La Cuadra: Luis Barragán’s Mexico modernist icon enters a new chapter

Architect Fernando Romero has been shaping the future of Latin American architecture for two decades. His namesake firm (formerly FR-EE) and London-based Foster + Partners worked on a design for the New International Airport Mexico City; he crafted a gilded vision of Bitcoin City for the president of El Salvador; and he designed Museo Soumaya – the gleaming, dramatic museum named for both his wife and mother-in-law at the time, and commissioned by billionaire businessman Carlos Slim. These days, however, he’s looking at the past, to Luis Barragán’s iconic and chromatic Cuadra San Cristóbal.

La Cuadra San Cristóbal: the past, present and future of a Luis Barragán-designed icon

His fascination with the equestrian estate northeast of Mexico City isn’t nostalgic. Romero has a keen interest in how Mexican modernist architecture might be preserved and made relevant for generations to come. He has plans to transform Barragán’s masterpiece into a cultural resource for art and architecture, open to the public, through his non-profit organisation, Fundación Fernando Romero.

Romero is part of a post-OMA generation of international designers who cut their teeth under the tutelage of Rem Koolhaas. His studio uses advanced computational software to create wildly sculptural forms that would have mystified Barragán, whose own architecture relies on an alchemy of saturated colour and light. And yet, at 54, Romero is old enough to have lived through the later part of Mexico’s modern heyday. His affection for the period shows in his choice of office space, a midcentury residence next door to Casa Luis Barragán, the architect’s home and studio built in 1948 – and a Unesco World Heritage site.

‘I was just a kid, but a half century ago we were able to walk in the street with no security, no traffic. And today, that’s not the case in Mexico,’ says Romero. ‘We are living in very complex times, full of contrasts, full of contradictions, full of problems and challenges.’ For him, an interest in modernism is an affirmation of that earlier moment. ‘I feel almost a responsibility to try to save La Cuadra and to share with the world the work of a master of architecture.’

In Mexico, most preservation efforts are focused on archaeological sites and Spanish Colonial buildings, however many of the country’s 20th-century great works of architecture are of an age where they will need conservation, care, and a legacy plan in order to ensure they remain intact. Moreover, the earthquakes in 2017 and 2022 damaged numerous structures in Mexico. Some were demolished, some retrofitted, and for others, their fates remain uncertain. In this context, Romero’s enthusiasm to protect Barragán’s work is timely and necessary.

Romero’s own 1955 home is by architect Francisco Artigas. Artigas worked in LA-architect Richard Neutra’s office, his design of a glassy L-shaped structure wrapped around a courtyard reflecting pool epitomises the effortless flow of inside and outside common to California and Mexican modernism. Models of FR-EE’s designs fill the ground floor, including a half-dozen dedicated to schemes for the forthcoming campus at La Cuadra.

Barragán built the estate between 1966 and 1968 for the Egerström family, after having met Swedish businessman Folke Egerström at the nearby riding club. The architect and his client were both equestrians and the property reflects their horsey passion. At more than seven acres, the enclave includes the residence, horse stables, and the famous horse pool with its pink, trough-like fountain. The rest is landscape.

At one time this area was rural. Barragán developed two subdivisions, Los Clubes and Las Arboledas, as enclaves that integrated manmade and natural environments. Today, La Cuadra is an island of green surrounded by dense, suburban housing.

Romero began discussions with its owner a few years back, wanting to transform the home into a house museum to avoid developers acquiring the property. As such, he tasked himself with a rescue mission to maintain Barragan’s late work. The plan is for the compound to protect the architectural masterpiece while transforming it into a hub for creativity. Plans are for the site to fully open to visitors in October 2025, although a lucky few who are in town for Zona Maco 2025 can catch an early preview as the space will play host to an artist experience with Marina Abramović from 5-9 February 2025.

Design studio Pentagram developed a brand identity for Cuadra that does justice to Barragán's legacy. The design centres around a typeface drawn from the ironwork letters that grace the building’s exterior wall and incorporates a colour scheme of Mexican pink, mid-pink, light pink and black.

Eventually, over a projected ten-year period of development, the campus will include a permanent exhibition dedicated to the life and work of Luis Barragán, an artist residency programme, a gallery dedicated to the display of the Archivo Collection of design objects, additional galleries, a series of temporary, site-specific installations, a podcast production studio, a library, a multi-purpose event venue, and a gift shop and a coffee shop.

The first phase, upon the official opening in autumn, will see the launch of the permanent exhibition on Barragán, curated by Jorge Covarrubias. A series of additional spaces and pavilions by internationally acclaimed architects – including a timber pavilion designed by Kengo Kuma – will follow. As part of Phase 2 of the master plan, Romero is in discussions with Tadao Ando, Bjarke Ingels and 2025 RIBA Gold Medal winners SANAA. It is early days but there is high ambition for this to develop into a multi-layered cultural campus – watch this space.

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