By: Cesar Murillo
"Mexican politicians and educators should follow in the footsteps of those like Barragan who employ our popular tradition with intelligence.. (for) to be truly modern we must first come to terms with our tradition, " a tradition that Nobel laureate Octavio Paz recognized in the work of architect Luis Barragan. By the late 1950s, Barragan's main focus was not the revival of traditional forms, nor the transmission of a prehispanic past. Instead he wanted to create an ambiance, a reflection of himself as a space and an incidental representation of a true Mexican identity. His work lacked unequivocal symbols of Mexican tradition; as an alternative, he incorporated his learning of European and American modernism to create an architecture that identifies itself with a specific folklore. Accordingly, works like the Jardines del Pedregal allowed him to address the simple aesthetics and meanings of modernism to create a form of Critical Regionalism. Although Barragan's modernism reintroduces and innovates upon a past of traditions to create an unprecedented architectural identity for modern Mexico, works like El Pedregal also proved to be high-end projects that reflected only the values of the elite, disregarding the greater population and not entirely representing the true context of his people successfully.
Episodes throughout El Pedregal explicitly create Critical Regionalism that uses the preexisiting nature and history to create a fusion with the modern architecture. This nexus is not established by copying older styles or decorations of Mexico, but instead by using folklore and ideas to create an experience and give new meaning to a space that can tie in with its regional people. Luis Barragan makes a unique display of postmodern thought that takes into consideration the past and traditions, but forgets to include the majority of the current people and processes that he hoped to represent. Instead, Barragan creates a lavish display of modern architecture and pretensious garden spaces that are difficult for the common person to understand. Critics like Henri Lefebvre argued that modernism in its whole sense could not harbor the everyday of the common folk. "A rejection of avant-garde escapism, pretension, and heroicism in favor of a more sensitive engagement with people's everyday environments and lives is actually needed." Lefebvre, similar to other Postmodernist critics, rejected Modernism in all social aspects aspects because its rigid order did not engage with individual needs and processes. Instead, the monotomy of modern architecture created a template that should be re-used over and over, despite any other individual, cultural, or topographic element. The houses created in El Pedregal were in a sense more modern than what Barragan's postmodern style hoped to achieve. These simple and linear elements created a rigid prototype similar to the bureaucratic systems regulating the order of the social everyday in modernism. Barragan creates uniformity in the exterior design of his houses and inevitably produces a standard of living for this wealthy class of estate owners.
Luis Barragan was uncritical about the population he hoped to represent through his critical regionalism. He was moved by economic gain and fame, yet created an architecture that was not there before him., Barragan has given Mexico a chance to be part of the 21st century's modern movement and has merely begun and architectural revolution for Latin America. Whether or not his works can be seen as true and complete Critical Regionalism, architects and critics should move beyond that point and rather focus to direct his work and ideas into a more powerful scheme. Works like El Pedregal are only the beginning of a form of Critical Regionalism that can be further exploited. By learning from his methods of discretely reflecting upon the past and oneself to create a modern scheme of nostalgia, memory, and mysticism, we will be able to reach out to the heart of the present. The present should not be about making aesthetics for the sake of luxury or beauty for an elite group, but instead to create aesthetics that can tell not only a past or a story, but instead the larger context of social issues that affect us the most. Barragan's Critical Regionalism can become more critical if we learn to incorporate the everyday, not only for Mexico, but for the ever-so-changing identities and issues rising in this new decade for immigrants, Chicanos, and all Latinos, alike.
