Ricardo Legorreta
# Ricardo Legorreta

Ricardo Legorreta Vilchis (May 7, 1931 – December 30, 2011) was a Mexican architect. He was a prolific designer of private houses, public buildings and master plans in Mexico, the United States and some other countries.

He was awarded the prestigious UIA Gold Medal in 1999, the AIA Gold Medal in 2000, and the Praemium Imperiale in 2011.

## Life and career

Ricardo Legorreta was born on May 7, 1931, in Mexico City. He studied architecture at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, where he graduated in 1953. After working for ten years with José Villagrán García, he established his own office in 1963.

## Architectural expression

Legorreta was a disciple of Luis Barragán and carried Barragan's ideas to a wider realm. Barragan, in the 1940s and 1950s amalgamated tradition and the modern movement in architecture yet his work is mostly limited to domestic architecture. Legorreta applied elements of Barragan's architecture in his work including bright colors, play of light and shadow, and solid Platonic geometric shapes. One of the important contributions of Legorreta has been the use of these elements in other building types such as hotels, factories as well as in commercial and educational buildings. His most famous works are the Camino Real Hotel in Mexico City, the IBM Factory in Guadalajara and the Cathedral of Managua.

## Works

### In Mexico City

* 1964, Laboratorios Smith Kline & French, collaboration with Mathias Goeritz, today the Comisión de Derechos Humanos del Distrito Federal, Av. Universidad 1449
* 1967, Colegio Cedros and Universidad Panamericana Preparatoria, Tecoyotitla 364 y 366, Chimalistac, San Ángel
* 1967, Casa Lomas Altas
* 1968, Camino Real hotel, Colonia Anzures
* 1968, Offices of Celanese Mexicana, now SEMARNAT, Av. Revolución 1425, Tlacopac, San Ángel
* 1972, Restoration of the Palace of Iturbide, Historic Center
* 1976, Seguros América offices, today Tribunal Federal de Justicia, Av. Revolución 1508, San Ángel
* 1985, Kodak factory in Xochimilco
* 1993, Restoration of the Antiguo Colegio de San Ildefonso, UNAM. Justo Sierra street #16, Historic Center
* 1993, Papalote Museo del Niño, Bosque de Chapultepec 2nd Section
* 1994, Restoration of the Club de Banqueros, Av. 16 de Septiembre 27, Historic Center
* 1994, Remodel of the Chapultepec Zoo
* 1994, Centro Nacional de las Artes master plan, Edificio de Administración e Investigación, Edificio Central and Escuela Nacional de Artes Plásticas La Esmeralda
* 1998, Televisa Santa Fe
* 2001, Tecnológico de Monterrey, Campus Santa Fe
* 2005, Plaza Juárez including the Museum of Memory and Tolerance and Secretaría de Relaciones Exteriores (Plaza Juárez tower)
* 2010, Torre BBVA Bancomer, in collaboration with Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners of London. Paseo de la Reforma at Lieja street.
* 2010, División de Estudios de Posgrado y Especializaciones en Economía, UNAM. Centro Cultural Universitario

### Other cities in Mexico

* 1967, Chrysler factory in Toluca
* 1967 Nissan Cuernavaca Plant
* 1970, IBM Guadalajara Technology Campus, Guadalajara
* 1975, Hotel Camino Real, Cancun, now Hyatt Ziva Cancun
* 1981, Hotel Camino Real, today Westin Brisas, Ixtapa
* 1985, Renault factory en Gómez Palacio, Durango
* 1989, Plan Maestro para Huatulco, Huatulco
* 1990, Hotel Las Brisas, Huatulco
* 1991, Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Monterrey
* 2001, EGADE Escuela de Graduados en Administración y Dirección de Empresas del ITESM in Monterrey
* 2005, Casa Legorreta residence, San Miguel de Allende
* 2007, EGAP Escuela de Graduados en Administración Pública y Política Pública del ITESM in Monterrey
* 2007, Hotel La Purificadora, 2006 Puebla City
* 2007, Hotel Casa Reyna, Privada 2 Oriente 1007, Puebla City
* 2007, Hotel Camino Real Monterrey
* 2008, Museo Interactivo Laberinto de las Ciencias y las Artes, San Luis Potosí
* 2008, The Tides, Playa del Carmen Riviera Maya
* 2011, Centro Médico Zambrano Hellion of the ITESM in Monterrey

### United States

* 1983–1985, Casa Montalbán, in Los Angeles
* 1985, buildings at Solana Complex in Southlake near Dallas
* 1988, Tustin Market Place, Tustin, California
* 1990, Children's Discovery Museum of San Jose
* 1994, Pershing Square restoration, Los Angeles
* 1995, San Antonio Public Library
* 1995, South Chula Vista branch library, Chula Vista, San Diego, California
* 1998, Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research building, Emeryville, California
* 1998, The Tech Museum of Innovation, San Jose
* 1998, The UCLA Tom Bradley International Hall Gallery and Conference Center, Los Angeles
* 1999, Santa Fe University of Art and Design Visual Arts Center, 1999, Santa Fe
* 2001, Max Palevsky Residential Commons (Chicago)
* 2003, Latino Cultural Center Dallas
* 2003, Keller Estate Winery, Petaluma, California
* 2005, Bakar Fitness & Recreation Center at UCSF Mission Bay, San Francisco
* 2015, Cross Border Xpress terminal and bridge in Otay Mesa, San Diego, connecting to Tijuana International Airport

### Central America

* 1993, Metropolitan Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, (Managua, Nicaragua)
* 2004, Multiplaza Panamericana (San Salvador, El Salvador)
* 2005, Centro Comercial Multiplaza Panamericana, in Antiguo Cuscatlan, El Salvador
* 2005, New campus of the Escuela Superior de Economía y Negocios, ESEN, Santa Tecla, El Salvador
* 2007–2009, Casa Margarita, Guatemala City
* 2012–2014, Terra Esperanza, Guatemala City

### Other countries

* 2000, Mexico pavilion at Expo 2000 Hannover
* 2003, Fashion and Textile Museum, (Bermondsey, London, United Kingdom)
* 2004, Houses in Las Águilas, Madrid, Spain
* 2005, Hotel Sheraton Bilbao, Bilbao, Spain
* 2007, Texas A&M University at Qatar, (Education City, Doha, Qatar)
* 2008, Carnegie Mellon University (Qatar), (Education City, Doha, Qatar)
* 2008, Campus Center and Student Residential Village, the American University in Cairo, Cairo)
* 2009, Casa Del Agua Hotel, 2009 (Jeju-do, South Korea)
* 2010, Davidka Square, 2010 (Jerusalem, Israel)

## Other Recognition

In 2000, Legoretta received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement.

In 2002, Legoretta received the Order of Isabella the Catholic granted by the government of Spain.

