dhaa
04-02-2007, 17:55
Walden 7 (built 1970-1975) is the ultimate result of explorations made by Ricardo Bofill and his Taller de Arquitectura on the topic "City in Space" in the 1960's and 70's. Although a large portion of the project was never realized, the part that stands there today is probably the closest thing to a serious utopian dream come true I've ever seen. It's a statement probably of the same strength as the Capsule House in Tokyo by Kisho Kurokawa.
The whole team of autors:
Anna Bofill, Ricardo Bofill, Salvador Clotas, Ramón Collado, José Agustín Goytisolo, Joan Malagarriga, Manuel Nuñez Yanowsky, Dolors Rocamora, Serena Vergano
Getting there:
Sant Just Desevern is a suburb of Barcelona, but still within the reach of the public transport and still within the same tariff zone as the cental parts.
A new tram line T3 has been finished recently. You can take it from the final stations of metro line L3, Maria Cristina, Palau Reial or Zona Universitària. The stop is called Walden and it takes quite a while to get there. However, once there you can't miss it. You'll see it from far away and the tram will stop right in front of the building.
But the most important part is to get inside! Without that the trip would be worthless. When I was there, I was unprepared and had only partial luck. We managed to get in - some guy opened the door for us, but as we were wandering through the labyrinthic building we ran into the custodian who was uncompromising and kicked us eventually out. No usual weapons helped like student cards, interest in architecture or simple "por favor". So we drew off and went back to Barcelona. The other day another friend of mine went there and he had much more luck. Not only he spent several hours inside, he explored all the floors including underground parking and in the end he had a swim in the community rooftop swimming pool. He also discovered that it is possible to get to the top of the chimney of the former Cement factory (in part of the ruins Bofill has his office) as there's a lift inside and you can see Walden 7 from the air.
I plan to do all this next time I'm in bcn as I have the feeling there's much more to see. I found out that they even do guided visits - check the website of the community (http://www.walden7.com/). It is only in catalan but if you click "visites" you can fill in the form or you can try writing directly to walden7@walden7.com.
More links:
Taller de arquitectura website (http://www.bofill.com/)
City in space (http://www.city-in-space.com/barcelona/locations.asp?SUBCAT=7&LNG=en)
a thread about the first realized project based on the ideas of City in Space: Castell de Kafka (http://www.pushpullbar.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5433)
The whole team of autors:
Anna Bofill, Ricardo Bofill, Salvador Clotas, Ramón Collado, José Agustín Goytisolo, Joan Malagarriga, Manuel Nuñez Yanowsky, Dolors Rocamora, Serena Vergano
Getting there:
Sant Just Desevern is a suburb of Barcelona, but still within the reach of the public transport and still within the same tariff zone as the cental parts.
A new tram line T3 has been finished recently. You can take it from the final stations of metro line L3, Maria Cristina, Palau Reial or Zona Universitària. The stop is called Walden and it takes quite a while to get there. However, once there you can't miss it. You'll see it from far away and the tram will stop right in front of the building.
But the most important part is to get inside! Without that the trip would be worthless. When I was there, I was unprepared and had only partial luck. We managed to get in - some guy opened the door for us, but as we were wandering through the labyrinthic building we ran into the custodian who was uncompromising and kicked us eventually out. No usual weapons helped like student cards, interest in architecture or simple "por favor". So we drew off and went back to Barcelona. The other day another friend of mine went there and he had much more luck. Not only he spent several hours inside, he explored all the floors including underground parking and in the end he had a swim in the community rooftop swimming pool. He also discovered that it is possible to get to the top of the chimney of the former Cement factory (in part of the ruins Bofill has his office) as there's a lift inside and you can see Walden 7 from the air.
I plan to do all this next time I'm in bcn as I have the feeling there's much more to see. I found out that they even do guided visits - check the website of the community (http://www.walden7.com/). It is only in catalan but if you click "visites" you can fill in the form or you can try writing directly to walden7@walden7.com.
More links:
Taller de arquitectura website (http://www.bofill.com/)
City in space (http://www.city-in-space.com/barcelona/locations.asp?SUBCAT=7&LNG=en)
a thread about the first realized project based on the ideas of City in Space: Castell de Kafka (http://www.pushpullbar.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5433)