The Modern High Rise in Oaxaca
In my 2005 tour of 22 American cities I saw that one of the most prominent features of most downtown's is that the commercial-corporate buildings are in the colors of natural building materials...grey, beige, red or gold brick. While there are some exceptions with buildings that are black, rust, or mirrored, there are few buildings that resemble the campus of the Pacific Design Center in Los Angeles, designed by the ever elegant Cesar Pelli with one red, one green and one blue building, each a very large building.
I often wonder if the modern architectural break with the classical and classical revival past might not have favored the colors of natural building material as a way to mitigate the shock of the new. Perhaps. But it is likely as well that the corporate entities which commissioned the buildings might have clung to their conservative roots and demanded the washed out look for their vertical boxes. At one time Frank Lloyd Wright toyed with the idea of painting the Guggenheim Museum flamingo pink. I could understand Mr. Solomon Guggenheim laying a hand on Wrights wrist and saying to him categorically: I prefer beige. Money talks.
In the fine arts the three plastic elements are color, line, and form. Most modern architects avail themselves of only the latter two. An early exception to this is the Mexican architect Luis Barragon. His buildings are multicolored and in high chroma colors. Often adjoining walls make sudden color breaks. An architect much influenced by Barragon is Ricardo Legoretto who has worked widely in the United States southwest. He is a master of the use of bold color in modern architecture. I have seen and toured his San Antonio Texas Public Library and it is wonderful.
In Oaxaca many of the high rise buildings ...we are talking four, five, and six floors here ...are white in the Richard Meir-Corbusier tradition or in the pale colors of the Solomon the Wise tradition. But buildings with stronger colors are here and I for one am all in favor.
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