The Idea of Mystery in the Work of François Mauriac and its allusion to the artistic creations of Giorgio de Chirico, René Magritte, and Ferdinand Bac as a critical construct of the architectural work of Luis Barragán

Abstract

For the architect Luis Barragán, the secularization of life had prevented in modern domestic life the development of activities and routines aimed at spiritual and artistic rest, thus, starting in the 1940s, his architecture would form environments where the twilight, the sinuosity of its sequences and the presence of nature would evoke this halo of mystery necessary for the spiritual and creative life of its inhabitants. Based on the above, the question stands out: To what extent were the mysterious environments of Barragán's work a reflection of an ideological position that contrasted with the diaphanous, open, and abstract environments of the technocratic vision of modern architecture in Mexico?  The following research aims to delve into the theoretical sources that nourished Barragán's notion of mystery. To do this, the architect's personal library was extensively used, which the Luis Barragán Tapatia Architecture Foundation currently preserves. After a qualitative analysis of the literature books, the collection of titles by the Catholic novelist François Mauriac stood out and this article will thus shed light on part of the theoretical and critical baggage from which Barragán reflected on the mystery secondly, the text will reflect on both the artwork of Giorgio De Chirico, René Magritte and the landscape work of Ferdinand Bac, -all of them present on his personal library- which served as references for Barragán to recreate architecture and landscape embedded with an air of mystery.