'''Jardines del Pedregal''' (English: ''Rocky Gardens'') or simply '''El Pedregal''' is an upscale residential ''colonia'' (neighborhood) in southern Mexico City.  Its borders are San Jerónimo Av and C.U. at the north, Insurgentes Av at the east and Periférico at south and west. Its  were the major real estate project undertaken by Mexican modernist architect Luis Barragán.  When it was originally developed, in the mid 40’s in the lava fields of El Pedregal de San Angel, it was probably the biggest urban development the city has seen.

The area has changed a lot since its original development but even as its modernist spirit and its original elements of ecosystem protection are gone critics have described its original development, the houses and gardens as a turning point in Mexican architecture. Some of the old modernist houses have been catalogued as part of Mexico’s national patrimony.

==History==
The Pedregal lava fields were formed by the eruption of the Xitle volcano around the year 5000 BC, however there are documented eruptions up to the year 400 AD.

===Early History===
The area near what is currently el Pedregal, called Cuicuilco, was inhabited since ca. 1700 BC. Around 300 BC this area contained what was probably the biggest city in the Valley of Mexico at the time. Its importance started to decay around the 100 BC and was completely empty by 400 AD.

For centuries the area was a wilderness, the Aztecs would condemn people to banishment by sending them there to be bitten by the rattle snakes that lived there.

==Urban Development==
In the mid 1940's Luis Barragan began a project to urbanise the area and protect the its ecosystem. Barragán had the idea of developing El Pedregal promoting the ''harmony'' between architecture and landscape. The firsts structures built on the site were the Plaza de las Fuentes, or Plaza of the Fountains, the Lote Muestra, or demonstration gardens and demonstration houses by Barragán and Max Cetto. 

===Plaza de las Fuentes===
El Pedregal's original main entrance, the Plaza de las Fuentes, was completed by the second half of 1949, it stood at the intersection of Fuentes avenue and San Jerónimo. The only remaining element of the plaza is the concrete ''Animal del Pedregal'' a sculpture by Mathias Goeritz, inspired by a prehistoric animal figure etched into the rocks of El Pedregal.

===Lote muestra and demonstration houses===
The Lote muestra, was located on the north side of Cascada Street, between Agua street and Fuentes avenue, just south of the Plaza de las Fuentes. Though designed for public inspection, the gardens here were planned as models for the development of private space. 
Along with the Demonstration houses, these gardens were intended to entice prospective buyers and demonstrate the Pedregal's potential as a site for garden-homes. They were to illustrate Barragán's idea of ''correct'' building, promoting the sort of ''harmony'' between architecture and landscape that Barragán desired. Occupying about , the Lote Muestra were enclosed by volcanic-stone walls and iron fences and entered through metal or rough-hewn wood gates. 

'''Jardines del Pedregal''' is een wijk in het district Álvaro Obregón, in het zuiden van Mexico-stad.

De wijk is in de jaren '40 ontworpen door Luis Barragán. Voorheen was het gebied eeuwenlang onbewoond. In het laatste millennium na de jaartelling werd het gebied bewoond door de Cuicuilcobeschaving, waar plotseling een einde aan kwam door de uitbarsting van de Xitle. Door deze uitbarsting ontstond een lavaveld, ''El Pedregal'', waar de wijk later op is gebouwd. Ten tijde van de Azteken was het gebied onbewoond, sommige misdadigers werden erheen verbannen waarna ze meestal stierven vanwege de slangen.

Barragán had het idee om El Pedregal te ontwerpen als harmonie tussen architectuur en landschap. De eerste bouwwerken waren de ''Plaza de las Fuentes'' (Plein van de Fortuinen) en modelhuizen en -tuinen die waren ontworpen door Barragán en Max Cetto. De Plaza de las Fuentes was voltooid in 1949, en vormde oorspronkelijk de ingang van de wijk. Tegenwoordig is dit plein echter grotendeels verdwenen. Rotsen en vegetatie werden zoveel mogelijk in tact gelaten, en paden werden gevormd uit kloven tussen lavaformaties. Op een aantal plaatsen werden trappen uitgehakt tussen rotsterrassen, die naar pleinen of tuinen leiden.