dhaa
04-02-2007, 03:20
In the revolutionary atmosphere of the 60's and early 70's, Ricardo Bofill who later became one of the leading figures of postmodern architecture in Europe and his firm Taller de arquitectura developed a series of visionary housing projects. Building on the massive foundations laid by Le Corbusier in his Unité d'Habitation they came with the concept called La Ciudad en el Espacio (City in Space).
In their article about the City in Space in Quadens d'arquitectura i urbanisme (http://quaderns.coac.net/q/) No. 244, Fernando Marzá and Neus Moyano write the following:
"... How, then, did it (Unité d'Habitation) differ from the 'city in space' buildings of the new generation and particularly Bofill?
The first difference lies in the uses of communal spaces. Le Corbusier's hygienist viewpoint (the rooftop gymnasium, the playing field, the green spaces on the ground floor - veritable lungs for the community) were replaced by less defined concepts, places where anything could happen, but whose principal concern was communal rather than open spaces. This led to the replacement of dwellings concentrated in a linear block, leaving a large exterior spaces inside the building, creating plazas and streets not just on the ground floor but in fact on any intermediate or upper floor, and turning the dwelling-street-plaza complex into a veritable city in space.
Up until this point, urbanism had two models: the high rise building and the garden city over a horizontal tract. They were now joined by third model consisting in the incorporation into the high-rise building of the basic elements of urbanism in extension - the vertical garden city."
more info:
City in Space (http://www.city-in-space.com/barcelona/locations.asp?SUBCAT=7&LNG=en)
Taller de Arquitectura website (http://www.bofill.com/)
Unlike many other famous architects and thinkers of the time they were successful in turning their ideas into several realized houses. Another example I've visited is Walden 7 (http://www.pushpullbar.com/forums/showthread.php?p=75883#post75883).
Castell de Kafka/Kafka's Castle, 1966-1968 is the first realized building form the "City in Space" series. The resemblance with Moshe Safdie's Habitat '67 in Montreal may not be accidental, given the coinciding years of planning and construction. But that's just my unbacked speculation;)
Getting there:
"Travelling from Barcelona along the motorway in the direction of Sitges, on the left-hand side on a wooded hill, you will suddenly see something resembling a cubist cactus. El Castell, built between 1966 and 1968 by Ricardo Bofill and the first members of the Taller de Arquitectura, is located between Sant Pere de Ribas and Sitges and is a homage to the author Franz Kafka. The architecture experiments with the concept of the vertically growing building and the geometrical form of the cube. Today the building is very dilapidated, and not that easy to visit." link (http://www.city-in-space.com/locations/presentation.asp?ID=30&LNG=en)
The easiest way to get there without a car is to take a train from Barclona (Estació Sants) to Sitges and from the Sitges railway station take the local bus, line A. It should go every 30 minutes. Get off at the stop Vallpineda. You'd better ask the driver to let you know when you get there. Once you're there, follow the map.
To enter the building you will probably have to ask some resident to let you in as we did. Though we didn't get inside the apartments.
In their article about the City in Space in Quadens d'arquitectura i urbanisme (http://quaderns.coac.net/q/) No. 244, Fernando Marzá and Neus Moyano write the following:
"... How, then, did it (Unité d'Habitation) differ from the 'city in space' buildings of the new generation and particularly Bofill?
The first difference lies in the uses of communal spaces. Le Corbusier's hygienist viewpoint (the rooftop gymnasium, the playing field, the green spaces on the ground floor - veritable lungs for the community) were replaced by less defined concepts, places where anything could happen, but whose principal concern was communal rather than open spaces. This led to the replacement of dwellings concentrated in a linear block, leaving a large exterior spaces inside the building, creating plazas and streets not just on the ground floor but in fact on any intermediate or upper floor, and turning the dwelling-street-plaza complex into a veritable city in space.
Up until this point, urbanism had two models: the high rise building and the garden city over a horizontal tract. They were now joined by third model consisting in the incorporation into the high-rise building of the basic elements of urbanism in extension - the vertical garden city."
more info:
City in Space (http://www.city-in-space.com/barcelona/locations.asp?SUBCAT=7&LNG=en)
Taller de Arquitectura website (http://www.bofill.com/)
Unlike many other famous architects and thinkers of the time they were successful in turning their ideas into several realized houses. Another example I've visited is Walden 7 (http://www.pushpullbar.com/forums/showthread.php?p=75883#post75883).
Castell de Kafka/Kafka's Castle, 1966-1968 is the first realized building form the "City in Space" series. The resemblance with Moshe Safdie's Habitat '67 in Montreal may not be accidental, given the coinciding years of planning and construction. But that's just my unbacked speculation;)
Getting there:
"Travelling from Barcelona along the motorway in the direction of Sitges, on the left-hand side on a wooded hill, you will suddenly see something resembling a cubist cactus. El Castell, built between 1966 and 1968 by Ricardo Bofill and the first members of the Taller de Arquitectura, is located between Sant Pere de Ribas and Sitges and is a homage to the author Franz Kafka. The architecture experiments with the concept of the vertically growing building and the geometrical form of the cube. Today the building is very dilapidated, and not that easy to visit." link (http://www.city-in-space.com/locations/presentation.asp?ID=30&LNG=en)
The easiest way to get there without a car is to take a train from Barclona (Estació Sants) to Sitges and from the Sitges railway station take the local bus, line A. It should go every 30 minutes. Get off at the stop Vallpineda. You'd better ask the driver to let you know when you get there. Once you're there, follow the map.
To enter the building you will probably have to ask some resident to let you in as we did. Though we didn't get inside the apartments.