Barragán Outside Barragán: A journey through books, trips, exhibitions and friends

This publication is based on an illustrated talk presented by architect and historian Fernanda Canales in June 2024 at the Vitra Design Museum as part of the Barragán Lecture series. It focuses on the Mexican architect Luis Barragán (1902–1988), whose work occupies a permanent place in the canon of twentieth-century architecture and continues to fascinate architectural scholars, connoisseurs, and enthusiasts. In her lecture, Fernanda Canales deftly interwove Barragán’s biography with his major built works, which are characterised by a skilful approach to spatial and chromatic atmospheres and environments. Following the traces found in his extensive private library, his travels, the exhibitions he saw, and his personal and professional friendships, she took the audience on a multifaceted journey through space and time, providing a concentrated overview of Barragán’s creative work from the late 1920s to the 1980s.