Ricardo Bofill's Critical Fortune in the International Architectural Press between the 1970s and the Mid-1980s

Authors

  • Pablo Arza Garaloces University of Navarra https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0218-024X
  • Teresa Larumbe Machín University of Navarra

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.6092/issn.2611-0075/21046

Keywords:

Ricardo Bofill, Criticism, International, Architectural Journals, Spanish Architecture

Abstract

From the mid-sixties onwards, Ricardo Bofill's work began to be published in various foreign architectural magazines. From that moment on, his presence would be constant and would increase as the years went by. Aware of the active role of the media in the architect's work, Bofill made conscious use of them. It could be said that he was the first media architect as we know them today, a celebrity precursor of the star system of the nineties and early twentieth century.

Within this framework, the article explores Bofill's critical fortune on the international scene. To this end, the study analyses the scope of his work in foreign periodicals, setting out the keys to explaining the interest his architecture aroused in the foreign context. It focuses on the period between the 1970s and the mid-1980s, when he carried out his most mediatic projects in France. These works, with a monumentalist character, have traditionally been framed within the postmodernist trend.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Justo Gonzalez Beremendi, Colegio Oficial de Arquitectos de Cataluña y Baleares. Arquitectura, Historia y Teoría de los Signos (Architecture, History and Theory of Signs). Barcelona: Colegio Oficial de Arquitectos de Cataluña y Baleares, 1973.

Arza Garaloces, Pablo. "Arquitecturas exportadas". In Actas II Congreso Iberoamericano redfundamentos. Experiencias y Métodos de Investigación. Madrid: Redfundamentos S. L., 2018.

Arza Garaloces, Pablo. "L'Architecture d'Aujourd'hui, testigo del desarrollo moderno español (1950-1986)," Bitácora Arquitectura, no. 43 (2020): 12-26.

Broadbent, Geoffrey. "The Taller of Bofill," Architectural Review, no. 921 (1973): 289-297.

Broadbent, Geoffrey. "Bofill Taller de Arquitectura," Architectural Design, no. 2 (1975): 402-417.

Broadbent, Geoffrey. "The Deep Structures of Architecture". In Sings, Symbols and Architecture, edited by Richard Bunt and Charles Jencks. Bath: The Pitman Press, 1980.

Cruells, Bartomeu. Ricardo Bofil: Taller de Arquitectura. Barcelona: Editorial GG, 1998.

Curtis, William. "Principle v pastiche. Perspectives on some recent classicisms." Architectural Review, no. 1050 (1984): 11.

García Vergara, Marisa, and Julio Garnica. "Bofill, heterodoxy and mass media. From utopia to history (1960-1975)". In Crossing frontiers: International networks of Spanish architecture (1939-1975), edited by Antonio Pizza and Enrique Granell. Madrid: Ediciones Asimétricas, 2021.

Glancey, Jonathan. "Bofill builds." Architectural Review, no. 1024 (1982): 26-29.

Glancey, Jonathan. "TA talk to AR." Architectural Review, no. 1024 (1982): 30-32.

Hellman, Louis. "Don Quixofill de la Catalonia." The Architects' Journal, no. 3 (1981): 104.

Hellman, Louis. "New Olympic event." The Architects' Journal, no. 2 (1990): 12.

Hodgkinson, Peter. "Xanadu." Baumeister, no. 6 (1968): 673-676.

Hodgkinson, Peter. "Xanadu in Spain. A fanciful apartment building evokes some literary 'gold and garbage'." Architectural Forum, no. 5 (1968): 52-59.

Hodgkinson, Peter. "Xanadu." Architectural Design, no. 7 (1968): 327-330.

Hodgkinson, Peter. "Kafka's Castle. A turn-on, plug-in science fiction apartment-hotel near Barcelona." Architectural Forum, no. 4 (1969): 35-41.

Hodgkinson, Peter. "Barrio Gaudí. Taller de Arquitectura." Architectural Design, no. 8 (1971): 482-484.

Hodgkinson, Peter. "A new urban classicism." Pidgeon Digital. https://www.pidgeondigital.com/talks/a-new-urban-classicism/play/ (last accessed December 30, 2024).

Mallgrave, Harry Francis, and David Goodman. An introduction to architectural theory. 1968 to the present. Malaysia: Wiley-Blackwell, 2011.

Paulhans, Peters. "Vorfabrizierter Klassizismus. Zu zwei Wohnquartieren bei Paris von

Ricardo Bofill." Baumeister, no. 11 (1983): 1043-1057.

Pizza, Antonio. "El desenlace de una cultura autárquica en la prensa nacional e internacional: hacia la IX Trienal en Milán y la I Bienal Hispanoamericana en Madrid, 1951". In Las revistas de arquitectura (1900-1975) crónicas, manifiestos, propaganda, edited by José Manuel Pozo. Pamplona: Ediciones T6, 2012.

Serrel, Dominique. Bofill, les années françaises. París: Norma éditions, 2024.

Shane, Grahame. "Paris, capital of Europe?," Architectural Design, no. 6 (1975): 371.

Urrutia, Ángel. Arquitectura española siglo XX. Madrid: Cátedra, 1997.

Warren, James A. Ricardo Bofill Taller de Arquitectura. Barcelona: Editorial GG, 1988.

Zabalbeascoa, Anatxu. "Ricardo Bofill: Yo fui el principio del star system." El País Semanal. https://elpais.com/elpais/2017/01/30/eps/1485731127_148573.html (last accessed July 16, 2025).

"I muri rossi di Castelldefels." Domus, no. 429 (1965): 6-9.

"Kafka's Castle." Architectural Design, no. 3 (1970): 117.

"Les Halles." Architectural Design no. 7 (1975): 402-417.

"Les Halles." Oeil, no. 236 (1975).

"Les Halles." Progressive Architecture, no. 16 (1975): 68-83.

"Les Halles." Architectural Design, no. 9-10 (1980): 118-145.

"Post-Modern Classicism: The New Synthesis." Architectural Design, no. 5-6 (1980): 1.

"Ricardo Bofill." Zodiac, no. 15 (1965): 44-49.

"Ricardo Bofill. Palace of Abraxas." Architectural Design, no. 1-2 (1982): 42-46.

"Vers la ville dans l'espace. Quartier Gaudí a Reus." L'Architecture d'Aujourd'hui, no. 149 (1970).

"Wohnblock in Barcelona." Deutsche Bauzeitung, no. 7 (1965): 559-562.

Downloads

Published

2025-12-02

How to Cite

Arza Garaloces, P., & Larumbe Machín, T. (2024). Ricardo Bofill’s Critical Fortune in the International Architectural Press between the 1970s and the Mid-1980s. Histories of Postwar Architecture, 7(15), 13–25. https://doi.org/10.6092/issn.2611-0075/21046