On approach to Barcelona via the A-2, the main highway that connects the city to Madrid, a mammoth, multi-cubed terracotta-coloured structure rises up over the freeway, towering above the middling residential blocks that proliferate Barcelona’s outskirts. The building is named Walden 7 and it was built in 1975; the year of Franco’s death. Since then, it has come to represent the birth of New Spanish Architecture. Its creator is the Catalan architect Ricardo Bofill. His studio—or Taller de Arquitectura —is located next door; an extraordinary conversion of a disused cement factory in the midst of a lush garden of bamboo, eucalyptus and cypress trees.
Bofill was born to a prominent bourgeois Catalan family. His father worked in construction and he admits that these circumstances afforded him opportunities very early on. He formed the Taller de Arquitectura in 1963, a multi-disciplined group that became a leading catalyst of the gauche divine (or ‘divine left), a movement of artists and intellectuals that, during Spain’s transition from dictatorship to democracy, waged to yank the country into the 20th century. ‘When I was growing up Spain was a ‘grey’ country, everything was shadowy, dirty, dull,’ says Bofill from his capacious office located in one of the factory’s former silos. ‘Spanish fascism was brutal.’
By any standards, his oeuvre has been prolific. The Taller, which now employs 70 people has carried out over 1000 projects in over 50 countries. Bofill’s architectural language switched in the nineteen-eighties from the early neo-realist, utopian experiments to one using historical references, mostly renaissance and baroque, to create grand urban spaces, particularly in the villes nouvelles that mushroomed around Paris during the decade.
This integration of the old and new has not always sat well with critics (Robert Hughes, in his seminal book Barcelona, said that Bofill’s French cities were ‘carried out in a coarsely scenographic style, a parody of neo-classicism’) but he has remained true to his postmodernist creed and disapproving of the current architectural star system. ‘In architecture, as in all the arts, there is a history and one has to know it. From this history and by using new technologies, we can go forward. If you don’t (know history), then you are creating architecture that is very personal. That may make sense on an experimental level, but its not one that adapts to the needs of the people.’
Paradoxically, two of his projects have just been completed in Barcelona that bare no signs of his trademark inverted classicism. The first is the city’s new airport terminal (called T1) an elegant, ethereal, spear-shaped structure compactly organised and easy to navigate. ‘When people walk through it’s like a small city,’ he says when asked to describe the building. ‘It’s all perfectly integrated. It’s simple, austere with a quality of function and good light. (Bofill has never been known for his modesty but in this case he is perfectly correct). The second, and certainly more iconic is the new W hotel, a 109-metre high, glass-clad, sail shaped beacon at the entrance to the city’s port.
At 70 years old, it seems that Bofill may still have a few critic-confounding cards to play. ‘My work (in various locations in the world) has given me a very kaleidoscopic vision, which obliges to you to create distinct projects in distinct places. But I want to adapt and change, because for me repetition is boring, I would hate to repeat what I have already done.’
Established by Ignacio Fernandez Rodgriquez in 2003, Aspid Cars has brought the Supercar to Spain
Read the Article: Aspid Supercar
The Cubic rooms of Aragon’s Hotel Consolacion perch high above Aragon
Read the Article: Hotel Consolacion, Aragon
A high-design boutique hotel, Consolacion sits atop a rocky ravine in North East Spain
Espadrilles, the stylish Spanish footwear of choice
Studio House Acoran II, by Gyp Arquitectos
Read the Article: Studio House Acoran II, by Gyp Arquitectos
Recycling centre by Hidalgo Hartmann architects
Recycling Centre, Barcelona by Hidalgo Hartmann
Read the Article: Hidalgo Hartmann
Hotel Ferrero, Valencia
Read the Article: Hotel Ferrero, Valencia
Villa Julia Playhouse, by Javier Mariscal
Read the Article: Villa Julia Playhouse, by Javier Mariscal
Read the Article: Ultzama Equestrian Centre, Navarre
Valdermorillo House, by Padilla Nicas
Read the Article: Valdermorillo House, by Padilla Nicas
Women's Institute Mostoles, by Nodo
Read the Article: Women's Institute Mostoles, by Nodo
One of the 2009 Pamplona Festival's high-colour posters
Read the Article: Pamplona Fiesta Posters
Muralla by Ricardo Bofill Architects
Read the Article: Ricardo Bofill Architect
Fabrica by Ricardo Bofill Architects
Dior Couture, by Ricardo Fumanal
Read the Article: Ricardo Fumanal.
Simil Jesus by Ricardo Fumnal
Work for GIles Deacon by Ricardo Fumnal
Artwork for Mango by RIcardo Fumnal
The Lab Room Spa, Madrid
Read the Article: The Lab Room Spa, Madrid
Trestle table by Spanish designer, Tomas Alonso
Read the Article: Tomas alonso, Designer
Erotic publishing from Spanish creative, Luis Venegas
Read the Article: Luis Venegas, Publisher
Wind farms help keep things running at the Aire de Bardenas Hotel
-
Serenade your senses at Farasha Farmhouse in MarrakechFarasha Farmhouse is a serene escape hidden on the outer reaches of Marrakech
-
‘Bio-spaces’ exhibition at Roca London Gallery celebrates biophilic design‘Bio-Spaces: regenerative, resilient futures’ opens at the Roca London Gallery as ‘a call to action to stop designing nature out’
-
Les Lalanne’s surreal world takes over Venice‘Planète Lalanne’, presented by Ben Brown Fine Arts, takes over Palazzo Rota Ivancich, with a cast of blue hippos, woolly sheep and giant grasshoppers
-
Book: ‘Design Talks: Contemporary Creatives on Architecture and Design’ by Massimo de Conti -
New York conference celebrates depth and diversity in architecture practice todayThe World Around, Beatrice Galilee's day-long conference in New York, brought together future projects, inter-discplinary discussion and issues around gender bias, through an exciting array of international participants
-
The Sharjah Architecture Triennial inspects the future of urbanismThe inaugural Sharjah Architectural Triennial, curated by Adrian Lahoud, is built around the subject ‘Rights of Future Generations’ and investigates decision making and rethinking fundamental questions about architecture in the UAE region and beyond
-
Beyond buildings: the expanded vision of the 2019 Chicago Architecture Biennial -
Tallinn Architecture Biennale explores why beauty mattersHow relevant is beauty to human life, health and knowledge? Asks Dr Yael Reisner, curator of the 8th Tallinn Architecture Biennale
-
Indiana’s Exhibit Columbus festival promises to celebrate women in architecture -
Renzo Piano Building Workshop retrospective to open at London's Royal Academy of Arts -
Palm Springs Modernism Week 2018 previewPalm Springs Modernism Week, which runs from 15–25 February 2018, has announced its 11-day programme of mid-century modern architecture, interiors, culture, parties and plenty of opportunities to knock back a martini. Explore what this microcosm of mid-century modernism has to offer in its most exciting week of the year, below.
