Bofill Levi, Ricardo

Bofill Levi, Ricardo (1939– ). Barcelona-born architect. In 1962 he founded Taller de Arquitectura, embracing several disciplines, which became established as a successful creator of inexpensive housing employing traditional materials. The La Fabrica conversion of a cement-factory at Sant-Just Desvern, Barcelona (1973–6), has many historical references, including cathedrals, fortifications, catacombs, and even Romanesque revivals, with Venetian arches. A series of enormous Post-Modern housing-blocks followed, all formal exercises with strong Classical bases: Les Arcades du Lac, St-Quentin-en-Yvelines, and Le Palais d'Abraxas, Marne-la-Vallée, both near Paris (1978–83), are excellent examples of Bofill's monumental stripped Neo-Classical style, with realized works often constructed of prefabricated concrete elements. He published L'Architecture d'un homme in 1978. Later works include L'Amphithéâtre Vert, Cergy Pontoise, Paris (1981–6), Les Echelles du Baroque, Montparnasse, Paris (1979–86), and the Shepherd School of Music, Rice University, Houston, TX (1992).

Bibliography

Cruells (1992);
Kalman (1994);
d'Huart (1989);
W. James (ed.) (1988);
Ventos et al . (1989)