Internationally known, the Mexican Luis Barragan is one of the most gifted practitioners in contemporary landscape architecture. In his work the wall is both the supreme entity and the inhabitant of a larger metaphysical landscape; in the de Chirico-like settings he creates, it is at once a screen for revealing the colors of Mexico's almost white sun and a shield to suggest unseen presences. Barragan's magnificent gardens and carefully constructed plazas seem to stand either as great architectural stages for the promenade of horses or as echo chambers for the constant cascade of water. While his design approach is classical and atemporal, the elements of his architecture are deeply rooted in his country's cultural and religious traditions; through the haunting beauty of his hieratic constructions we may begin to understand the ardor and intensity of Mexico's architecture.
