LUIS BARRAGAN'S GARDENS OF FLPEDREGAL by Keith L. Fggener, foreword by Mare Treib, New York: Princeton Arehitectural Press, 2001, siti + IF ardbourd, Reviewed by Juan Antonio Bueno K cith Eggener addresses 1 single work by the late Mexican architect and landscape ar chitect Lis Barragain (1902-1988) From 1945 tuntil 1953, Barragiin was directly involved with plannin signing, constructing, and promoting the upscale residential community of Los Jurdines de El Pedveyal de San Angel at the periphery of Ciudad de México, When completed, the com munity inchided 1000 buildings on 1250 acres, Barragin's involveme 1 consultant to the project many ran into the kate 1950, The project marks Barragsin’s return to aetive practice after hs explorations on the native Mexiean gardens (1940, 1914). also represents his transition landscape for his ow from Mediterranean revivalism and European functionalism to Mexican modernism. Barraggin considered FL Pedie So does aL his most significant work gener —with some reser The strength of the book is its deep analysis and broad criticism of a Hier complex project, The research is objectively based on imterviewsand ‘observations, rather than subjective sentiment, Eggener incisively dissects the art and business, the imagery and substance, the influences and collaby anions, ancl the regionalism and universality of El Pedregal But this objective approach is also the book's limitation. Paradox the work ofan architect who pas: sionately believed, above ll, in an ‘emotional architecture.” The objec tivism is welcome and necessary, but hot sufficient to furnish full eri: tique of Barragsin’s work In addition to the foreword by Mare Treib, the book hasan intro- duction, thee chapters, and an after word by Fggener, The first chapter Built Architecutre,” offers biographi- cal information on Barragin’s Eamily education, twavels to Europe and New York, and early practice in Guadals. jara. The chapter notes that Barta Jett Guadalajara for the opportunities that Cindad de Mésico offered dur ing the expansion years of the 1930, Jong after the start of the Mexican, Revolution in 1010, Fygener describes and analyzes the social, political, anid economic environment in the eity and country that made Barrygin wealthy enough to pursue his own contemplative gar lens in Tacubaga and EI Cabrio—the preluides to El Pedregal The natural abundance and a most surreal beauty El Pedregal’s stony ground of volcanic origin had already attracted pocts andl artists, in luding the painter Diego Rivera and the th rneanlo Salas Portugal An essay by peamateur photographer Ar Rivera influenced Barragin’s deci- sion to design and build at El Pedte gal, The essay argued for the preser vation of the site’ natural beauty, the exclusion of Spanish colonial revival architecture, and the establishment ‘of an aesthetics review board amon other criteria, Sakis Port: ally became the photographer, and the foremost interpreter and pro- moter of Barragi’s work, ayer discnsses tradition and innovation inv the layout of the proj cect, The original street plan by Carlos Contreras was not based on the tradi tionally orthogonal urban grid of the Lees de Indias (although it later be came more gridlike), but possibly on the plan for Riverside in Chicago by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux. However, walls along the strects, often criticized in the United States, were used in the characteris cally Mexican manner to define the street, ereate vertical gardens, and af icy and security ford pri Fygener cleverly compares private front gardens in Mexico with, semniprivate front yards in the United States in terms of different forms Al with similar elitist meaniny though the difference in form and function may well be related to the respective spatial and visual prefer ences of each culture, Barragin de fended the universal relevance of the walls for a modern world in need of time and space for tranquility The project was first publicize and is best known for its phwzas and fountains as well as demonstration ardens and houses, Eggener offers extensive physieal descriptions, his torical details, extant conditions, and design critiques of these works— Plaza de las Fuentes, Plaza del Ci- garro, demonstration gardens and sales pavilion, traffie circle and ser View entrance, and se parks (1945— 10950, attribution of the latter to Bar In even more detail, Eggener wells on the Avenida de las Fuentes demonstration houses and the extant icto House (1948-1949), where Barraygin collaborated with, Lopez P the German architect Max Getto, sho had worked with Richard Neutra in San Francisco, The author finishes the first chapter with a fresh dis course on the apparently irreconcil able, but ultimately interdependent roles of Barra entrepreneur The second chapter, “Phi graphic Architecture,” considers the art of Salas Portugal, and the duality nae the iconographic in the work of Barragin—a phot raphy and an architecture that mute ally informed the design tion of the projeet. Eggener views this dyad as parallel to the dichotomy of aesthetics andl enterprise. He also e: plores external influences on Bar ragin’s work, These influences, often mnemonic or scenographie, included surrealism in art and advertising, the designs and writings of Ferdinand Bac, the magic of Giorgio de Chi rico’s paintings, and the architecture and photography of Le Corbusier's work, The insights offered in this chapter should interest those who ure personally or vicariously involved with the phote work, Eggener seems to imply that the photography might have been: more Significant than the architecture. But phy of their own Since most of the works have not str Books 71vivedl, itis not possible w compare imagery with realty. It has, however been argued that other significant ex. tant works, in the absence of primary sites, ‘validate Barragsin’s contibie tion.” For the reviewer, the personal experience of Barragin’s works in Tacubaya, Ciudad Satelite (in eollaby ‘oration with Mathias Goeritz), Las Arboleras, and Los Chibes indeed surpassed the anticipation ereated by their photographic impressions. In the last chapter, “The Cu: tural Landscape.” Eggener considers the symbolic implications of El Pe dregal for a nation in search of an identity—its post revolutionary, s cial, and cultural aspiration to be Mexican and modern; natively Ameri can but post-colonially European, He also evaluates Barrayiin’s contribu on tegionalisin and the integrati landscape, garden, and house, in he of Le Corbusier, Frank Llosa Wright, and Richard Neutra as influ ential precedents, Yer. after an extensive expos tion on external forces, discourse on the possible influence of native precedents on garden form at El Pe regal is surprisingly absent from the book. Did extant remnants and his torical descriptions of ancient Mexi: can gardens influence Barragiin? For ‘example, the gardens of Nevaliial: ceéyotl (02-1472), poet king ‘coco, apparently had steps and basins hewn from the porphyry outcrops of the hills, just as Barraygin poetically carved steps from the basaltic lyers at El Pedregal. There may not be ant answer, but the question is not even raised in the contest of a great gar den tradition, Likewise, the mrdéjay andl cant typologies that are expressively transformed in the work of Barragain. are apparenily dismissed as mere ‘memories of Moorish pleasure yea dens” that have already been dis cussed elsewhere by others (111), The book is amply illustrated in black and white (except for the jacket) with fine reprocluctions of photographs, sketches, and paintings, zine articles, andl print advertise ments. Many photographs by Salas aswell as of maps, draw arscape foernal Portugal are included, Pornugat’s black and white is well known to admirers of Barra layout, and test fonts are attractive and appropriate Lise of the illustrations is also quite exocative work in color an 1. The book design, page the topie. The cefective, as they relate tothe text and articulate the graphic design, But Unfortunately, the text columa an ppears to be in the wrong Incorrect Spanish orthography isa perplexing shortcoming for stich aschokirly effort.' Capital centuation, and ssllabification are not always correct, Although a sib stantial effort is evident in the use of eal marks, they are not always present or correct, Capitalization is also somewhat inconsistent. Anel litle attention was apparently placed on word division. Similar mistakes arc also mace in French and Portuguese Bur these errors are easily correct at this able in the second edition 1 important book will surely deserve Juan Antonio Buenos Dean of the School of Avchiteclure and Professin Landscape Architecture at Florida fnter n versity in Mic, Florida tional Un 33100, Notes 1. Lani araginquoted by Elio Ang Die Ait of Lat New ere 2 Las srs Care of EP The wse of die pepe wth Forenamp, sn (vver al (he ‘he tage) ape nol pronounced hi GARDEN AND CLIMATE by Chip Sullivan, foreword by Mare Treib, New York: MeGrav-Hill, 2002, xxi + 263 pages, color and black and white illustationsand photographs, hardcover, $45.00. Reviewed by Hala F, Nassar Ciiipsutsans bo Garden and Climateisa refreshing analytical vist to historic gardens that successfully addressed isstes of li mate comfort, Garden and Climate ne of Sullivan's research, journey to exp is the ontec between landscape design andl en ergy conservation” (xii) and was ink tially motivated by the energy crisis, of the seventies. The book refers ‘energy-efficient landscape" and “passive design” and presents a mvt of landscape features as they ther lly mitigate hot climates, With the recent manifestation of the energy problem—especially in California where Sullivan lives—the book could not be more timely Sullivan shows how gardens have used different kandscape tech niques and practices to moderate hot climates and create cool outdoor spaces, Heads to the technical in formation his interpretations of the interplay of function, environment, and designer's intent, Through illus trations of the passive design quali ties of historic mod general ideas for contemporary ap plications which he adapts to modern ating in genious methods of controlling cli mates and microclimates, garden contexts, demonst Sullivan's historic exeursions take us to the Mediterranean withCopyright of Landscape Journal is the property of University of Wisconsin Press and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. 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