recently, i’ve been looking at the work of luis barragan (1902-1988) and i am completely into his extraordinary sense for color which he executed in massive, saturated architectural planes. considered the most important mexican architect of the 20th century, he uses color and light to define spaces that are both minimal and spiritual. barragan once said, only in intimate communion with solitude may man find himself. solitude is good company and my architecture is not for those who fear or shun it. his work and his belief’s are reminiscent of the work of the abstract expressionist, mark rothko. also active in the mid 1900s, rothko’s color field paintings evoke a similar spiritual feeling. i have experienced standing in front of many of rothko’s life-size canvases and would now love to visit some of barragans. simply stunning …..
barragan, barragan house, tacubaya, mexico city, 1940-43.
mark rothko, untitled, c.1950-52, tate modern london.
barragan, chapel in tlalpan, mexico city, 1954-60.
mark rothko, orange and yellow, 1956.
barragan, cuadra san cristobal, los clubes, mexico city, 1954-60.
mark rothko, white center, 1950. private collection.
barragan, galvez house, chimalistac, mexico city, 1955.
mark rothko, untitled, 1953, national gallery of art.
barragan, gilardi house, chapultec, mexico city, 1975.
mark rothko, earth and green, 1955.
This entry was posted on 02.28.2010 at 5:26 pm and is filed under architecture, art.
Tags: abstract expressionism, architecture, art, color field, luis barragan, mark rothko, mexico
seeing . hearing . speaking 
06.19.2017 at 12:00 pm
this is an old post, so my comment probably wont be seen, but I can say that I just visited mexico city (with a group of architects), and had the great fortune of walking through casa Barragan. it is a holy experience to say the least. moving, smart, incredibly high level of architectural thinking yet completely accessible.
09.25.2012 at 9:12 am
Reblogged this on form analysis.
07.06.2012 at 2:43 pm
incredible !
03.03.2010 at 3:49 pm
One of my dad’s friends told me once this story about their family trip to mexico city:
They had a chance to visit one of Barragan’s houses (yes, he was an architect as well). while they were walking around the rooms and all of a sudden, his 6 year old daughter (back then) started sobbing it the famous ‘pink room’. Dad asked her if anything was wrong, and she replied with smile in tears that it was so beautiful.
I say that’s the real art which can deeply move a pure soul.