‘Palimpsest Barragán’ offers a unique opportunity to engage closely with a 20th-century modernist architectural masterpiece by Luis Barragán. As a hidden and yet-to-be-recognized gem located in the middle of a paradisiacal jungle on the Pacific coast, the ruins of the unfinished building have faded into obscurity, much like pre-Hispanic pyramids in Mexico. It is currently in a state of progressive decay. The workshop will not only ‘unearth’ the project and finally place it on the map of architectural discourse, but it may also have a greater impact by initiating a debate surrounding the preservation of the disintegrating ruin.
A building can better withstand time if its structure is transformed into a layer of an entirely new identity by dissolving its ruins into a new building, becoming part of an ‘architectural palimpsest.’ The juxtaposition of existing ruins with new additions or subtractions can become an endless process of eternally drawing layers, all contributing to the complexity of the palimpsest.
