Luis Barragan & Mexican Modernist Architecture and Space with Jennie Hirsch, Professor of Modern and Contemporary Art at Maryland Institute College of Art

This lecture presents the life and work of the late Mexican architect Luis Barragán (1902–1988). Focusing on his work in Mexico City, we will explore his home and studio complex (a UNESCO World Heritage site), his commercial projects, his work in the Pedregal neighborhood, and more. Barragán's career will be explored by considering several of his most famous structures in Mexico City. Sites discussed will include: Casa Luis Barragán (his jewel-like, home-studio complex and a UNESCO world heritage site), the Hotel Camino Real in Polanco, Casa Prieto Lopez in Los Jardines del Pedregal (an upscale modernist neighborhood that he co-developed with Diego Rivera in the 1940s), Casa Gilardi, the last residential project that completed before his death, and more. Finally, we will talk about why this architectural genius has received less scholarly attention than deserved and the fate of his archives in Switzerland. An inspiration to postwar artists such as Josef Albers, Dan Flavin, Sheila Hicks, James Casebere, Jill Magid, and more, Barragán left a remarkable legacy of visual and conceptual art projects that extend his innovative practice.

$15 fee for guests and subscribers (no fee for members)