Casa Gilardi by Luis Barragán

DATE

13.01.2026

We have all seen its striking colors or the famous indoor swimming pool at some point, but the truth is that nothing compares to the experience of walking through it. Designed in the 1970s by the Mexican Pritzker Prize–winning architect Luis Barragán, this house was his last residential project, and it is clear that he poured into it a highly refined synthesis of everything he understood architecture to be: light, silence, proportion, and an almost spiritual relationship with space.

From the very entrance, the house guides you through a carefully measured sequence. Every wall and every turn seems deliberately placed to prepare what comes next. There are no superfluous elements, and yet everything has a powerful impact. Barragán worked with color in a way that almost no one has managed to equal since. In Casa Gilardi, pink, yellow, and white are not simply applied tones, but true tools used to direct the gaze, intensify light, and define the atmosphere of each room.

The dining room with the pool is undoubtedly the climax of the experience. An indoor body of water within a house might seem extravagant, but here it feels completely natural. The reflection of the yellow wall, the zenithal light, and the calm presence of the water create a scene that is almost sculptural. It is one of those spaces that stays with you, proving that architecture can move us without resorting to grand gestures: it is enough to combine light, geometry, and silence with precision.

Another fundamental aspect of the house is its relationship with the jacaranda tree in the courtyard. The client insisted on preserving it, and Barragán not only accepted this condition but turned the tree into the true protagonist of the project. It shapes the organization of the house, introduces shade, texture, and a sense of time, and reminds us that for Barragán, nature was always an active element within architecture. This gesture perfectly summarizes his way of working: respecting what already exists and engaging in dialogue with it, rather than imposing a rigid solution.

Casa Gilardi is the kind of project that continues to inspire decades later because it shows that architecture does not need to be monumental to be memorable. Its greatness lies in its sensitivity, in its ability to construct atmospheres that invite pause and contemplation. It is a work that teaches you, almost without realizing it, that light can be a material, that color can structure space, and that a house can become an experience that transcends the everyday.

MARCH VALENCIA | ARQUITECTURA Y DISEÑO

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