LEGORRETTA & JOY

LEGORRETA

How would you define his architectural accomplishments for the two projects Solana and Camino Real Hotel, Extapa related to culture and climate?

Legorreta’s Solana project makes an attempt to address embodying Mexican culture through architecture, but to me it falls short.  The facades stucco and color are reminiscent of traditional Mexico, but the overall impression I got from looking at Solana was more post-modernism than vernacular Mexico.  The Camino Real Hotel I believe is a better realization of Legorreta’s goals.  Like Solana, the Camino displays a façade befitting of vernacular Mexico.  However, this project goes further than Solana.  The Camino is designed with the local landscape in mind.  This project is carved into the cliff-side in a way that it allows for beautiful views of the area’s countryside.  The orthogonal forms of the Camino also give a sense of modernism while still fitting within the traditional Mexican context.  Furthermore, the site location also offers a great deal of thermal massing and strategic heating a cooling opportunities with local sun patterns.

JOY

Do you think his use of materials and building form are convincing?  Use specific examples.

Overall, I agree with the others that have posted about Joy thus far.  Both the Vermont house, Tubac house, and Convent studios fit within the context of their respective communities.  The Vermont house has a New England style from the exterior that is befitting of the local context.  The interior leaves a bit to be desired though – you could say the exterior is deceiving in a way because of the care that given to the outside and the lack of thought that is given to the inside.  The Tubac house uses materiality to relate back to the context of corrugated metal roofing of less fortunate neighborhoods in the area.  The Convent studio also uses materials such as concrete and wood construction to relate to local Mexican architecture.

Do you think the experiential characteristic of his projects is in any way compromised by his fundamental basics?

I think that Joy’s fundamental basics add to the experiential characteristic of his projects.  Joy’s care for context and a sort of “less is more” approach help to highlight the importance of clean architecture and an address to the beauty of the surrounding area.  The attention to detail is what would make these projects even better to experience in person.

-Sam Sudy