The Representation of Ambiguity on the Spaces of Luis Barragan House and Studio

Abstract

Luis Barragan House and Studio, designed by Barragan in 1947, is the architect's most representative and significant work. In it, he first established his architectural language in terms of organizing the interaction between physical structure and surrounding nature. This paper focuses on the methodology of Barragan's coordination of a sense of boundary as an intriguing factor in Barragan House. Representations of ambiguity in the house-which contains a sense of openness, extension, and combination-were analyzed, yielding three conclusions. First, overlapped, undefined thresholds and structural fluidity stimulate visual ambiguity by implying spatial integration. Second, the adjacent juxtaposition of functionally diverse spaces creates spatial tension and leads to the effect of a vanishing, filmy boundary. Third, spatial experience penetrates the distribution of invisible boundaries such as light, memory, and sensuous synthesis, which renders phenomenological diffusion as a temporary, but rather dominant, ambiguity. The paper concludes that Barragan's spatial ambiguity does not represent disorder or confusion, but a methodology for the embodiment of his emotive architecture. It does so through still, simple, and minimal spatiality that refers to both tangible and invisible attributes and operates as a key factor in understanding the intrinsic quality of attraction and resonance in Barragan's spaces.