Luis Barragán House and Studio facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Luis Barragán House |
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Casa Luis Barragán
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The staircase in the reading room, one of the best known details of the house
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| General information | |
| Location | Mexico City, Mexico |
| Coordinates | 19°24′39″N 99°11′32″W / 19.41083°N 99.19222°W |
| Completed | 1947 |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect | Luis Barragán |
| Official name: Luis Barragán House and Studio | |
| Type: | Cultural |
| Criteria: | i, ii |
| Designated: | 2004 (28th session) |
| Reference #: | 1136 |
| Region: | Latin America and the Caribbean |
The Luis Barragán House and Studio, also known as Casa Luis Barragán, was the home of a famous architect named Luis Barragán. It is located in the Miguel Hidalgo area of Mexico City. Today, it is a museum where you can see Barragán's amazing work.
The house still has its original furniture and many of Barragán's personal items. This includes a large collection of Mexican art from the 1500s to the 1900s. You can see works by famous artists like Picasso, Diego Rivera, and José Clemente Orozco.
Barragán built this house in 1948, after World War II. It shows off his unique design style from that time. He lived there until he passed away in 1988. In 1994, the house became a museum. In 2004, UNESCO named it a World Heritage Site. This means it is a very important place for everyone to protect. It is a great example of modern Mexican architecture.
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History of the Barragán House
The area where the house stands was once just outside the old town of Tacubaya. Luis Barragán bought the land around 1939. At that time, he was changing his career from selling land to designing buildings. He later sold most of the land, but kept this part for himself.
Before this house, Barragán lived in a building called the "Ortega House" from 1943 to 1947. The house you see today was designed and built in 1947 for someone else. But in 1948, Barragán decided to move into it himself. He lived there until he died in 1988. During these years, he often changed the house. It was like his own personal design lab.
In 1993, the government of Jalisco state and the Arquitectura Tapatía Luis Barragán Foundation bought the house. They turned it into a museum in 1994. In 2004, UNESCO declared it a World Heritage Site. It is the only private home in Latin America to receive this honor. It was chosen because it shows 20th-century architecture that blends old and new styles. It also mixes different art ideas from the mid-1900s. Some experts even call it one of the ten most important houses built in the 20th century.
Even though it's very important, not many tourists in Mexico City know about it. It is mostly visited by architects and art lovers from all over the world.
The Museum Experience
The house was fully restored in 1995 to become a museum. The restoration cost 250,000 pesos. Money came from different groups, including the national lottery. The house itself is the main exhibit. It shows how Barragán designed spaces.
The museum still has all the original furniture and Barragán's personal belongings. This includes his large art collection, mostly Mexican art from the 1500s to the 1900s. You can see paintings by famous artists like Picasso, Diego Rivera, and José Clemente Orozco. Barragán especially liked the artist Jesús Reyes Ferreira. The house has one of his rare oil paintings. You can take guided tours, but you need to book an appointment first.
The museum is managed by the state of Jalisco, where Barragán was from. It also has a library with about 3,000 books, personal papers, and photos. The museum also works with the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education. They have created a special teaching position named after Barragán.
The museum also hosts many events. These include talks, presentations, and art shows. They present books about Barragán and his designs. They also have temporary art exhibits. Some artists who have shown their work there include Jorge Yázpk, Sofía Taboas, and Josef Albers.
In the early 2000s, the house had a special project called "El aire es azul" (The air is blue). Twenty-one international artists spent a year living in the house. They created art inspired by the house itself. Artists like Pedro Reyes and Anri Sala were part of this project.
About Luis Barragán
Luis Barragán Morfin was born in 1902 in Guadalajara, Mexico. He came from a wealthy family. He grew up on a big ranch near a small town in Jalisco. In 1925, he earned a degree in civil engineering. Then, he spent two years traveling in Europe. There, he learned about landscape design from Ferdinan Bac.
When he returned to Mexico, he started building houses in Guadalajara. Many of his designs were featured in magazines in the United States and Italy. In 1936, he moved to Mexico City. Here, he worked on developing land, including the area where his house is now. He designed projects in many Mexican cities, like Mexico City, Manzanillo, and Acapulco. His most famous work is in Ciudad Satélite.
Barragán mostly designed houses. He learned many of his design skills on his own. In 1976, the Museum of Modern Art in New York held an exhibit of his work. He also won the Premio Nacional de Ciencias y Artes, a national award. In 1980, he received the Pritzker Prize, which is a very important award for architects. Soon after, he got Parkinson's disease, which made it hard for him to work. He passed away at his home on November 22, 1988.
Barragán's designs are known for using traditional materials. He created rich, open spaces with large, flat surfaces. Unlike many other architects of his time, he used bright colors. His work still has a big impact on Mexican architecture, especially house design.
Exploring the House's Design
The Luis Barragán House is in a neighborhood called Colonia Ampliación Daniel Garza. The main entrance is on Calle General Francisco Ramírez. This is a small street near the old center of Tacubaya. Today, this area is part of the busy city of Mexico City. The Ortega house, where Barragán lived before, is right next door.
The house is made of concrete with a plaster finish. It looks very similar to the buildings around it. The walls are much taller than other houses, though. It has only a few small windows and two doors facing the street. This makes the house hard to see from the outside. The plain front doesn't give any clues about what's inside. Instead, the house faces inward, around a beautiful garden. High walls surround the garden, except on one side. People have compared the house to an oasis, with its tall walls keeping out the "city chaos."
Barragán's unique style truly shines inside the house and in the garden. He used strong, bold colors that might seem unusual together. He designed the house to use as much natural light as possible. He also created open spaces using simple geometric shapes. The house covers about 1,161 square meters. It has two floors, a roof terrace, and a private garden. The house blends modern and traditional styles. This design has influenced many gardens, plazas, and landscapes since then. The floors are not all on the same level, and rooms have different heights.
The main entrance to the studio is at number 12. But you can also get to the studio from the living room. There's also a way to enter the studio from the garden through a patio.
When you enter the house at number 14, you step into a simple, dim foyer. This small space acts as a buffer between the outside world and the quiet inside. The floor is made of volcanic stone, which continues into the entrance hall. This stone is usually used for outdoor floors, making the area feel like a patio. This leads to a vestibule with a high ceiling. Yellow light shines onto the volcanic stone floor, and one wall is painted bright fuchsia.
Past a low doorway and a screen, you enter the living room. It has a very high ceiling with wooden beams and a floor made of pine wood. The walls are white, with small doors leading to other service areas. The main window looks out over the garden. Other rooms on the ground floor include a reading room, which is also a library. There's also a dining area with a low ceiling and a fuchsia wall. This wall displays beautiful ceramic bowls from all over Mexico. Staircases and folding screens divide the spaces on this floor.
The dining room, living room, breakfast nook, and kitchen all open up to the garden. The garden has a fountain. Barragán first planned to have only grass in the garden. But he later let many plants grow freely, giving it a wilder feel. The garden is small, but it looks bigger because it borders the neighbor's garden. The windows facing this garden were moved after the house was finished. The marks from their old spots give the outside of the house a unique look. The windows were placed and moved to create the best views from inside. For example, the dining room window was moved to give a better view while sitting at the table.
Another outdoor space is the Patio de las Ollas (Patio of the Pots). This is on the west side of the building. It wasn't in the first plans. It was added later to separate the workshop from the garden. It's a small space, but it brings light and greenery into the middle of the house.
The upper floor is a more private area. It has thick wooden shutters on the windows. You reach this floor and the roof terrace by stone stairs that don't have railings. This is a common feature in Barragán's designs. The upper floor has a main bedroom with a dressing room, a guest room, and an "afternoon room." The main bedroom has a window facing the garden. Barragán called it the "white room" and slept there. It has a painting called "Anunciación" and a small folding screen. The dressing room next to the bedroom is also called the cuarto del Cristo or Christ room, because it has a crucifix. The guest room faces the street. It was originally a terrace. These bedrooms feel very simple and peaceful, almost like a monastery. This shows Barragán's Franciscan beliefs.
The roof terrace has high walls painted blood red, dark brownish-gray, and white. The floor is made of red ceramic tiles. The walls frame the sky and hide the chimney, water tank, and service stairs. It's a small lookout point where you can see the patio, observatory, chapel, and garden. The side facing the garden has a simple wooden railing.
Images for kids
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The staircase in the reading room, one of the best known details of the house
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Street view of the Casa Barragán
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Vestibule showing some characteristic features of Barragán's work: his use of natural light, geometric forms, pure colors and staircases without railings.
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The view from the garden
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Living room, with view towards the garden
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Window allows for large amounts of natural light
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Patio on the roof of the home
See also
In Spanish: Casa Luis Barragán para niños
