Studio Project Examining Luis Barragán's San Cristóbal

This semester, my studio is focused on the integration of landscape architecture and (building) architecture. Our first project was a group one. Each group analyzed one of three well-regarded projects that blur the line between indoor and outdoor space.

My group was assigned San Cristóbal (photo at left), an equestrian estate in Mexico City designed by Mexican architect Luis Barragán. Barragán was a modernist-era architect who rejected certain key aspects of the International style of modern architecture, while embracing others. He believed that architecture should create spaces of tranquility and contemplation, uplifting the human spirit. The San Cristóbal estate was one of Barragán’s last projects and thus regarded as one of the best examples of his style.

Our assignment was to deconstruct the site to discover its underlying framework, and construct a conceptual model of the site that revealed that framework. My group found an underlying grid supporting the placement of key walls and buildings throughout the San Cristóbal site. We designed a model that began with this framework as a set of “ribs” or “spines” that would support the rest of the model. The intermediate spaces fit into the framework much like puzzle pieces. (The picture the right shows the framework under construction.)

We constructed the model out of plywood. The wood kept warping and splintering, and in the end we were unable to fully realize the puzzle concept because the pieces did not fit together as well as we had hoped. But you can still differentiate the framework from the pieces by the color of the wood--the framework is mahogany and the pieces are birch.


In addition to the model, we also developed 16 panels exploring other important aspects of the site discovered found in our analysis.


The concept panels can be read from left to right in thematic rows, and top to bottom as descriptions of the four major walls in the site.

(1) The first row looks at the scale and color of each of the four walls.
(2) The second row looks at the type of opening in the wall.
(3) The third row looks at the spatial function of the wall.
(4) Row four examines various other experiential aspects of the site.

You can interpret the panels, reading top to bottom and left to right, as follows:

Column A: The (1) purple wall (2) swivels on an axis and serves as (3) a permeable wall providing access to the site. Panel 4 in this column is an outline of the framework of the site.

Column B: The (1) large pink wall has (2) peeled openings and serves as (3) a functional wall supporting a building. Panel 4 in this column is a reference to the cultural vernacular of the region Barragan was working in.

Column C: The (1) shorter pink wall has (2) punched out openings and serves as (3) a passageway within the site. Panel 4 shows how the walls frame mysterious views into and out of the site.

Column D: The (1) red wall is actually (2) three overlapping walls and serves to (3) separate two distinct parts of the site. Panel 4 contains materials that make a falling-water sound when you turn it, to illustrate the sensate aspects of the site.

To learn more about Barragán's work and San Cristóbal, visit the Barragán Foundation. (Click "Enter," then "Masterpieces," and finally "San Cristóbal.")

We've already begun working on our final studio project! Next week is spring break; I hope to have some time to then post an update about that project.