Explore A Masterpiece of Mexican Modernism

LOCATION Mexico City, Mexico DESIGN Luis Barragán PHOTOGRAPHY Jack Lovel WORDS Aleesha Callahan

The Greats is a new series on iconic architecture explored through a photographer’s lens. Casa Pedregal, a masterpiece of Mexican modernism by Luis Barragán, emerges anew through the eye of Australian photographer Jack Lovel, whose rare access captures the house’s interplay of space, colour, and light.

Casa Pedregal is an enigma. Designed in 1947 by Pritzker Prize winning architect Luis Barragán, it is a study in contrasts. Vivid pink walls sit against volcanic stone, expansive volumes lead to intimate enclosures, light shifts as if choreographed through apertures. While the house is widely admired, few have had the chance to document it with the astuteness it deserves. Australian photographer Jack Lovel has captured its rarely seen details in a way that breathes new life into Barragán’s spatial poetry.

The opportunity to photograph Casa Pedregal came about with kismet. While presenting his work on Bulgarian-Australian architect Iwan Iwanoff at Modernism Week Palm Springs in 2023, Lovel met Modernism Week Mexico City co-founders Cristina Artigas and Roberto Diaz Gonzalez. Deeply embedded in Mexico’s modernist heritage—Cristina is the granddaughter of renowned architect Francisco Artigas—the duo saw in Lovel’s work a sensibility that resonated with their mission: bringing renewed global attention to Mexico’s rich modernist tradition. Staying in touch, the connection led to an invitation to photograph Casa Pedregal, a rare privilege given the home’s limited accessibility.

Defined by a series of expansions and contractions, the house features a theatrical interplay of scale and light. Lovel has responded instinctively to the architecture, letting first impressions be the guide alongside Barragán’s genius.

Barragán’s work is inseparable from its hues. The walls of Casa Pedregal shift with the day’s changing light—one moment saturated, the next softened to an ethereal glow. “Colour is integral here,” Lovel observes. “The way it changes, even within minutes, makes the experience of moving through the space feel cinematic.”

While lesser known than Casa Estudio Luis Barragán (the architect’s own home), Diaz Gonzalez shares that, “Casa Pedregal holds a special place. As a significant piece of Luis Barragán’s legacy, it encapsulates the delicate balance between simplicity and poetic spatial expression that defined his work.”

For Artigas and Diaz Gonzalez, the house is emblematic of their broader vision for Modernism Week Mexico City. “In Mexico, modernism was never a mere imitation—it evolved into a dynamic dialogue between global ideas and regional sensibilities. The bold geometric forms, innovative uses of natural light, and seamless transitions between indoor and outdoor spaces speak to a design ethos that resonates with the country’s vibrant spirit and rich heritage,” Artigas says. Through guided tours, talks and exhibitions, they are reintroducing audiences to structures like Casa Pedregal, not as relics of the past but as living, evolving spaces.

In a house designed to be felt as much as seen, Lovel’s work offers a new way of experiencing Barragán’s legacy, one where architecture, light and colour remain as vital as ever.

Situated atop a volcanic rock, the house emerges from the site, with its modernist lines and playful pink exterior. Colour is a defining feature of Barragán's work.

The interior spaces compress and release, coupled with shifting floor levels and a carving of light, creating what photographer Jack Lovel describes as a "cinematic" experience.