Luis Barragán (1902–88,) fully Luis Ramiro Barragán Morfín, was a Mexican engineer and architect whose serene and evocative houses, gardens, plazas, and fountains won him the 1980 Pritzker Prize, the highest award in architecture.
Born into a wealthy family in Guadalajara, Barragán attended the Escuela Libre de Ingenieros (Free School of Engineers,) taking a degree in civil engineering in 1923 and continuing his studies in architecture. Traveling in Europe, he met the French architects Ferdinand Bac and Le Corbusier, who profoundly influenced his work.
Barragán conceived new methods by which he could create what he called an “emotional architecture,” one that would promote tranquility and meditation. In 1935 he moved to Mexico City, where he developed his mature style-natural siting, dull surfaces of concrete and stucco,) water features, and the tranquil coloring. He created the El Pedregal (“The Lava”) subdivision of Mexico City and incorporated its volcanic outcroppings and other natural formations.
The Luis Barragán House and Studio or the “Casa Luis Barragán” in Mexico City’s Miguel Hidalgo district was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2004.
More: Wikipedia • READ: Works by Luis Barragan
Solitude is good company and my architecture is not for those who fear or shun it.
—Luis Barragan
Topics: Architecture
I think that the ideal space must contain elements of magic, serenity, sorcery and mystery.
—Luis Barragan
Topics: Serenity
Any work of architecture that does not express serenity is a mistake.
—Luis Barragan
Topics: Architecture