Fall In Love With Mexican Architecture

Interiors and Architecture

11 May

Written By Emily Klein

Luis Barragan

This is an incredibly stunning video shows a dance troupe twist and move through Luis Barragan’s Casa Gilardi. “When we began shooting, magic started to happen. Light burst in through the window and the dancer’s bodies started to flow in a way I had not anticipated.” Director Andres Arochi.

Iconic Mexican architect Luis Barragan’s Casa Gilardi—an iconic modernist house in Mexico City—hosts a body-bending dance troupe who twist and move through the geometric building’s colorful spaces and rooms. Director Andres Arochi explains his interest in experimenting with the physicality of Barragan’s architecture: “I wanted to play around with and explore the architect’s design. He knew exactly when and where people stand, and how the combination of light and space makes them feel.” Continuing, he notes that: “When we began shooting, magic started to happen. Light burst in through the window, and the dancer’s bodies started to flow in a way I had not anticipated.”

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Ricardo Legoretta (1931 - 2011)

“His spaces are imbued with warm textures and colours, with natural materials like terracotta, wood and textiles, and with refined details displaying indigenous craftsmanship; all delicately balanced between austerity and generosity.”
Louise Noelle Gras

A protege of Luis Barragan, Ricardo also employed bright colours, thick masonry walls and sharply incised facades that created dramatic shadow patterns in the bright Mexican sun.

Legorreta was often regarded as playing a part in “rescuing” the Mexican architectural identity, bringing back the “culture of the wall”, replacing empty spaces with solid forms and using of colour to frame space.

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Reyes Rios & Larrain

The Reyes Rios + Larrain Studio of Architecture and Design is located in the north of Mexico in Merida, Yucatan. Founded by architect Salvador Reyes Rios and Josefina Larrain Lagos, their award-winning work has established the standard for colonial remodeling and hacienda restoration in Mexico.

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Images courtesy of Marcelo Troché, Pim Schalkwijk

Juan O’Gorman (1905 - 1982)

An architect and artist, O’Gorman was responsible for the creation of Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo’s studio located in Mexico City. Consisting of twin houses connected by a bridge, featuring exposed concrete slabs, bold colours and a cactus fence. Casa Estudio Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo was “widely considered to be the first functionalist house in Latin America”.

Later in life, rejecting Functionalism and inspired by Frank Lloyd Wright, O’Gorman built “The Organic House” combining his love of muralism and architecture. The facade was covered in pre-hispanic figures with a cave-like interior. Unfortunately it was demolished in 1969.

Jose de Yturbe

Another protege of Luis Barragán, the work of Jose seeks to express

"the dialogue between the site and the building, the changing daily echo between light and shadow, the light modulated by shutters, the naive color of the small town walls, a view encountered, House in Valle de Bravo. The shadow of a pergola that betrays time, the serene, the gentle and austere, where 'less is more'."

Magui Peredo & Salvador Macías

Magui Peredo and Salvador Macías founders of the award-winning Macias Peredo Studio in Guadalajara Mexico embrace the art of handcrafted that is intrinsic to Mexican culture providing sustainable opportunities for the local artisans. They explain here;

“much of the construction activity is still closely linked to manual work. In fact, today craft and hand working are considerably common in the population of Mexico.”