Casa Luis Barragán is so spectacular in its design that to walk through it in person feels like a divine experience.

 

Visiting Casa Luis Barragán was a highlight of my year. The architect was a favorite discovery while in design school. His sparse monastic spaces and bold colors left an impression on me. So many years since the feeling has not left. It was only amplified by standing within his home.

Master of scale.

Mexican architecture feels indestructible with its hard surfaces and large scale. It feels protective. It feels dramatic. Barragán’s house is both. He used scale brilliantly. The overall ceilings are tall but shorter walls within divide up spaces for more intimacy while allowing light to penetrate to the interior. Bookshelves, screens, furniture are all lower to relate to human scale. A strong objection I have to so many newer homes is their scale. Ceilings and door openings are oversized. Nothing is brought down to human scale leaving the occupant with the uncomfortable feeling of being vulnerable.

Barragán uses strong color on certain walls but overall the interior is made up of neutrals. A range of textures- rush seating, parchment lampshades, wood grain, textured plaster walls add enough interest that color is not missed.

A small interior study separates the living room from a library.

Barragán’s lamps are perfect. So simple but wonderfully proportioned. Sometime I hope to recreate them in a ceramics class.

He painted the underside of the steps white to enhance the feeling of them floating upwards.

An upstairs sitting room. Artwork by a favored artist, Mathias Goeritz.

Music and religion.

Barragán’s bedroom. From the numerous crucifixes one can see that he was a very spiritual person.

Opposite of his bed is a painting of the Annunciation contrasted with a triptych of the model Iman.

Music was made available in most rooms. He is known for this simple furniture with block knobs.

Another crucifix in the landing. The set of three drawers on the left symbolizes Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Mirrored balls are placed in each room in order to reflect the walls.

The colorful stairwell leading to the roof top terrace.

On the terrace he wanted one to be able to complemplate. The surrounding buildings are not  visible, only the sky.

There are two dining rooms in the house. The dining room above is for guests.

Otherwise Barragán ate alone in this small kitchen-adjacent space. The ceramic plates say “Soledad” meaning solitude.

This ceiling fixture is only one of two in the house. He did not want overhead light to compete with that made by God. Lamps did not count apparently.

This painting by Chucho Reyes includes the colors seen within or from the house. The green reflecting ball is the one token of color allowed. The other balls are silver.

My husband loves to take selfies to send to our children.

The untamed exterior contrasts with the strict order of the interior. Barragán hung sandbags on the branches of the long vine to create that dip.

It stretches across the garden and up the opposite wall.

Looking back towards the living room.

A serene courtyard. The terracotta pots turn green during the year but eventually it wears off returning them to the original color.

Personal life.

Our tour docent said that this image was one of his fiancée. Supposedly he called off the engagement two weeks prior to the wedding. Online reports speculate that Barragán was gay. Regardless, it is difficult to imagine a person of strict order sharing space with others. Certainly not children.

The architect was said to be charming and always well-dressed. Even laying in his bed during his final days he was impeccably attired in his typical tweed jacket, white shirt, and ascot.

An interesting article about the architect’s ashes, an engagement ring, and his archives can be read here.

Casa V Interiors is an Orlando-based interior design firm.