27-06-2008

An architectural
recipe for better
human beings
ATHENSPLUS • FRIDAY, JUNE 27, 2008
ARTS
The Juarez complex, which houses the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Supreme Court in Mexico City (2005).
[Jose Ignacio Gonzalez Manterola, courtesy of CEMEX]
La Purificadora Hotel in Puebla,
Mexico (2007).
[Courtesy of Undine Prohl]
The Camino Real Hotel in Monterrey, Mexico (2007). [Allan Vallejo] A residence in Hawaii (2002). [Lourdes Legorreta]
A Benaki exhibition on the work of the Mexican
firm Legorreta + Legorreta shows how modern
style combines with traditional elements
BY ALEXANDRA KOROXENIDIS
Since its foundation in the early 1960s, the
objective of the Mexican team Legorreta
+ Legorreta has been an architecture
inspired by human values. Ricardo Legorreta
and his associates are not interested
in an architecture that only architects
can appreciate, but one which “responds
to the needs of the users, to the
city, to the environment, to a schedule
and budget” and, most of all, “to the artistic
and spiritual needs of the people.”
“Legorreta + Legorreta: Aspects and
Color – Mystery and Magic in Architecture,”
an exhibition at the Pireos annex
of the Benaki Museum organized by the
Hellenic Institute of Architecture
(www.heliarch.gr) and curated by architect
Anna Skiada, presents some of the
team’s most prominent projects and reveals
a distinctive architectural style
typified by the use of color, light and solid,
geometric shapes.
Ricardo Legorreta has incorporated
aspects of traditional Mexican architecture
in a modern, minimalist style and has succeeded
in using elements that are usually
associated with residences – for example
the vernacular hacienda – in large, public
buildings. Privacy, large, open spaces
that connect the interior and the exterior
and the play of natural light and water
are some of the most recurrent aspects of
his designs. They afford a sense of serenity,
privacy and warmth.
One of the firm’s convictions is that architecture
should achieve functionality,
efficiency and cost, but should also opt for
environments that are “human and friendly
and have an atmosphere of intimacy,
peace and optimism.” In their work, large
walls, partitions and
geometric blocks are
painted in earthy tones
of ocher, red and sienna,
inspired by traditional
Mexican architecture.
Through the use of color,
Legorreta transforms
his often monumental,
public structures and
their minimalist, modern
style into inviting
and visually pleasant
spaces. Terraces and
atriums, which open to
natural light, evoke a
sense of spaciousness
and contact with nature.
Although Legorreta
lives in Mexico City, one of the most
highly populated cities in the world, he
strives to make living an experience
where privacy and a sense of comfort are
priorities. His belief is that contemporary
architects should take advantage of technology
and information in order to create
buildings that make people “better human
beings” and that “architecture should be
at the service of society, above personal
interests and false objectives.”
Approximately 100 photographs and 25
designs, combined with large-scale models,
books and DVDs are presented at the
Benaki exhibition, helping the viewer understand
the style that has brought this
Mexican architectural firm to the world’s
attention.
International acclaim
Ricardo Legorreta was born in 1931 in
Mexico City. He trained as an architect in
Mexico and was an apprentice to the
renowned engineer and architect Luis Barragan
(1902-1988), one of the first to make
use of elements from traditional Mexican
architecture and to incorporate his designs
in natural backdrops. These traits
have both influenced Legorreta’s work.
In 1963, Legorreta and his colleagues,
Noe Castro and Carlos Vargas, established
Legorreta Arcquitectos (renamed
Legorreta + Legorreta in 2000). They soon
gained an international reputation
through projects such as the Camino
Real hotel chain in Mexico City, Cancun
and Ixtapa, while during the 60s and 70s
Social service
‘Architecture should be at the
service of society, above personal
interests and false objectives’
they designed office buildings for Seguros
America, Banamex, Smith & Kline, Nissan
and Renault. Low-income housing projects
and residences also made up a large
part of their activity.
During the 80s, Legorreta went international.
Legorreta and his team designed
buildings in the United States, Latin
America, South Africa, the Middle East and
Europe. In the early 90s, Ricardo Legorreta’s
son Victor joined the office, which
nowadays employs around 60 people. Recently,
Legorreta + Legorreta has worked
with the federal state government of
Mexico, as well as with US public institutions.
Some of the buildings they have
designed are the South Texas Institute of
the Arts in 2006 and, more recently, the
College of Business & Computer Science
in Qatar in 2008.
Ricardo Legorreta has received multiple
awards – including the Gold Medal
from the American Institute of Architects
in 1999, a recognition award from Mexico’s
ARPAFIL (Art, Architecture, Patrimony)
in 2003 and the gold medal from
the Panamerican Association of Architects
in 2005.
“Legorreta + Legorreta: Aspects
and Color – Mystery and Magic in
Architecture” at the Benaki’s Pireos Street
annex (138 Pireos & Andronikou, tel
210.345.3111, www.benaki.gr) through July 27.
Open Wednesdays, Thursdays, Sundays 10
a.m.-6 p.m, Fridays-Saturdays 10 a.m - 10 p.m.
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