Paseo de los Gigantes and the Plaza del Bebedero

Parque Los Bebederos once hosted fashionable events, which the modern architect Luis Barragán would use as a sales pitch to entice homebuyers to the Mexico City suburb of Las Arboledas. 

Our guide, Martín, with Duke, got us to appreciate even this park, showcasing works by Barragán that have fallen into disrepair.

Paseo de los Gigantes. Promenade of the Giants. An evocative name — but when you visit, you might wonder where these mythical monstrosities can be found. 

Stop and look around this green space outside of Mexico City. The answer is right in front of your eyes. See the tunnel of majestic, gnarled bark eucalyptus trees? Those are the giants for which the park is named.  

A massive, gnarled eucalyptus tree — one of the namesake “giants” of this linear park

It was our last stop on our half-day tour of Luis Barragán’s suburban designs: Torres de Satélite, Fuente de los Amantes and the amazing Cuadra San Cristóbal. 

Barragán was fond of designing paseos. These long, thin green spaces now act as medians dividing grand boulevards, but they were once country paths used for horseback riding.  

For this is horse country, a suburban enclave for equestrian aficionados northwest of CDMX. In fact, the main purpose of this particular linear park was to generate interest in the local community of Las Arboledas. Los Gigantes was a social hotspot, offering stands to view races at the horse track that once stood here. (Nothing remains, sadly — all you can see now are homes. It would have been cool if they had incorporated the track to shape the neighborhood like they did in La Condesa with Avenida Amsterdam.)

These narrow parks, set along medians, followed old country roads once used for horse riding.

The faded red viewing stands were used for social events to watch horses gallop around a no-longer-existent racetrack.

Barragán held events in Los Gigantes, though little evidence of its fashionable past remains. The park is but a shadow of its former glory. 

As with Frank Lloyd Wright, some of Barragán’s designs might have looked impressive but just don’t stand the test of time. A fountain here with a bright tangerine-colored backdrop lacked a proper foundation (not to mention was a colossal waste of city water), and the basin has been drained. 

While we gazed upon it, a guy on a BMX bike kept riding through the empty fountain, treating it as a ramp to practice his tricks and jumps. 

Barragán’s orange fountain at Los Gigantes is now drained. Its foundation was sinking — and it used quite a bit of city water.

The red concrete viewing stands look outward, away from the park, once facing the horse track. Tucked behind a wall, there used to be a bar where people would get refreshments to enjoy the show, our guide, Martín, told us.

“I wish it was still a bar,” I muttered. 

The red structure in the background once housed a bar for fancy cocktail parties Barragán would host to lure rich horse enthusiasts to buy land in the local development.

All this spectacle was designed to attract the CDMX élite. “Barragán was clever,” Martín continued. “In essence, he was saying, ‘This prestigious life could be yours. You can raise your kids here. Why don’t you buy a piece of land?’”

Barragán grew up with horses and was passionate about the equestrian lifestyle — but he was also, one imagines, well paid to promote the area. 

The blue wall marks the end of the park.

Plaza del Bebedero

Continuing along in the park, we came to the Plaza y Fuente del Bebedero (Plaza and Fountain of the Trough. The long, thin rectangular horse trough, like the other fountain, is now empty. 

The trough is considered the centerpiece of the green space — in fact, the area is sometimes called Parque Los Bebederos (although there’s only one).

The Fuente del Bebedero (Fountain of the Trough) used to be a watering hole for horses but is now empty.

A white wall nearby acts as one of the canvases for the play of shadows that’s a Barragán trademark.

A white wall in Parque Los Bebederos was one of Barragán’s famous screens for the play of shadows.

And closing off the space is an indigo wall. “It’s the perfect device to separate the park from the city,” Martín said. He’s a huge fan of Barragán — and now we are, too. 

The blue wall in Plaza del Bebedero seen from another angle

The orange building is administrative and was where Barragán stored the supplies for the parties held in Parque Los Bebederos.

Wandering through Los Bebederos, which has changed so drastically since its heyday, I couldn’t help but wish we had been able to experience the Promenade of the Giants when it was a big deal — sipping a cocktail while cheering on the horses racing around the track. –Wally

 

Parque Los Bebederos (Los Bebederos Park)

Avenida Paseo de los Gigantes
Las Arboledas
52950 Cuidad López Mateos
México

Cuadra San Cristóbal: Barragán’s Striking Horse Ranch Home

The Mexican architect’s masterpiece of modern architecture is framed by brightly colored walls and a signature fountain.

Duke and Wally absolutely loved visiting Cuadra San Cristóbal, an amazing home and horse ranch designed by Luis Barragán.

Luis Barragán is, undeniably, one of the most influential architects of the 20th century. Revered for his mastery of color, light and shadow, which blend vernacular hacienda elements with modernist influences, the Mexican architect’s legacy continues to inspire and influence contemporary design. 

Brightly colored walls meet at right angles and form artistic vistas everywhere you look.

It had been a dream of mine to see the famous pink-hued walls of the Cuadra San Cristóbal equestrian estate. The iconic ranch has served as the backdrop for countless creative projects, including an editorial campaign featuring French model Léa Seydoux shot onsite for Louis Vuitton in 2016 (which, naturally, included a horse or two).

Louis Vuitton did a fashion shoot at Cuadra San Cristóbal, which turned out pretty freakin’ cool.

“I had seen photos — but the color, form, texture and scale cannot truly be comprehended without experiencing the design in person.”

When Wally and I had the opportunity to visit the modernist landmark on a trip to CDMX, I searched the web to plan our pilgrimage and found the Traveling Beetle, an architectural guide service that offered a half-day Barragán tour including access to this emblematic structure.

Barragán was an avid equestrian and in the 1960s, he directed his admiration for the bold and graceful four-legged creatures into the construction of the gated community of Los Clubes, a residential subdivision in Ciudad López Mateos designed to attract the equestrian elite of Mexico City. 

Wouldn’t you just love to sit and admire this view?

The private seven-and-a-half-acre estate was designed and built in collaboration with Barragán’s protégé Andrés Casillas from 1966 to 1967 as a home and horse ranch for Folke Egerström and his family. The two met while riding at the nearby Club Hípico Francés and shared a passion for the equestrian lifestyle.

The white portion is the family home, while the pink is an entrance to the gardens.

Barragán’s True Colors

Viewed from the street, the unassuming perimeter wall of Cuadra San Cristóbal presents a blank face, concealing the stables, fountain, courtyard, house and gardens beyond. Only the name spelled out in metal letters on a wall in front hints at the gentility of the property.

Duke, whose first name is actually Christopher, or Cristóbal in Spanish, points to his namesake attraction.

San Cristóbal was part of a half-day excursion with the Traveling Beetle, during which we tooled around in this tomato-red VW Bus.

The unassuming front door to the complex doesn’t offer even the slightest hint of the gorgeousness beyond.

Wally and I exited the mint-condition orange-red ’76 VW Combi Bus and followed Martín, our tour guide, passing through a wooden door that led to an open patio paved with squares of volcanic basalt stone. It was late morning and the sunlight gave the Egerström family home a soft glow. The white Cubist-looking structure stood to our left, its façade absent of ornamentation save for a slatted rectangular window. Directly ahead of us, a hedge and tree hid the courtyard beyond. The opening was framed by a white wall to one side and a rust-red wall to the other. We glimpsed a bright pink wall beyond and a cascade of water. Talk about a dramatic entrance.

Martín gestured to the opening. “The walls act like curtains to the main stage,” he said. “Barragán was a showman.”

The entrance to the home on the property, still owned by the Egerström family.

Our guide, Martín, described the walls, one white, the other brick red, as curtains of sorts, framing the spectacle to come.

We followed the sound of the gurgling water that spilled in a steady stream from a spout in a massive wall into a shallow basin. The pool reflects the sky, evoking a sense of tranquility but also serving a practical purpose as a trough to provide horses with water and to keep cool. 

The first glimpse of the courtyard at Cuadra San Cristóbal

Barragán was inspired by the Islamic gardens of the Alhambra in Spain and elements of Moorish architecture in North Africa, which focused on interior life arranged around a peaceful open courtyard garden and fountain. 

Even though the cuadra is in a neighborhood, it’s easy to forget this. Everywhere you look, you’re surrounded by greenery, and walls frame the open space, ensuring privacy. Barragán, you see, was at heart an introvert.

Barragán is known for his rectangular walls painted vibrant hues — especially this shade of magenta, which has become Mexico City’s official color.

The Wonderwalls of Cuadra San Cristóbal

As we moved closer to the courtyard, the white walls of the home receded to reveal a kinetic energy of broad intersecting horizontal and vertical planes awash in rosa mexicano (bougainvillea pink) and mauve (jacaranda purple). The palette was informed by Barragán’s lifelong friend and frequent collaborator, the painter Chucho Reyes. Colors build a strong contrast to the sand beneath our feet and the surrounding tropical flora. 

In fact, the colors were chosen to act as complementary tones to those provided by nature: The bright pink plays off the dark green of native plants; the tan wall provides a contrast with the blue sky; and the brick red wall pairs nicely with the aqua water in the pool.

A kaleidoscope of colors: brick red, magenta, aqua — and, of course, sky blue and green, provided by nature.

Right angles, pops of color, shifting shadows — these are all Barragán signatures.

Note the small gap where the two walls meet.

A sleeping schnauzer rests in the back corner of the courtyard.

The fountain at San Cristóbal is similar to another Barragán design, la Fuente de los Amantes.

I had seen photos of the very place where we were standing — but the color, form, texture and scale cannot truly be comprehended without experiencing the monumentality of the design in person. This is where I became acutely aware of Barragán’s use of scenic framing and spatial manipulation to create a dramatic sense of passage. Everywhere I looked, layers of color entered my field of vision. To me, this was truly a sacred space, where the concept of time seemed to dissolve. 

A copse of trees, including a jacaranda and an ombú, with its strange yellow fruit, act as an organic foil to the geometry of the measured lines. They stood in direct contrast to a pink wall with two vertical cutouts that suggested a citadel fortification but were, in fact, vents for hay bales. 

It’s easy to get caught up by the beauty of the space and forget that, at its heart, this is a horse ranch. But that’s exactly what it is, as you can see from the stables to the right.

Out to Pasture

We approached the stable and passed under the overhang of the boarding barn. Once home to 37 thoroughbred horses, the stalls were designed for the gentle giants to be able to see, smell and communicate with each other.  

“ Barragán was asked why he only built homes for the wealthy.

“And for horses,” he said. Then he added, “But horses are neither rich nor poor. They’re just horses.””

The clubhouse is located at the end of the stable near the fountain. Inside is a well-preserved teletype, which was used to send and receive printed messages and data via telephone cables, probably considered state-of-the-art at the time it was installed. Above eye level, a clerestory window perfectly frames a slice of the sky, illuminating the space with subtle natural light. Martín told us that Barragán didn’t include many built-in lights into his designs — instead, he relied on indirect sunlight and lamps.

After using the bathroom in the clubhouse, Wally came out with a big smile on his face. “We peed in a Barragán, bitches!” he whispered to me.

When we visited, there were only two horses kept at Cuadra San Cristóbal.

These two vertical openings are part of the dramatic wall of the courtyard. Here, at the back, you can see they have a purpose — offering ventilation for the hay.

A back entrance to the living quarters of the stables

It’s ironic that Barragán is famous for his intense color palette, when it was actually chosen by his friend, the painter Chucho Reyes.

All of the colors were chosen to match or complement that of the natural setting. The legendary pink, for instance, perfectly mirrors the blossoms of the property’s bougainvillea trees.

The purple wall is actually a gate that opens via gravity.

Duke pets Frida, one of the worker’s pet schnauzer.

A black schnauzer named Frida, owned by one of the workers, was napping in a corner of the yard and later came by to say hi to me. At the time of our visit, Cuadra San Cristóbal was home to a black cat who slinked by us as we made our way over to the pasture where a pair of horses, Little Girl and Carbonero, stood. When Wally asked about the name — Carbonero translates to Charcoal, a strange moniker for a white steed — Martín replied that it’s considered unlucky to give a white horse a name that refers to its color.

The garden is filled with cacti and palms.

Not Your Garden Variety Garden 

Many of the gardens designed by Barragán were intentionally left unmanicured in places. Martín led us to an unassuming secret garden concealed between an opening between the house and interior courtyard. Nature was incorporated throughout all of Barragán’s works, and landscapes were often designed by the architect himself. A magic tunnel of greenery hidden away in the woods behind the home led to a small wooden table. 

Barragán was a devout Fransican Catholic with deeply held spiritual beliefs. He felt that an essential part of his architecture should elevate the experience of its inhabitants, including plants, animals and humans. This private bower was a place for meditation and prayer, Martín told us. “It’s a place to have a deep conversation with the Almighty.” 

Such isolated spaces are an element in all of his works, Martín continued.

The green of the native plants offers a pleasant contrast to the hot pink walls.

Looking back toward another pasture, in a corner of which the family’s beloved donkey is buried

In another part of the back garden, a donkey that was a beloved family pet is buried among the hedges.

Martín spoke to one of the ranch hands, then beckoned for us to follow him, a twinkle in his eye. One of the owners who had been on the patio had gone back inside, so we would be allowed to see the Egerströms’ private pool area. We returned to the entrance portico, went up a few steps and made our way through a passage cast in shadow that suddenly opened to an intimate outdoor space. A pavilion overlooks a swimming pool and provides shelter from the sun. It would be a nice, quiet place to read — as attested by a recently abandoned newspaper that sat atop a table, fluttering in the breeze. 

We were fortunate enough to be able to explore the family’s private outdoor space.

How’d you like to cool off in this pool on a hot Mexico day?

The impressive swimming pool isn’t part of every tour. If the family is enjoying it, you won’t be able to see it.

Seen from any angle, Cuadra San Cristóbal is a masterpiece of harmony, scale and space. Even though it was built in the mid-’60s, its design remains modern and it certainly cemented my appreciation for Barragán. –Duke

 

Cuadra San Cristóbal

Cerrada Manantial Oriente 20
Mayorazgos de los Gigantes
52957 Ciudad López Mateos
México

Why We Love Barragán’s Fuente de los Amantes

The bright, modern Lovers’ Fountain reflects the equestrian neighborhood of Los Clubes, northwest of Mexico City. 

La Fuente de los Amantes, or the Lovers’ Fountain, by Luis Barragán

One of the first things you’ll notice when you enter the gated community of Los Clubes (The Clubs) is, well, the horse club. And just down the street is a lot showcasing Luis Barragán’s Fuente de los Amantes, or Lovers’ Fountain. 

Nods to the equestrian lifestyle are found everywhere in the design of this semi-public space. The “lovers” themselves are wooden horse troughs placed upright. A cobblestone path leading to the flat pool was constructed to present an inviting spot where horses could drink and cool off in the 4- to 5-foot-deep water. And the green space nearby was used for training. 

“La Fuente de los Amantes is pure Barragán.
Bright colors. Optical illusions. Designs that evoke emotion.”

The “lovers” are actually horse troughs placed upright — a nod to the equestrian neighborhood.

La Fuente de los Amantes is also pure Barragán. Bright colors. Optical illusions. Designs that evoke emotion as a reaction to the cold functionalism of Le Corbusier and his Bauhaus gang. 

“Barragán was good at taking rustic and traditional materials and turning them into something modern,” our guide, Martín, declared, showing us the cobblestones. His passion for Barragán definitely gave me a newfound appreciation for the architect. 

This cobblestone path was the entrance to the fountain and small park.

Wally stands on the intricate cobblestone pathway that leads to the fountain.

Martín pointed out another Barragán signature: walls that act as screens for shadows. When you stand on the side road, where the cobblestone path begins, one of the back walls is framed, and the shadows cast upon it act like a shifting work of art.

On one side, two of the walls meet to create a quiet chamber where one can imagine the rhythmic sound of a horses’ hooves merging with the soothing sound of falling water.

Barragán is known for bright colors, especially that pop of pink.

The Lovers’ Fountain took years to complete, wrapping up in 1964.

Nowadays the fountain only runs one hour a day, from 11 a.m. to noon. We visited as part of a half-day excursion with the Traveling Beetle. They, of course, timed our visit perfectly, and we got to see the water rushing along the aqueduct to pour down into the aqua-colored pool below. 

Where does the water go? If you look closely at the edge of the pool, you’ll spot a line of small holes, where the water filters in to be cycled back into the aqueduct.

The water in the fountain only runs for one hour a day now.

Horses would go into the fountain’s pool to cool off and get a drink of water.

Not to beat a dead horse, but Barragán rightfully holds his place as Mexico’s preeminent architect. The more you learn about his vision — and once you experience it in real life — the more admiration you’ll have for him. —Wally

 

Fuente de los Amantes

Manantial 10
Mayorazgos de los Gigantes
52957 Ciudad López Mateos
México

---

Barragán’s Mind-Boggling Torres de Satélite

Just outside of CDMX, the Satellite Towers seem to change shape before your very eyes.

“The towers make us look thinner!” Duke exclaimed.

When we first saw the Torres de Satélite (Satellite Towers), I must admit that I was not very impressed. Granted, we were speeding past them on the freeway to the northwestern suburb on the outskirts of Mexico City named, appropriately, Satélite (Merriam-Webster’s third definition of “satellite” being “a usually independent urban community situated near but not immediately adjacent to a large city”).

Seen from the freeway, the Torres de Satélite are cool but not overly impressive.

From one side, the towers look entirely rectangular, but — spoiler! — they’re not!

The five towers struck me as simple yet colorful rectangular sculptures rising into the sky. There didn’t seem to be much that was interesting about them.

But that was before we parked nearby and experienced them on foot. 

“What at first seemed to be rectangular structures reveal themselves to actually be triangular.

You walk on a bit, keeping your eyes on the ever-morphing shapes, and suddenly one of the towers looks entirely flat! ”

It’s fun tooling around in a bright orange-red Volkswagen bus.

Barragán Tour With the Traveling Beetle

One of my old coworkers had told me about Luis Barragán, and while I admired the clean lines and bright colors in the photos I saw of his works, I confess that I wasn’t fully appreciative of his supposed genius as an architect.

So I was happy to hear that Duke had booked us a half-day excursion to see some of Barragán’s projects just outside of Mexico City, through a tour group called the Traveling Beetle. A brief review:

Duke and Wally posing near their sytlin’ ride for the day

The cons: It’s definitely on the expensive side at $115 per person (that’s U.S. dollars, although keep in mind that the Mexican peso also uses the $ symbol). And, as cute as the vintage 1976 VW bus was to zoom around in, there weren’t any seatbelts. 

The pros: Everything else. 

Indeed, it’s no exaggeration when I say that I can thank our guide, Martín, in large part for my newfound appreciation of Barragán. His passion was contagious.

The architect who designed neighborhoods in the CDMX suburb of Cuidad Satélite hired Barragán to create an iconic, bold sculpture to impress visitors to the new development.

A Dramatic Entrance to Ciudad Satélite

Our first stop of the day was an exploration of the Torres de Satélite. We pulled into a parking lot just beyond them, which Martín described as one of the best-kept secrets of the area.

Barragán was hired to create an iconic entrance to the Ciudad Satélite, which was, at the time of the Torres de Satélite’s construction in 1958, a new community. Mario Pani, an architect known for modern megaprojects, designed the neighborhood and had been impressed with Barragán’s El Pedregal, gardens developed over lava fields. Wanting something that made a similar bold statement, Pani commissioned Barragán, who collaborated on the tower design with the artist Mathias Goeritz.

“It’s a piece of art,” Martín says, as we get out of the car and head toward the towers. “They’re in between sculpture and architecture.” 

The design of the Torres de Satélite was a collaboration with the Mexican artist Mathias Goeritz. This painting inspired Barragán to create the impressive monoliths.

The towers are in a concrete median in the middle of a bustling freeway, with commercial developments on either side. Note how Barragán ingeniously positioned the structures so their angles align at various vantage points.

The bright primary colors we see today weren’t the original hues, Martín informs us. Originally, the towers were painted in warm tones of ochre and orange. But when all eyes were on Mexico City for the 1968 Olympics, the city asked Barragán to refresh the palette. 

As can be seen in this vintage shot, the towers originally had a different color scheme. They were updated to coincide with the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City.

It’s a bit ironic that an architect known for his intense pops of color didn’t actually choose those colors himself. Barragán worked closely with the artist Chucho Reyes, who was the one who actually determined what colors to use. 

Barragán must have been pleased with the choice of primary colors, but Pani was not. In fact, the color scheme alteration caused the two architects to argue and part ways.

Are the towers rectangular? Triangular? Flat? Depends on where you’re standing!

The Optical Illusions of the Torres de Satélite

From afar, the towers look static — almost, I dare say, a bit boring. But then, upon approach, you see them transform into all sorts of dimensions and shapes. As you walk around the base of the towers, which range from 98 to over 160 feet tall, you’re constantly surprised: What at first seemed to be rectangular structures reveal themselves to actually be triangular. You walk on a bit, keeping your eyes on the ever-morphing shapes, and suddenly one of the towers looks entirely flat! 

Yet another optical illusion employed by Barragán was the use of forced perspective. The rows of bricks get smaller and tighter as they progress up each tower to evoke an increased sense of height.

Note the forced perspective — the horizontal lines get closer and closer as they near the top. This makes the tower look taller that it really is. The blue was chosen to match the sky.

The door at the base of the far tower is open, so I peek my head in. There isn’t anything impressive in there — it’s just an unfinished space with some maintenance tools scattered about in the thick layer of grime. Martín tells us he saw a homeless man seeking shelter inside one of the towers on a previous visit.

I was surprised to discover that the towers are open at the top. Birds flitted about inside. 

“Some people call them big birdhouses,” Martín continues. He points to the birdshit that covers the interior. “And that’s exactly what they are.”

The towers aren’t usually open, but we were able to peek inside one — and were surprised to discover that they’re open at the top.

Martín has us note how the towers cast shadows upon each other, creating additional ever-shifting lines, black shapes that mimic the malleability of the towers themselves. 

“Shadow was one of Barragán’s obsessions,” he explains.

The shadows that form shifting patterns on the towers were part of Barragán’s consideration in the design. He was always aware of the power of chiaroscuro.

Pretty much any picture of the towers could be considered modern art (at least that’s what Wally thinks).

Las Torres de Satélite ended up being but an appetizer on our tour of Barragán’s suburban works (with Cuadra San Cristóbal being the main course). They seem to defy the very laws of physics and are a great introduction to the brilliance of Barragán. –Wally

---

Las Torres de Satélite can be combined with a tour of other Barragán works in the northwestern suburbs of Mexico City.

Torres de Satélite
Ciudad Satélite
53100 Naucalpan de Juárez
State of Mexico
Mexico