ricardo bofill taller de arquitectura industry architecture founded 1963 founder ricardo bofill headquarters barcelona spain area served international key people ricardo bofill website www.ricardobofill.com ricardo bofill taller de arquitectura la fabrica barcelona spain founded over 50 years ago ricardo bofill taller de arquitectura rbta is headquartered in a re purposed cement factory in barcelona referred to as la fabrica . 1 el taller consists of a diverse team of architects and urban planner graphic designers and economists from over 20 countries . to date the firm has over 1000 projects in over 40 countries . contents 1 founding 2 key staff 2.1 ricardo bofill 2.2 peter hodgkinson 2.3 jean pierre carniaux 3 la fabrica 4 approach 4.1 general approach 4.2 1960s 1970s critical regionalism 4.3 1970s 1980s modern classicalism 4.4 1990 today integrated urbanism 5 selected projects 5.1 commercial 5.2 office 5.3 transport infrastructures 5.4 masterplans 5.5 culture and sports infrastructures 5.6 landscaping 5.7 housing 5.8 government 6 honours and awards 7 references 8 external links founding edit founded in 1963 by ricardo bofill ricardo bofill taller de arquitectura brought together a multidisciplinary team consisting of architects engineers planners sociologist writers movie makers and philosophers . 2 the firm recuperated the characteristic craftsmanship of traditional catalan architecture catalan modernism while proposing spaces that defied the time s cultural social and architectural norms . ricardo bofill taller de arquitectura sought to resolve local urban planning problems within the spanish political and social context . in the context of the standardized methods and utilization of modernism for the mass reconstruction of housing and urban planning schemes following world war ii el taller s work differentiates from the standard approach as defined by the congr s internationaux d architecture moderne ciam . the necessity to approach large scale projects led el taller to conceive a ridged yet organic methodology based on the geometric formation of elements in space . 3 key staff edit ricardo bofill edit in 1963 ricardo bofill joined his family business forming the ricardo bofill taller de arquitectura . since its founding he serves as director and chairman of the firms numerous offices throughout the world . born in 1939 in barcelona spain he studied at the barcelona university school of architecture and graduated from the school of geneva . he is an honorary aia member and has won numerous awards throughout the world for architecture . further he is a published author co writing espaces d une vie and l architecture des villes . 4 peter hodgkinson edit hodgkinson is a partner architect and has been with el taller since 1966 . he was born in england in 1940 and received his degree from the architectural academy in london . he has published in numerous specialized journals such as ar ad record etc. and spoken as guest lecturer in australia south africa england france the netherlands scotland etc. 5 he has been involved with and studied all facets of architectural project design with especial emphasis on transport infrastructures airports in particular where he has gained considerable experience in solving functional problems involving flows and circulations . 6 jean pierre carniaux edit carniaux is a partner architect and has been with el taller since 1976 heading the practice former offices in new york city in 1986 . he was born in france in 1951 and studied mathematics at universit de paris and architecture at massachusetts institute of technology . jean pierre carniaux s design work in the last fifteen years ranges from the design of the teatre nacional de catalunya a 240.000 m2 mixed use development for a district of montpellier antigone district and the shiseido headquarter in tokyo to the design of perfume bottles for christian dior . 7 he has participated in the projects of the new airport of barcelona a 50 floors skyscraper in chicago and a palace of congress in madrid . 8 his work has taken him to moscow paris new york city montreal tokyo not to mention many other cities in france . la fabrica edit the conversion of the factory into the studio is a process of destruction as a means of creating space . numerous elements and structures of the former industrial plant were demolished revealing previous hidden forms . 9 what remains now is a hybrid memory and future as bofill explains . 10 the remaining 8 silos which became offices a models laboratory archives a library a projections room and a gigantic space known as the cathedral used for exhibitions concerts and a whole range of cultural functions linked to the professional activities of the architect . once the spaces were defined cleared of concrete and surrounded by a new landscape setting the next step was to invent a new program for the use of these spaces . the project is a practical negation of functionalism the function did not create the form but proved that any space can be allocated to whichever use the architect chooses . the renovation project incorporated various architectural languages ; catalan gothic revival architecture and surrealism elements that reflects the building s industrial past . today la f brica functions as work space for el taller office and open plan studio space secluded meeting area and a private residence for ricardo bofill surrounded by multiple gardens . approach edit general approach edit the firm specific design methodology formalized within the last 50 years focuses on the dialogue between the architect local developers and local partners . bofill claims that by engaging all stakeholders through out the entire process from the very inception until after the project is completed el taller s works are defined by the necessities and desires of those who inhabit them . this singular approach allows el taller to address all projects both small scale private and large scale urban with equal rigour . 11 a constant theme dictates ricardo bofill taller de arquitectura s work regardless of location decade or typology that of what the firm itself refers to as memory future . its work draws upon the past referencing local histories classical compositions and or traditional building methods while imagining and innovating stylistically and programmatically to meet the needs and desires of the community that is yet to inhabit these spaces . the present the designing of these spaces lies between retrospect and prospect memory future . 12 the use of a historical perspective in its design approach allows the team for continual analysis and interpretation of a given culture and its architectural heritage . in contrast to socialist and le corbusier urbanism urban planning models ricardo bofill taller de arquitectura proposes a mediterranean city model . such model is defined by a network of public space that connects proportionally scaled streets and squares . 13 mediterranean city is at the same time cast as an interregional synthesis a complex region of interrelating regions . this intense set of cultural social and material interactions highlights the capitalist and cosmopolitan dimensions of the mediterranean . 14 in his book espaces d une vie ricardo bofill states it is essential to recover the discipline developed during the renaissance city design . personally i support a strategy of controlled organized properly planned urban growth my involvement has always been guided by the same principles to lay out a city in line with the ideas of ildefons sard the civil engineer who designed barcelona s magnificent grid patterned district known as the eixample . urban sprawl must have its limits and should not under the guise of continuity annex other towns . urban design must be reintroduced in existing districts by isolating preserving and renovating certain areas turning them into real communities with shopping centers squares streets facades and of course boundaries . 15 the recurrence of mixed use cities in their works with as the firm refers to as integrated urbanism suggests el taller strong conviction that a city equally belongs to and is shared amongst all socio economic classes . 1960s 1970s critical regionalism edit el taller s early works are characteristic of vernacular architecture referencing traditional catalan architecture ; as seen in bofill s residence in ibiza a seaside residence that utilizes local materials and construction methods . this architectural strategy applies a geometric logic towards the organization of elements in space . developed first in a theoretical manner with the project the city in space the formal approach found its concrete manifestation in 1975 with the construction of subsidized housing project walden 7 . the apartment complex comprises a 14 story cluster of 446 units that maximize both scale and intricacy . in an article for architectural design vincent scully described walden 7 as a wildly expressionistic apartment house part gaud part archigram . 16 repeating apartment modules with private micro terraces and connected via striking interior public courtyards were intended to provoke a rethinking of social housing . kafka castle is located in sant pere de ribes spain and completed in 1968 . the project is an homage to franz kafka . rather than a development through site plan and context bofill implemented a series of mathematical equations that generated the positions of all ninety dwellings as well as the building s siting . though kafka castle maintains some programmatic similarities of a typical spanish apartment block the design of the apartment complex differs greatly . prefabricated cubes are assembled together based on two mathematical equations that generate their placement with relationship to a vertical circulation towers . muralla roja built in 1973 continues the firm s investigation on the organic manifestation of form the imposition of defined criteria and condition and locus . color defines each structural function serving as tectonic place finders for the labyrinth like edifice . despite its constructionist aesthetic muralla roja is a clear reference to the mediterranean architectural roots particularly north african adobe towers and kasbah . the experimental prototype xanadu reflects the team s theory of a garden city in space . the building is intended to create a castle manifesting in the form of the pe on de ifach rock located nearby 17 the modules possess vernacular details curving handrails and roof elements synthesizing modernist principles with traditional aesthetics . 18 in the early 1970s el taller began to collaborate with the algerian government on topics related to the urban planning and housing fields . this early work in algeria culminates two years later with the construction of the vernacular housing project houari boum dienne agricultural village in the south eastern part of the country . 1970s 1980s modern classicalism edit in tandem with efforts in spain and algeria a complimentary team began working in paris in 1971 creating various projects for the french new towns . 19 the headquarters is moved to paris and el taller shifts its focus onto the industrialized construction of social housing and master planning . during this phase symbolic elements are incorporated into the buildings and plans which reference the style of french monumental architecture . bofill assessed the need of some permanent and integral form of wall covering for future buildings with columns pilasters rustication pediments cornices and balustrades . 20 in the self published book memory future el taller reasons its use of classical proportion and form because it allowed for the in depth investigation of the articulation between historic memory and freedom of conception and expression . for this purpose it has created a dictionary a grammar and a language applied to architectural composition rewriting the western classical vocabulary . 21 the urban housing proposals la petite cath drale and les espaces d abraxas represent the spectrum of social living ideas integrated into these inhabited monuments . les espaces d abraxas 22 also delves into the manipulation of classical forms of architecture . 23 the simultaneous construction of four projects ref les arcades du lac and le viaduc in saint quentin en yvelines le palais d abraxas le th tre and l arc in marne la vall e les echelles du