Ricardo Legorreta /

Ricardo Legorreta Vilchis (May 7, 1931 – December 30, 2011) was a Mexican architect. He was a prolific designer of private houses, public buildings and master plans in Mexico, The United States and Japan. He studied architecture at the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico. He was awarded the prestigious UIA Gold Medal in 1999. Legorreta was a disciple of Luis Barragan and carried Barragan's ideas to a wider realm. Legorreta used elements of Barragan's architecture in his work including bright colors, play of light and shadow, and solid Platonic geometric shapes. One of the important contributions of Legorreta has been the use of these elements in other building types such as hotels, factories as well as in commercial and educational buildings. His most famous works are the Camino Real Hotel, the IBM Factory in Guadalajara and the Cathedral of Managua. He now also has a strong presence outside of Mexico, particularly in the southwest of the United States.