Over the past 40 years, Ricardo Legorreta has created innovative solutions to contemporary building challenges. His work combines architecture, landscape architecture, and interior design, with a respect for the regional climate and the diverse heritage of Mexican society. In projects ranging from private residences to factories, libraries, hotels and resorts, and museums, Legorreta’s work stands out for his use of color, water, proportion, light, and planes.

For all its references to European-derived modernism, Legorreta’s work profoundly reflects the images of indigenous Mexico. His designs remain rooted in an understanding of Mexico's pre-Columbian and colonial past. Legorreta studied at the Escuela Nacional de Arquitectura of the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, under architect José Villagrán García. Villagrán García, part of the vanguard of the first generation of post-revolutionary Mexican architects, instilled in his students a sense of social responsibility, as well as the moral dimension of architecture. Upon completion of his studies in 1952, Legorreta worked in Villagrán García’s studio, becoming a partner in 1955; the results of this collaboration are seen in the functionalist/rationalist Hotel Maria Isabel (1961).

Legorreta was aware of the limitations of functionalism as practiced in Mexico, particularly what he perceived as its rigidity, universality, and lack of warmth. He sought a new architectural identity that expressed a Mexican sensibility, and one that recognized the nation’s diverse, regional components—something that the rationalist didn't.

In his private practice begun in 1959, Legorreta was able to develop his own vocabulary. Among the first buildings completed by his new firm were the Smith Kline and French Laboratories (1964; Mexico City) and factories for Chrysler (1964; Toluca) and Nissan Motors (1966; Cuernavaca). These structures drew on his academic training gained in Villagrán García’s studio, as evidenced in their balance, efficiency, and functionality. Further, these buildings contain the first indications of what would become a constant theme in Legorreta’s industrial architecture: a concern for those who labor within the buildings. To that end, assembly lines are designed to human scale, and work and office space is blended seamlessly.

The Chrysler factory also represents a watershed in Legorreta’s development of design solutions that are relevant to Mexican social and physical climates. It was at this point that Legorreta met Luis Barragán, who advised him to invest more attention into the landscape. This led to further refinement of what became known as an emotional or empathic architecture.

Subsequent works in collaboration with Barragan, such as the Camino Real Hotel (1968) in Mexico City, represent a fusion of tradition and modernity. One sees the architect's awareness of the central propositions of functionalism imbued with his admiration for the vernacular. In the Hotel Camino Real, Legorreta departed from convention, which dictated high-rise construction. Instead, with pre-Hispanic and colonial forms in mind, he emphasized horizontality. The resulting form blends public spaces effortlessly: the horizontal emphasis allows for lavish gardens, patios, pools, and fountains, all accentuated by a brilliant use of color, which commences with a startling magenta screen at the hotel entrance. The interior is an intimate refuge, given his attention to interior light, details in the design of furnishings, and the placement of artworks (including murals by Rufino Tamayo and Mathias Goeritz, and sculpture by Alexander Calder). Together, these elements infuse this work with a sense of mystery and warmth, elements that characterize Legorreta’s style.

These elements are also prominent in later hotels executed by Legorreta’s firm, notably the Hotel Camino Real Cancún (1975) and the Hotel Camino Real Ixtapa (1981). These hotels are graceful adaptations to their sites, whether placed between the sea and a lagoon, as at Cancún, or following the slope of the face of a cliff, as in Ixtapa. The results harmonize with the environment, mediating interior and exterior spaces. The Ixtapa site features expansive, welcoming, open public areas, as well as terraces and walkways to the beach, and pools that invite exploration and contemplation of the dramatic setting.

A similar integration of building and site is apparent in Legorreta’s industrial architecture of the 1970s and 1980s. Projects such as the IBM factory (1975) in Guadalajara, Kodak Laboratories (1975) in Mexico City, and the Renault factory (1984) in Durango manifest this tendency in diverse environments. In the Renault factory, Legorreta drew inspiration from the desert site; the final form is a striking composition of massive red and ochre walls, whose mass complements the limitless desert horizon, providing protection from harsh elements as well as an affirmation of the desert itself. The cobblestone landscape continues the desert hues and textures, joining building to site in a manner that would be impossible to achieve solely with vegetation.

In 1985, Legorreta Arquitectos began one of their most extensive works: the master plan for Solana in Dallas, Texas, and the design of the Solana Village Center and the IBM National Marketing and Technical Support Center. Legorreta’s master plan was intended to evoke traditions of the Hispanic southwest, avoiding the anonymity, sterility, and boredom often evident in office and mixed-use complexes. The result, created on a site measuring some seven million square feet, succeeds in linking modern construction techniques with a sense of timelessness. The Solana Village Center, reminiscent of Mexican colonial-era plazas, presents a hotel with clusters of office and retail buildings, where brown and white stucco exteriors harmonize with the colors and textures of the prairie landscape.

In Legorreta’s residential work, a personal, contemplative side emerges, illustrating the extensive talent of this architect. To this point, the Molinas (1973), Montalbán (1985; Los Angeles), and Greenberg (1991; Los Angeles) residences demonstrate his fluidity in designing for distinctive physical environments and cultures. Massive walls preserve privacy and offer scant clues as to the function of a particular segment, in keeping with Mexican vernacular traditions. Light and color create warmth; walls are often perforated by lattices, balanced further by the gentle flow of water into pools. As in his large-scale works, the result is an organic composition, ably blending art and architecture, exterior and interior, light and shadow.

Patrice OLSEN

Sennott R.S. Encyclopedia of twentieth century architecture, Vol.2 (G-O).  Fitzroy Dearborn., 2005.