The great architect Luis Barragán, at 80 years of age, and after almost 10 years of inactivity, carried out his last work on a plot of land measuring 10x36 meters, between party walls in Mexico City. A work that reflects the influence of Mexican culture and painters Diego Rivera and Frida Kalho, where the most interesting thing, according to Barragán, was the challenge of the enormous jacaranda tree that had to be maintained, and the pool requested by the owner as part of the program.
The small pink house, which closes towards the street, reinforcing its interiority, is ordered on the longitudinal axis of the plot. Towards the back, the house is divided into two; the front volume, which contains the services and bedrooms, and the back, where the living room, dining room, and pool are located. These two volumes are joined by a corridor, forming a patio that surrounds the Jacaranda tree.
As in all of Barragán's architecture, all spaces offer a multitude of sensations, through games of light, color, distribution, and architectural elements, such as the staircase without a railing that seems to levitate under a zenithal light. A yellow light that passes through small vertical openings floods the corridor that leads to a minimalist space with a water mirror next to the dining room, where a red-painted wall supports the skylight.
This is the space with the most games, where the floor is divided in two, leaving the dining room on the edge of the water mirror, the red wall sinks into the water, and the skylight in the background, providing constant changes of light during the day.
In this house, colors become an important part, especially the red and blue walls, inspired by a painting by Chucho Reyes. "Chucho Reyes had an excellent eye for color. He dedicated his life to beautiful things. He didn't understand plans, but he helped me with color. The color of Mexican markets... the color of Mexican sweets... of candies... the beauty of a rooster. We placed colors for the Gilardi house by painting large cardboard sheets in my house, stacking them one after the other on the walls, moving them around, playing with them until we decided on the exact colors. I'll tell you a secret: the pool has a pink wall or column that doesn't support anything. It's a piece of color placed in the water, for pleasure, to bring light to the space and improve its original proportion."
Being a house between party walls, the architect decided on a structure of load-bearing walls, which support the subdivided grid, where the different spaces are inserted. To achieve the sensory effect of light, the interior walls are plastered with very smooth finishes, so that light can flood the spaces without interruptions, making this work perhaps the most paradigmatic of Barragán.
Architect: Luis Barragán
Location: Tacubaya, Federal District, Mexico
Year of Project: 1976
