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The Legacy of Luis Barragan Morfin in Ri PDF
The Legacy of Luis Barragan Morfin in Ri PDF
The legacy of Luis Barragán Morfin in Ricardo Legorreta and Antonio Attolini architecture.
Lucia Santa Ana
Graduate School of Architecture
Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México.
I. Introduction.
started to develop his third stage of architecture, the one by which he is mainly known in the world
around 1940 with the construction of the Ortega house and his own house in Tacubaya. Barragán
began to develop his atemporal and personal architecture, while most of the famous and known
architects of Mexico were designing buildings in international style, some others were creating
colonial Spanish houses and very few were still using the Neocolonial style.
Barragán as engineer and “foreigner”, coming from Guadalajara Jalisco, was hardly noticed by the
important architects that were building in Mexico City. He was accused of constructing
scenography “using those great walls that had no function”. Only the architects that co-worked with
him received some influence, but in general he was hardly notice at the 50’s and beginnings of 60’s.
For Barragán architecture must fulfill the spirit. He developed this concept using elements like
walls, water, vegetation, light and color; creating timeless spaces in which we can feel the passing
of time or the seasons from year. He confine space, creating “spaces within spaces” that give us
Barragán architecture get its influenced from different parts of the world; from Mexico take elements
from monasteries and vernacular houses, from southern Spain and the north of Africa takes lots of
elements from the Arabic culture and finally from France he gets a great influence from Ferdinand
Bac’s gardens. The mixture of all this elements with out living aside the international style elements
help Barragán to materialize his architecture, obtaining buildings like the Convent in Tlalpan the
In all this buildings we can see how Barragán gives worth and a new meaning to Mexican crafts,
using decorative elements like great crystal blow spheres, big clay jars (the ones use to put pulque
in), ceramic of talavera and furniture made of savin with cushions of heavy cotton cloth. This is a
really important point as in this period all this kind of decoration and architecture was despise by the
From these elements Ricardo Legorreta and Antonio Attolini start to build up their architecture, they
represent the first generation of architects from the central region of Mexico that started to develop
Ricardo Legorreta more known outside of Mexico than Attolini Lack, started working with Jose
Villagran García in 1953 where he developed buildings into the International Style. In 1960 he
establishes by himself and we can appreciate how gradually he started to change from the
international style influence architecture until he finally gets into what we can call regionalism. One
of the first works in which we can see this change of style is the Camino Real Hotel in Mexico City
The elements in Legorreta´s architecture are color, light, water and walls. With this elements
Legorreta develops his architecture. By using light and color, Legorreta creates different moods in
spaces. The sources of light can be windows or artificial sources, which gives a game between
light and shadow. The colors in his architecture vary from building to building, but generally in
Mexico he uses brighter colors in exteriors that in buildings made in foreign countries. Also bright
colors like magenta or canary yellow are used as details to emphasize an specific detail or part of
the work and can be used in inner or outer parts of the building. Legorreta’s architecture finds its
inspiration in convents, haciendas and pre-Hispanic architecture. In each building we can find
elements taken from this sources in the scheme that generates the building or in details that
In his first works Legorreta took more care in the relation of his buildings with it’s surroundings but
as he becomes more famous he start to give himself lot of concessions, letting aside environmental
conditions in the design of his work, being sometimes the formal conception what leads building’s
composition.
Along his career Legorreta has built in many different architectural genders: houses, hotels,
factories, schools, office buildings, exhibition pavilions in Mexico and in foreign countries. Also in
this regional style he has gone through two different periods the one that goes from 1968-1991 and
a second one that goes from 1991 till the present in which his son Victor becomes associate of the
architectural firm. In this second period Legorreta’s architecture starts to transform, introducing
elements like barrel vaults or domes that some times doesn’t give much to space. Also in some of
it’s projects he let aside basic functional considerations, making buildings inappropriate for the use
One of the buildings that are representative of his earlier work is the Camino Real Hotel in Mexico
City, built in 1968 for the Olympic games. In this hotel, Legorreta use Barragán elements like walls
and color, but introduces new elements and conceptions. For example he change in a successful
way scale; Barragán mostly worked domestic architecture, Legorreta on other hand has worked
domestic architecture but also has worked in great scale projects adapting and using this language
on them.
Other architectural posture that he changed with this building is the concept of hotel design, instead
of being a vertical element he made a horizontal building that surrounds courtyards that are to be
lived in and not just a contemplation spaces like in Barragán’s work. Using this concept cause
some problems like giving as result long corridors that make guests walk a considerable distances
and creates the feeling of being lost. Also with this change of scheme from traditional hotels,
Legorreta enter in some other functional problems. For instance, when you enter into the hotel
what you find first is a lobby, where there is no reception; to find the reception you have to descend
In this building Legorreta uses water but not the way Barragán has done, instead of it he creates a
fountain that resemble the movement of sea waves. This is a new concept as Barragán has only
used water to create a murmur in space. This fountain is not to be lived directly by user, as it is in
the motor lobby and you just see it from a distance. Also in this hotel Legorreta started with what
has become as a signature in his works and is the use of big decorative elements done in plaster.
In this case he use big apples, bananas and oranges at the entrance of the cafeteria. In some
other of his projects he use this elements but just as big spheres like in the Modern Art Museum in
In this building Legorreta use lot of vibrant colors, for example the entrance to the hotel is define by
a magenta screen (meshrebeeyeh) that contrast with a huge yellow wall. When we enter in the
lobby and although walls are in white plaster, the furniture, carpets and works of art are the ones
that add color to space. Also he design special spaces for works of art like a lobby where an
The concept of creating a horizontal hotel would be use by Legorreta in other hotel buildings like the
Camino Real Cancun, Camino Real Ixtapa, Club Mediterranée in Huatulco, introducing new
elements that in the last two cases allowed the buildings to merge with landscape.
IV: Antonio Attolini Lack architecture.
Antonio Attolini Lack belongs also to the first generation that received the influence from Barragán,
with which he worked just once designing some houses for a new residential area that were not
built. When he finished school he worked with an important architect of the time Francisco Artigas,
In 1955 Attolini starts his own firm, still designing in International Style with a great influence of
Richard Neutra; but is in 1968 that Attolini start to see architecture in another way with the design
and construction of the Holly Cross Church in Mexico City. Here we find the turning point in its
architecture, where he start to be conscious of what Mexico has as country in its architectural and
handcraft tradition. He started to analyze the elements of traditional architecture mainly convents
from the XVI and XVII century and the work produced by our artisans like textiles, ceramic, or
silversmith in which we can see the melting of our pre-Hispanic and Spanish tradition.
For Attolini there are two important elements in architecture, light and air. Light is obtained through
different sources like domes, courtyards or windows with views to landscape. Air is obtained by the
use of different levels in its architecture, which give us as result double height spaces in which air
can move. Colors that are important for architect are violet-blue, ochre and burn red, many of them
taken of our cultural tradition from convents. Color is only used in the exterior of buildings; the
interior is white as the architect search that the user finds peace in inner space looking at white
walls.
Attolini architecture is guided by the monachal concept of having very few elements and just the
necessary for living, which reflects on his buildings and principally, at his houses. Every element in
the building is designed by him furniture, carpets, lamps and decoration is set by the architect so he
can create a complete effect on space. He is worried with the relation of building and its
surroundings; also he considered environmental conditions to set buildings. For him the relation
between indoor and outdoor is very important, so he opens windows in specific points to create
outlooks that take advantage of the surrounding landscape. Also he uses lot water, because he
An important fact on Attolini’s architecture is that he gives different responses depending on the use
that the building is going to have. The elements he uses in buildings are different if they are for a
house than for an office building. For instance in houses he uses wood beams as structural
elements (something not very common in Mexico) but for the construction of office buildings he
For the architect the more important part is inner space, from then on everything starts to happen.
He mention that inner space is important because there is where people lives, and that when we
have a good inner space we can get a well design building in its facades. For Attolini Lack the clue
to get a good design is to believe and being convinced in what you are doing; also to learn to say
no to a client, because if you can not establish a good relation with him you are not going to get a
good building.
Attolini tries to listen to his client, to learn the way in which he lives, to give him the space in which
he can live happy by developing the activities he likes in that space. Also through his architecture
he unconsciously make that the habitants of that house start changing their way of life living with
what is just necessary to do so. Along this second stage of his career, the architect has evolved
making his architecture even more simple leaving just the space to be lived, taking away
unnecessary elements.
As it has been mention Attolini has made designs for different type of buildings and in different
scales; houses, office buildings, stores, convents, churches. Taking care in all of them in form but
also in function, resembling most of them like small jewel boxes in which through elements like split
levels and intersection of geometries we go little by little discovering spaces with different functions.
An excellent example of this is the architect’s atelier in which lots of the principles of Attolini’s
architecture are followed. The building is settle in a position in which he obstruct the view of the
neighbors house, creating the sense that the limits of the site are endless and the garden continue
farther than it really gets, also by setting in this way the building the architect can open windows in
specific places that give prospects to the inner space, creating the sensation that the outer space
The building follows the topography, allowing the architect to play with split levels, the ones that
create spaces with different heights letting also introduce light by domes in the ceiling. This levels
help to create the effect of letting see with out been seen that is increased with the play that the
Color is used but only on the exterior, which is painted in an ochre color that contrast with the green
from garden. Al the inner walls are painted in white color and just in the wall of an exterior court are
painted with a violet-blue color. This exterior court is used like a center of the lobby and is a focal
All the materials used in the construction of the building comes from Mexican building tradition,
floors are made of clay tiles, thick walls are covered with white plaster and the ceiling is form by
structural wood beams. All the decoration is made of simple furniture made in white pine and some
handmade rugs.
When we enter into the workshop we feel a sensation of peace and tranquility, this is achieved by
the use of heavy walls that conform different spaces and by the use of generous heights. It is
divided in two different parts, the working and designing area on the left side and the office of the
architect, the secretary area and an meeting room on the right area of the building. The designing
area is formed by two different sections, the drawing area and a resting area from which you can
look to the garden. The architect office as it follows the levels of the site, has two different parts,
the entrance which is a resting area with a sofa and the area where the architect receive the clients
with a big desk made of white pine and naturally varnish, a chaise long and a fire place. In this
office the architect plays with light, letting it to enter from a dome and also from windows, creating in
this way different moods in space, as in the morning the light from the dome fills the space and by
the evening when the lights are not yet turned on the glimmer from the dome creates a mysterious
atmosphere.
IV. Conclusions.
As we have seen Legorreta and Attolini start to develop their architecture into the regionalist style
by the influence of Barragán in first instance and by other influences like Manuel Parra or Mathias
Goëritz, which were looking for a new style in architecture that respond and oppose in a way to the
International Style.
Barragán in particular was a catalytic element that had allowed things to happen in Mexican
architecture, with the development of el pedregal he set the site for the building of new type of
houses based in the international style principles. On the other hand with the building of his house
and Ortega house, he called the attention on some elements that had been set aside and
depreciate by academic architects like ancient Mexican manifestations of architecture like convents,
haciendas or vernacular architecture. Barragán also help other architects to realize that the game
with light and color can create special ambience; he helped revalue Mexican crafts traditions and
In Barragán, Legorreta and Attolini we can see the influence of the International Style in their
architecture as they don’t use any ornament in architecture, they follow the principle “less is more”,
their architecture is of a great severity sometimes resembling to the Mexican convents of XVI
century.
Legorreta and Attolini use elements used by Barragán to develop their architecture, but as they
progress in their careers they let that elements to evolve in different ways and also they started to
introduce new designing elements from their personal inspiration. Attolini for example not only use
orthogonal axes, also he manage in his compositions the intersection of axes with different angles
or he mixed rectangular with circular elements in the composition of his buildings. Legorreta in
other instance, introduces new types of roofs like sloped roofs, barrel vaults or domes.
In the use of materials, they take Barragán’s materials as foundation but each of the architects start
to introduce new elements to their pallet; Attolini uses paver tiles or Spanish tile supported by
concrete beams and Legorreta uses marble floors or mosaic tiles to cover walls.
Through the play of light and color Barragán obtained mysterious and emotional spaces; Attolini
manage also this talent, creating different atmospheres as long as the day pass that goes from the
cheerful to the quiet or mysterious ambiance. But Legorreta and Attolini represents the first
generation that recovers de legacy of Barragán and recovered all the traditional values that has this
architecture in itself.
References
Ayala Alonso, Enrique, La casa en la Ciudad de México, México, Dirección General de Publicaciones del CNCA, 1996,
280 pp., ISBN 968-29-8776-8.
Montellano, Francisco, C.B. Waite, fotógrafo. Una mirada diversa sobre el México de principios del siglo XX, presentación
de Aurelio de los Reyes, México, Dirección General de Publicaciones del CNCA/Grijalbo, 1994, 224 pp., ISBN 968-29-7613-
8, ISBN Grijalbo 970-05-0565-0.
Alfaro, Alfonso, Voces de tinta dormida. Itinerarios espirituales de Luis Barragán, México, Dirección General de
Publicaciones del CNCA/Artes de México, 1996, 96 pp., ISBN CNCA 968-29- 8428-9, ISBN Artes de México 968-6533-36-2.