Luis Barragan

Foto: (cc) Pov Steve

He was born in 1902 in Guadalajara (Mexico), where he realized his professional studies and graduated as civil engineer and architect in 1925. He never obtained the official degree of architecture, due to the fact that after the graduation he left to Europe and when he returned, the Escuela Libre de Ingeniería didn’t emit degrees of architecture.

While his journey through Europe, he became very influenced with Mediterranean architecture and its gardens, especially with the Alhambra in Granada and with the Italian houses.

He started his professional career in Guadalajara, where he built some houses. These projects where lately published in many magazines in the United States, such as Architectural Record or Houses and Gardens.

After that, he moved to Mexico City, where he passed years doing residential projects, one-family houses and flat buildings mainly.

From 1940 he moved to the real estate businesses. At the same time he bought a square where he developed several gardens for sale and his own house, recognized since 2004 as World Heritage Site by the UNESCO. In this house, Barragán, developed fully his personal ideas, showing characteristics of popular architecture and also architecture from the old convents of Mexico, maintaining at the same time the expression of contemporary architecture.

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Since 1945 he included in his curriculum the labor of city-planning, collaborating in private and public projects, while he also was developing new architectonic projects, mainly residential.

In 1976, the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) showed the first big exposition about his work and published the Emilio Ambasz’s book-catalogue. This launched Barragán to the international fame. That year he also received, in Mexico, the National Sciences and Arts Award.
In 1980 he received the Pritzker Award, that was delivered twice in that occasion.

Barragán has been considered one of the main architects of the 20th Century, with lots of followers around the world.

Projects list:

1927 Robles León’s House, Guadalajara, Mexico.
1928 Aguilar’s House, Guadalajara, Mexico.
1930 Gustavo Cristo’s House, Guadalajara, Mexico.
1931 González Luna’s House, Guadalajara, Mexico.
1934 Revolution Park, Guadalajara, Mexico.
1936 Avenida de México 143 building, Mexico City, Mexico.
1937 Building in Lerma street corner with Guadiana street, Mexico City, Mexico.
1936-1940 Melchor Ocampo’s Square building, Mexico City, Mexico.
1945 Pedregal’s Gardens, Mexico City, Mexico.
1947 House in Francisco Ramírez 14, Mexico City, Mexico.
1948 House in Fuentes 10, Mexico City, Mexico.
1952 Capuchinas’s Chapel, Mexico City, Mexico.
1957-1958 Satellite City’s towers, Mexico City, Mexico. (Collaboration with Mathias Goeritz)

Foto: (cc) Felixe

1958 Las Arboledas, Mexico City, Mexico.
1963 Los Clubes, Mexico City, Mexico.
1967-1968 San Cristóbal’s square, Mexico City, Mexico.
1972 Lomas Verdes’ chapel, Mexico City, Mexico.
1979 Trade’s lighthouse, Monterrey, Mexico.

Foto: (cc) Ricardo Shuck

Hi died in Mexico City in 1988.