Luis Barragan is an icon of contemporary architecture-a genius of color, light, walls, the garden, the tower, the rooftop, he has influenced an entire generation of current architects, not least of them his one-time collaborator Ricardo Legorreta. Admirers of his work note its serenity, its harmony. In 1979, when Barragan was presented the Pritzker Prize, his work was referred to as "a sublime act of the poetic imagination." It is this aspect of Barragan's work that is presented in The Life and Work of Luis Barragan, a biographical portrait that reveals Barragan as a master of what he himself called "emotional architecture."

Barragan's impressions and influences are recorded here, from his early years in Gudalajara to his work in Mexico City, and his highly inspiring travels in the Alhambra, the villages of Greece, and northern Africa. His rejection of the concepts of Le Corbusier and the International Style, and his embrace of the ideas of the French intellectual, painter, and landscape architect Ferdinand Bac provided valuable framework for understanding both the theory and form of Barragan's oeuvre.

Brilliant color photographs record Barragan's vibrant work as it has never been seen before, including generous interior shots of such varied projects as Casa Cristo in Guadalajara, and Casas Galvez, Egerstrom, and Meyer, all from his Mexico City years. Barragan was perhaps first and foremost a landscape architect, and this book spotlights his gardens, and his vanguard, landscape-based approach to architecture itself-centered on the close relationship between landscape, color, and architecture in Mexico and the other lands that inspired him.

Text and photographs combine in The Life and Work of Luis Barragan for a personal and evocative portrayal of the Mexican master that will fascinate everyone familiar with his legacy, and intrigue those who are only just discovering the power and influence of his work.