Cuadra San Cristóbal's famous pink-hued walls are opened to the public for the first time, and set in a dialogue with contemporary abstract art

Wall of Light Cubed in the courtyard of the 1968-built Cuadra San Cristóbal by architect Luis Barragán.
Wall of Light Cubed in the courtyard of the 1968-built Cuadra San Cristóbal by architect Luis Barragán. © Felix Friedmann

For the first time, architect Luis Barragán's pink-walled masterwork of Mexican modernism is open to the public—as a gallery space. Cuadra San Cristóbal, built by Barragán in 1968 for the Egerstrom family in Mexico City, is most visually famous for its courtyard, a design of sweeping geometric volumes in earth tones and pink hues. Now, the modernist ranch is playing host to contemporary artwork. In consultation with the Egerstrom family, curator Oscar Humphries has installed paintings and sculptures by Sean Scully, creating a dialogue between the artist's "emotional abstraction" and the architect's "emotional architecture."

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Brown Silver Tower by Sean Scully is a Cor-Ten steel sculpture set at the entrance of the Barragán-designed courtyard.
Brown Silver Tower by Sean Scully is a Cor-Ten steel sculpture set at the entrance of the Barragán-designed courtyard. - "Sean would say, 'the work is the work,'" said curator Humphries. "But in this context, Barragán's architecture accentuates the existing architectural element of the Cor-Ten sculpture." © Felix Friedmann