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Ricardo Bofill passes away aged 82

2022-01-14T10:46:00-05:00

The renowned Spanish architect Ricardo Bofill has passed away at the age of 82, as announced by Ricardo Bofill Taller de Arquitectura. Among Bofill’s most acclaimed works were the La Muralla Roja (1973), La Fábrica (1975), and the National Theater of Catalonia (1997).

La Muralla Roja by Ricardo Bofill Taller de Arquitectura

Born in Barcelona in 1939, Bofill’s architectural training spanned from Barcelona to Geneva. In 1963, he founded Ricardo Bofill Taller de Arquitectura, encompassing the fields of architecture, urban planning, and art. The firm was led by Bofill along with his two sons, Ricardo Emilio and Pablo, and was based from the Bofill-designed La Fábrica, a repurposed cement factory.

La Fabrica, Ricardo Bofill Taller de Arquitectura Headquarters

RBTA’s early works in the 1960s embraced vernacular details from Catalan architecture, an attention to detail which remained even as the firm’s projects grew in scale in later years. In the 21st century, the scale, complexity and ...

Where do Instagram and architecture meet?

2018-11-27T10:34:00-05:00

Let's face it, what wouldn't people do a like? The 800 million user and counting social media platform, Instagram, has taken "photographic moments" to a whole new level. "Insta-fame" doesn't only affect people, but places as well. Deemed an influential force, Instagram is not only changing the way we view architecture but how we understand. Our environments are being shaped by the photos and coveted "likes" made by hundreds of people.

In Oliver Wainwright's piece, Snapping point: how the world’s leading architects fell under the Instagram spell, he explains "For a place to be shared on Instagram is no longer a chance by-product of a photogenic design, but a primary concern that drives the ambitions of clients and designers. The idea of “doing it for the ’gram” has moved from the preserve of Like-hungry teens to board meeting discussions and multimillion-pound budgets."

La Muralla Roja Image © Ricardo Bofill Taller de Arquitectura

For example, Thomas Heatherwick's Vessel, which is des...

"Towards Biology" tells the metaphysical tale of Ricardo Bofill's La Fábrica

2014-11-14T15:51:00-05:00

Ricardo Bofill Taller de Arquitectura collaborated with Onionlab from Barcelona to create a video-audio installation titled "Towards Biology" as part of the "Time Space Existence" exhibition at the soon-to-conclude Venice Biennale 2014 in Italy.

The exhibition explores going beyond the physical existence of La Fábrica -- the repurposed cement factory in Barcelona that has served as the Taller de Arquitectura's creative headquarters and Ricardo Bofill's private residence since the mid-1970s -- and reimagines it in different contexts, specifically in Venice.

In "Towards Biology", the rotunda-shaped screen draws in viewers to listen and watch a poetic narrative about La Fábrica, which symbolizes the fundamentals of Taller de Arquitectura and the firm's approaches to architecture.

Scroll further down to watch the installation in English or Italian.

Project credits:

Produced by Ricardo Bofill Taller de Arquitectura and Onionlab
Technical direction: Onionlab
Technical Engineering: Lloc Audiovisu...

In Residence: Ricardo Bofill

2014-09-22T17:06:00-04:00

There are houses, and then there’s Ricardo Bofill’s house: a brutalist former cement factory of epic proportions on the outskirts of Barcelona, Spain. A grandiose monument to industrial architecture in the Catalonian town of Sant Just Desvern, La Fabrica is a poetic and personal space that redefines the notion of the conventional home.

Ricardo Bofill’s “Time Space Existence” exhibition on La Fabrica for the 2014 Venice Biennale

2014-06-06T18:54:00-04:00

"Time Space Existence" tells the story behind La Fabrica, the well-known headquarters of Ricardo Bofill Taller de Arquitectura that is located in a repurposed cement factory in Barcelona...By reimagining La Fabrica in new locations -- particularly in Venice -- the exhibition serves as a case study that goes beyond the structure's physical presence and explores its timelessness throughout the last century.

As one of the many Collateral Events at the 2014 Venice Biennale, the exhibition opens to the public at The Palazzo Bembo starting June 7 through Nov. 23, 2014.

Check out more details on Bustler.