranda tree, the purple blossoms match a purple wall, and stand out against a pink one.

The colorful modern design & courtyard of Casa Gilardi by modern architect Luis Barragán — Photo by angiemcmonigal.com

Barragán’s experiential play with volumes and light is found here again, in the enclosed entry hall that emerges into a bright open-volume space. In this room, natural light filters down from above, and a version of his floating stairs rises up to the second floor. More weighted and grounded than his airiest version, it still lacks handrails of any kind, ensuring a sense of danger and weightlessness.

Modern staircase without bannister at Casa Gilardi by modern architect Luis Barragán — Photo via archeyes.com

Upstairs, yellow ribbon windows bathe a hallway in golden light. At the end glows a blue room with colorful vertical planes and shafts of light intersecting a pool of water. This is home as art, and the culmination of all of Barragán’s work using light, shadow, color, serenity, stillness, and emotion.

Barragán was the subject of a solo MOMA exhibition in 1976, and in 1980 was awarded the second ever Pritzker Prize. He passed away eight years later, at the age of 86, at home, at Casa Barragán.

Photos courtesy of The New York Times ,nytimes.com, thenewyorker.com, archdaily.com, phaidon.com, medium.com, Adriana Zehbrauskas, Nin Solis, Rene Burri, Magnum, somethingcurated.com, revistacentral.com.mx, archeyes.com, admagazine.com, afrenchinmexico.com, angiemcmonigal.com, lydiatravels.com, tomfaulkner.co.uk, thenotsoinnocentsabroad.com, erikacarlock.com, mxcity.mx, gp4estacoes.com.br, archeyes.com, Charles Avignon, zenstandcuriousity.com, apassionandapassport.com, perdiem.world, jorgediegoetienne.com, salva lopez, openhouse-magazine.com, ariellevey.com, brit.co, ortegamexico.com, esotericsurvey.blogspot.com, lifestyle.inquirer.net, pinterest.com, gravelmag.com, dwell.com, architectureandwonder.com, David Wakely, blog.bolon.com, and laeramainstream.com.

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