The colorful legacy of Ricardo Legorreta

When the Ricardo Legorreta Vilchis designed Camino Real Polanco edifice opened successful Mexico City successful 1968, 3 months earlier the metropolis hosted the Summer Olympics, it was instantly hailed arsenic an architectural masterpiece. 

Its astir arresting singular diagnostic is undoubtedly the “Fountain of Eternal Movement” crafted by famed scenery designer Isamu Noguchi, which, alternatively than mimicking the serene oregon stately welcoming fountains customary astatine different properties, alternatively provides a welter of convulsive motion. The hotel’s wide aesthetic, however, is heavy indebted to Legorreta’s originative modernist plan sense, and successful particular, his passionateness for vibrant colors.

Architect Ricardo Legorreta, photographed during the plan signifier of the Camino Real edifice successful Mexico City. (Legorreta + Legorreta)

Its often photographed entranceway gate, for example, is simply a vivid magenta-pink latticework acceptable disconnected by a bold yellowish adjacent wall. This benignant of unmistakable colour signature would go a staple of the 100-plus projects — including galore hotels and museums, arsenic good arsenic backstage homes and nationalist works — Legoretta designed earlier helium died successful 2011, and helped cement his estimation arsenic 1 of the top of each Mexican architects.

Legorreta’s conception of color 

Legorreta’s knowing of color’s quality to evoke affectional responses is thing helium nary uncertainty learned from his teachers portion studying architecture astatine the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Mexico (UNAM) successful the precocious 1940s and aboriginal 1950s. It was surely fostered by mentors similar José Villagrán García, the “father of modern Mexican architecture” and the antheral who hired him adjacent earlier helium graduated, and besides influenced by legendary designer Luis Barragán erstwhile the 2 became friends during the 1960s. 

However, according to Legorreta, the antheral who astir importantly molded his reasoning connected the taxable was Chucho Reyes (born Jesús Reyes Ferreira), the self-taught creator who, similar Barragán, hailed from Guadalajara. To Legorreta, Reyes was “the maestro of color, the 1 who taught america everything.” Indeed, 1 has lone to look astatine Reyes’ enactment to spot the bright, superb purples, blues, and yellows that would aboriginal go touchstones successful Legoretta’s designs, from the 10-story purple campanile successful Los Angleles’ Pershing Square (1993) to the bold blues that seamlessly integrate the Tech Museum of Innovation successful San José, California (1998) into its surrounding environment, and the eye-catching yellows evident successful his Casa Greenberg (1991), and successful his archetypal landmark Camino Real.

This blending of these vibrant colors into a affluent symphony — the creator word is polychromy — was ever intentional successful Legorreta’s work, and was meant to service a circumstantial purpose. As helium once noted, colour “dramatizes, evokes, produces affectional responses, intensifies idiosyncratic experience, provides vigor to spaces and reinforces their presence.” So delicate was helium to these affectional currents that helium would take colors capable to bespeak changing moods arsenic the earthy airy shifted successful strength passim the hours of each day. 

Such sensitivity would beryllium singular successful immoderate artist, but it was peculiarly striking successful 1 brought up successful a household of bankers. 

The improvement of Legorreta’s aesthetic

Born into privilege successful 1931 arsenic the scion of 1 of  Mexico’s wealthiest and astir socially salient families, Legorreta could easy person followed successful the footsteps of his father, Luis, and uncle Agustín, who founded the country’s biggest slope (BancoMex). But by the clip helium was a teenager, helium knew helium wanted to beryllium an architect. After studying astatine UNAM and spending a small implicit a decennary arsenic an apprentice and aboriginal spouse of Villagrán, helium opened his ain company, Legorreta Arquitectos, successful 1963. 

A collage of memorable Legorreta designs and architectural accents, including clockwise from left: the Colegio de San Idefonso restoration successful Mexico City; a buying halfway successful Tustin, California; Pershing Square successful Los Angeles; the Celanese firm gathering successful Mexico City; the Museum of Tech Innovation successful San José, California; Camino Real Polanco successful Mexico City; the Museum of Contemporary Art successful Monterrey; and the San Antonio Central Library. (Legorreta + Legorreta)

His archetypal signature design, for an automobile mill successful Toluca, was a liberating acquisition and an assertion of his precise Mexican sensibilities. “When I built Automex, it was similar an detonation wrong me,” helium recalled successful 1995, per the Los Angeles Times. “A rebellion against each the subject I had known and the overseas domination of my country. It was similar yelling ‘Viva Mexico!’ and ‘Viva the Mexican worker!’”

With the occurrence of the Hotel Camino Real successful 1968, helium was recognized not conscionable arsenic a promising disciple of Villagrán and Barragán, but arsenic a mature, autarkic artist. The opening of the hotel was attended by President Gustavo Díaz Ordaz and his uncle Agustín Legorreta López Guerrero. Both were reportedly besides investors, his uncle successful his past relation arsenic president of Banamex. More commissions rolled in, including for different Camino Real hotels successful Cancún and Ixtapa. 

Legorreta’s enactment successful the U.S. 

Although astir of his designs continued to beryllium located successful Mexico, with astatine slightest a twelve successful his autochthonal Mexico City alone, by the 1980s Legorreta was besides progressively receiving commissions from planetary sources. These raised his planetary profile, but besides brought controversy, arsenic critics successful different countries, similar the U.S., weren’t ever arsenic astatine easiness with his distinctly Mexican plan philosophy. Purple walls astatine his plan for the $90 cardinal Tustin Market Place buying halfway successful California successful the mid-1980s, for instance, were decried by the town’s politician arsenic “too garish, excessively oppressive,” obliging Legorreta to regenerate them with a much acceptable ocher hue.  

“The incidental taught maine thing astir the profound differences that prevarication beneath the aboveground similarities Southern California shares with my homeland,” Legorreta admitted at the time. “Though the clime and topography are similar, and besides overmuch of the taste heritage, California nine is simultaneously much assured and little bold than ours, and this quality is reflected successful the architecture.”

Indeed, fewer architects person ever embraced boldness similar Legorreta, particularly erstwhile it came to color. And lest 1 thinks the Tustin incidental caused him to reconsider his principles, his Pershing Square task successful Los Angeles a fewer years aboriginal centered astir a 125-foot-tall purple doorbell tower. That excessively was controversial, but helium ne'er considered changing it. 

Legoretta’s decease and legacy

For the past 20 years of his life, Ricardo Legorreta collaborated with his lad Victor. Since his decease from liver crab astatine the property of 80 successful 2011, Victor has continued his father’s bequest via Legorreta + Legorreta. It’s hard to ideate anyone matching Ricardo’s flair for color, but based connected the stunning collaboratively designed Papalote Children’s Museum — lone 4 kilometers from the Camino Real successful Mexico City — an oculus for colour whitethorn beryllium a endowment that runs successful the family, conscionable arsenic banking erstwhile did. 

Chris Sands is the Cabo San Lucas section adept for the USA Today question website 10 Best, writer of Fodor’s Los Cabos question guidebook and a contributor to galore websites and publications, including Tasting Table, Marriott Bonvoy Traveler, Forbes Travel Guide, Porthole Cruise, Cabo Living and Mexico News Daily. His specialty is travel-related contented and manner features focused connected food, vino and golf.