RICARDO BOFILL
Ricardo Bofill Leví was a Spanish architect from Catalonia . He was born on December 5, 1939 and died on January 14 , 2022 due to Covid-19.
He graduated from school in Escuela de Arquitectura de la Universidad de Barcelona and in Escuela de Ginebra.
In 1963 , he founded a group made up of architects , engineers , sociologists and philosophers , the Ricardo Bofill Taller de Arquitectura , that is an international team experienced in urban design , architecture , park designs and gardens , and interior design .
His projects are based on “the city should be made up of streets and squares , not of isolated blocks separeted by wide open spaces “
His 10 most emblematic works are :
– Apartamentos Nicaragua (1965)
– Xanadú (1971) – Walden 7 (1975)
– Les Espaces d’Abraxas (1982)
– 77 West Wacker Drive (1992)
– Teatro Nacional de Catalunya (1997)
– Casablanca Twin Center (1998)
– Parque del Manzanares (2003) – Hotel W (2009)
– T1 del aeropuerto del Prat (2010)
My favourite of his projects is “La Muralla Roja ” placed at the edge of a cliff in La Manzanera, Calpe, Alicante .
In addition to being an architect , he was a writter , entrepreneur and film director , who won multiple international awards .
“Life is a ruin.”
I love this quote because I feel that has a deep message behind it . He wants to transmit that therefore you don’t see any good part at something or if you are going through a rough patch , there’s is always going to be a way out . For example when he turned a cement factory into a impressive house .
Bibliography
https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ricardo_Bofill
https://www.houseandgarden.co.uk/gallery/ricardo-bofill-visions-of-architecture
https://www.biografiasyvidas.com/biografia/b/bofill_ricardo.htm
https://es.ara.cat/cultura/10-obras-emblematicas-ricardo-bofill_1_4241243.html
Quiero ser Arquitecto, by Alberto Campo Baeza
Reading this text I have felt a lot of things . From the beggining I saw my self in all that questions the future arquitecture students were asking , like what is the good way to study , or to be prepared , or to become the best on it , or not to spend too many years on the carreer …
Alberto Baeza answers this questions in a realistic way . With realistic I mean that even saying all that good things about studying architecture , he does not decieve in terms of difficulty , at all time he characterizes the career as hard but not impossible , and to wich you have to put a lot of effort and sacrifize .
Also I love when he says that build a building is to build dreams , make people’s dreams come true and at the same time fulfill a function for wich it has been designed .
His way of describing who is the architect is : an architect is a technical artist , capable of explaining an idea without words , a creative dreamer who from and idea builds a project for others , making them happy and allowing them to live in a space they have dreamed of and that will have a utility in their lives .
So my conclusion after reading it is that being an architect is a profession that despite the effort involved , is worth it .