Gilardi House: Barragan's Last Witness

Description: Gilardi House thoroughly documents Luis Barragan ́s last project, la ́CASA GILARDI ́, an emblem of Mexican architecture.

In 1976, 10 years after his retirement from the practice of architecture, Barragan accepted the commission of two young publicists passionate about his architecture and designed the Giraldi House. This masterpiece was the last built project of Pritzker Prize winner Luis Barragan ́s prolific career.

Gilardi House aims to disseminate the complete history of the project, from the first sketch to its construction. It presents for the very first-time documents, plans, images, sketches and memories of distinguished visitors, ambitioning to shed light about this unpublished and largely unknown masterpiece and unique cultural establishment. This book not only unpacks original documentation of the project, but also includes critical reflections by contemporary architects and critics who have visited this private house, sharing a critical approach and a unique lesson for today's architecture.

With contributions of Charles Renfro / Diller Scofidio + Renfro, Daniel Libeskind, Paul Lewis / LTL, Snøhetta, Ricardo Devesa, Julio Jiménez Sarabia, Jorge Vázquez del Mercado, Martín Luque, among many others...

Brief description: M.Arch, Jose Luis Alvarez Tinajero is an Architect, Educator specialist, Ambassador, Co-Editor and Correspondent of ACTAR Publishers in Mexico, Architecture Curator of ´La Ciudad de las Ideas Festival´. (International Festival of Brilliant Minds), Founder and Director of NODE.
In his capacity as Director of NODE over the past 15 years, he has conceptualized, produced and curated two of the most important events on contemporary architecture in Mexico City; The Progressive Architecture Symposium and the National Kalmanani Prize lecture series (in collaboration with the most important Schools of Architecture). These are the largest and most significant architecture events in the country. He have had the privilege to present six Pritzker Prize awardees including Toyo Ito, Shigeru Ban, Alvaro Siza, SANAA, ZHA and Thom Mayne, in addition to over 80 internationally recognized and highly regarded architects whose ideas and practices have reshaped the discourse of our discipline, including DS+R, BIG, Carme Pinós, UN Studio, Snøhetta, among many others.

Review Quotes: "No major figure in the history of modernist architecture is as poorly represented in books as Luis Barragan. Part of the reason might be connected to a general unawareness of his work in the U.S., in spite of Frank Lloyd Wright's praise. Other reasons: Barragan emphasized the role that radiantly bright colors played in exterior designs, and alchemized imaginatively his sweeping knowledge of landscape architecture. This perceptively assembled text combines fine photographs, plans, and several useful essays and presents sensitively Barragan's final project in Mexico, a house like no other. This book is an invaluable contribution until Barragan is heralded in a sweeping survey text that he so deserves." --Norman Weinstein, Architecture Critic

"Ultimately, the book's value is found not in individual pieces, texts or images, but in the whole--in the fact a whole book is devoted to the project, much like earlier titles on Casa Barragan and Las Torres de Ciudad Satélite...." --A Weekly Dose of Architecture