Nancarrow
At Nancarrow, he was also visited by fellow composers like Aaron Copland (1900-1990) and John Cage (1912-1992) from the USA, along with many others from Mexico and the rest of the world. It was in this same studio that the first recordings were made which led to Nancarrow’s music becoming known in Europe and the USA.
Juan O’Gorman (1905-1987), the architect in charge of most of the design, made this his first attempt at an organic architecture (1948), he also connects the Nancarrow House with the Anahuacalli House-Studio of Diego Rivera; the Study of Frida Kahlo, the Hotel Posada in Taxco, Guerrero; the Convention Center in San Antonio, Texas and the Tupahue Spa in Santiago, Chile.
Contemporary Mexico has a rich and invaluable history, and the Nancarrow-Sugiura family’s own ongoing efforts to preserve the house make it possible for us to understand, in great detail, the complex musical world that Conlon Nancarrow created. It reflects a dialogue between two exceptional individuals, Juan O’Gorman and Conlon Nancarrow – a dialogue which is manifested in a magnificent architectural work. It offers posterity an experience of a deep sense of the modern fusion of two artistic disciplines, and allows us the opportunity to understand a lesser-known aspect of Mexico’s historical legacy.
The first construction phase of the Nancarrow House-Studio, situated in the middle part of Juan O’Gorman’s ample body of architectural work, contains the symbolism that he developed to its maximum expression on the walls of the Central Library of the National University. This makes it a second location where one can appreciate this decorative technique, representing a unique and original achievement at the beginning of the second half of the 20 th century in Mexico. In a parallel way,
Nancarrow House-Studio is similar in its relevance to the first functionalist house that O’Gorman created in 1929, since, without a doubt, it’s in this property created for Conlon Nancarrow that O’Gorman – for the first time realized an organic residential design style. This presaged the even more radical residential statement that was O’Gorman’s own house-studio in San Jerónimo, which no longer exists.
The Nancarrow House-Studio is laid out on an irregular plot of land with a semi-humid climate. House and setting are integrated into a unified whole via the height of the walls, linear forms, the transparency of the large windows, the façades covered with colourful volcanic rock, along with an ‘amiable’ relationship with the flora and fauna of the region. Austere in its design, it evokes Mexican vernacular architecture and its shapes echo a classic Meso-American style. The Nancarrow House-Studio embodies these aspects with its attractive crenellations and its stately ‘tableaus’ with their pre-Hispanic symbolism, thus making it a work of multi-faceted interest and value.
Whoever (along with academic and cultural institutions) would assist in the acquisition and official designation of the Nancarrow House-Studio, could give a new boost to the national image,
Contribute: The preservation of a specific and important period in the history of Latin American and Mexican architecture. This is being studied these days with great interest in our universities, as well as in the United States, Spain and Japan.
Research: It would also mark a new investigative approach to the study of the tangible legacy of both Juan O’Gorman himself and of Conlon Nancarrow, not only as important figures in the creative scene of the 20 th century, but also from a more personal and human perspective.
Analyse: Objectively speaking, the Nancarrow House-Studio can be understood as something of a ‘missing link’ in the study of the life and work of both Conlon Nancarrow and Juan O’Gorman – one which clarifies certain gaps in our understanding of both artists.
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