Ricardo Legorreta: Celebrating Hispanic Architecture
Image: Sonoma Resicence; Architect, Ricardo Legorreta; Interior Designer, Ivy Rosequist; Contractor, Cello & Maudru Construction; Lighting Designer, EJA Lighting Design; Photo, Lourdes Legorreta
Celebrating National Hispanic Heritage Month, we recognize the Mexican Modernist architect Ricardo Legorreta (1931–2011), who left a built legacy not only in his native land but also in the United States. One of COUPAR's marketing clients, EJA Lighting Design, was fortunate to collaborate with Legorreta on a Sonoma ranch in the early '90s, where they illuminated a world-class art collection. The acclaimed architect believed that "It's important to design an environment that has an atmosphere of intimacy, peace, and optimism." For the Sonoma project, Legorreta achieved this through pavilions clustered around a central courtyard, emphasizing light, color, and place.
Image: Schwab Residential Center, Stanford University; Architect, Ricardo Legorreta; Photo, Architizer
The late designer Ivy Rosequist (1934-2008), who started the furniture company Wicker, Wicker, Wicker at the encouragement of her friend Michael Taylor, crafted the understated California-style interiors of the wine country estate. Legorreta collaborated with other esteemed designers on private commissions, including Bruce Gregga and The Wiseman Group. While these are only available for viewing if published, the architect also contributed many public spaces to the landscape. One of these is the Schwab Residential Center at Stanford University. Legorreta organized the buildings around four courtyards to complement the early Stanford residential architecture and reference traditional haciendas.
Image: Sonoma Resicence; Architect, Ricardo Legorreta; Contractor, Cello & Maudru Construction; Photo, Cello & Maudru Construction
For the Stanford Residential Center, the architect combined timeless Mexican forms with modernist principles, using light and color to designate different functions. He believed color "dramatizes, evokes, produces emotional responses, intensifies personal experience, provides energy to spaces, and reinforces their presence." In his homeland, he favored the saturated hues of his mentor, the architect Luis Barragán, and Giorgio de Chirico's metaphysical paintings. He learned that in the United States, the cultural heritage differed, and he had to tone the colors accordingly. The Tustin Marketplace's once-planned purple walls were deemed too garish, so he changed them to ochre.
