Luis Barragan

This volume presents the crowning achievement of the architect who was awarded the Pritzker Prize in 1980: his own house, considered one of the ten most important houses of the twentieth century. Luis Barragán lived until his death in the house and studio he designed for himself. Originally built in 1947 and continually renovated by the architect, it would come to be considered his masterpiece, and one of the most important examples of modern architecture in Mexico. It was named a World Heritage Site by the UNESCO in 2004. This book offers an extensive visual tour of the house and studio, as well as the striking garden that surrounds it. Hitherto unpublished documents and images in the possession of the Fundación de Arquitectura Tapatía and other collectors place the work in the context of Barragán's time and the moment at which it was built. The entire house has been specially photographed for this volume, with meticulous attention being given to the elements of color and light, so essential to Barragán's work. The house belongs to the most creative, introspective, and original period of Barragán's career. It was the laboratory in which he developed his new architectural language. As Emilio Ambasz wrote in a text for the catalogue of the exhibition of Barragán's work at the MoMA in New York, his house is "autobiographical." This book includes three essays by experts in Barragán's work: "The House and Its Cultural Context," by Daniel Garza Usabiaga, "Architecture: A Personal Space," by Juan Palomar, and a detailed account of Barragán's library and collection of art works and objects, by Alfonso Alfaro.