Barragan: The Complete Work [Hardcover]

Princeton Arch Staff (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 1996

Mexican architect Luis Barrag‡n is one of this century's most?creative designers. Self-taught, he achieved international renown for his?remarkable personal artistic vision. Using vegetation, water, primary?geometric forms, and vivid colors, Barrag‡n created a poetic and?painterly yet elegantly simple architectural style that transformed the?Mexican building tradition into an abstract architectural language. There?has been extraordinarily little published on Barrag‡n, and this new?monograph is the only comprehensive compilation of his work-102 buildings?and 12 additional projects-many of which have never been published before.?Its intelligent analyses and sup erb illustrations demonstrate the?complexity and scope of this great designer, as both an architect and a?landscaper.?

?It presents not only Barrag‡n's well-known later work, but also shows the?development of his oeuvre: from early projects, which incorporated?vernacular Mexican forms with Islamic elements, through a period clearly?influenced by the International Style and Le Corbusier, to a culmination?in the clean, colorful modernism for which Barrag‡n is best known.?

?This new monograph collects over 400 illustrations: Barrag‡n's drawings,?color and black-and-white photographs of his work, meticulously re-drawn?plans, elevations, and sections created especially for the book, and new?scale models of important projects. In addition, the monograph contains?many texts-a preface by Alvaro Siza, essays by Mexican architectural?critics Antonio Toca and J.M. Buendia, previously unpublished text by?Barrag‡n himself, and an unabridged transcription of his Pritzker Prize?acceptance speech. An invaluable volume, Barrag‡n: The Complete?Works also includes a detailed bibliography and comparative?international chronology. This book is the essential compendium of the?work of a master architect.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"...this is the essential digest on the work of this great maestro." -- City Magazine, June 2003 --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

About the Author

Raul Rispa is publisher of Tanais Ediciones and resides in Madrid. --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Princeton Architectural Press (March 1, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 156898085X
• ISBN-13: 978-1568980850
• Product Dimensions: 12.1 x 9.8 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,493,341 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Barragan: The Complete Works, December 16, 2003

By 

Michael Webb (London, England > Los Angeles, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Barragan - The Complete Works (Hardcover)

I extolled the first edition of this definitive, splendidly illustrated survey when it appeared in 1996, and urge you to add it to your shelves if you haven't already. Luis Barragan (1902-88) was a master of earthy yet sophisticated buildings that had nothing to do with style and look better with every year that passes. This revised edition is little changed, but for an update of the bibliography and a perceptive essay by Antonio Ruiz Barbarin, from which I learned that Barragan was an almost exact contemporary of Marcel Breuer, Lucio Costa, Arne Jacobsen, and Ivan Leonidov. Truly a vintage year! (Michael Webb is the book reviewer for LA Architect magazine.)

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not what it could be., February 16, 2006

By 

Sol (Ithaca, NY USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Barragan - The Complete Works (Hardcover)

For a book titled The Complete Works, this book visually falls short. Many of the pictures are smaller and in black and white - not providing enough photos to be a really valuable visual research tool.

5.0 out of 5 stars Great photographs of works by Mexico's Greatest Architect., August 23, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Barragan: The Complete Work (Hardcover)

Luis Barragan's gift to twentieth-century architecture is inspiring. His impressive sensitivity, simplicity, and masterful use of color, was captured here for generations of architects to enjoy.