Casa Barragan by Luis Barragan in Mexico City, Mexico

Casa Barragan was Luis Barragan's personal home and studio in Miguel Hidalgo District on the outskirts of Mexico City. Although the home is now a UNESCO World Heritage site museum and testament to his work, Barragan had instructed that upon his death, the home would be left to his housekeeper who continues to live there today. How amazing is that? Pritker Prize winner, one of the world's most renowned architects, just leaves his very own personal home...to his housekeeper. Perfect.

His religiosity; his love of animals; signature colors; the lines and shapes; the windows; the lack of windows; the way the light moves through the home as the sun moves through the day; the way the home is located on a busy street in one of the busies cities in all of the world, yet the instant you step inside and close the door, you would never know. In fact, there is no way to view the street from any point inside the home, and you feel as if you're a suburban garden. Barragan liked to call himself a landscape architect, and his personal home is an ideal example of this characterization.

The window.... The window in this home is one of the most photographed windows in all of architecture. And it should be...

This window influences almost the entirety of the home and is pertinent to Barragan's idea that you feel like you are outside while inside.

The home leaves you in a bit of a dreamy state while walking through. Barragan was intensely private. Hence, his home is dark but for calculated strands of light that shine through and illuminate artwork, specific spaces, or a table.

Anyone can tour the home. Photography passes are expensive, and while I did buy one, and they do say you will have time to take or make decent photos, in reality you are fairly quickly shuffled through the home. One tour group will be just ahead of the next, with one coming behind as well. Still, the feeling of being in the home is what makes it worth it.