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Goodbye Ricardo Legorreta...

date added: 30.12.2011

Only a few hours before welcoming the New Year, one of the greatest architects of Mexico, Ricardo Legoretta died today.

Ricardo Legorreta Vilchis was born in Mexico City on May 7, 193. He was awarded the prestigious UIA Gold Medal in 1999 and the Praemium Imperiale in 2011.

He studied architecture at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. Legorreta was a disciple of Luis Barragán and carried Barragan's ideas to a wider realm. Barragan, in the 1940s and 1950s amalgamated tradition and the modern movement in architecture yet his work is mostly limited to domestic architecture. Legorreta used elements of Barragan's architecture in his work including bright colors, play of light and shadow, and solid Platonic geometric shapes. One of the important contributions of Legorreta has been the use of these elements in other building types such as hotels, factories as well as in commercial and educational buildings. His most famous works are the Camino Real Hotel, the IBM Factory in Guadalajara and the Cathedral of Managua. His name also has a strong presence outside of Mexico, particularly in the southwest of the United States.

A presentation of his works can be found here > http://www.architravel.com/architravel/architects/legorreta-plus-legorreta

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