barragan + rothko : color + solitude

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.

no longer emotionally detached

i have been the worst.  so for all you readers out there who check in with me and for cw, i vow to be a better blogger.    to get back in the game, a quick post linking to the most humerous blog of the moment, unhappy hipsters– mocking the trend toward emotionally detached models in architectural photography, unhappy hipsters give a voice to these upwardly mobile yet marginalized “dwell“ers.

caption left : He tried to focus on the novel, and not how much his bedroom reminded him of a plywood coffin. [photo: dwell magazine, november 2009]

caption right : Not on the grass, Sweetie. Never. On. The. Grass. See how much fun Daddy is having? [photo: jack thompson, dwell, october 2009]