Beyond Brutalism

June 29, 2018 6:47 PM

Spotlight on Ricardo Bofill, Architect
posted by MovableBookLady (14 comments total)

It’s hilarious that the article editorializes in the adjective “dystopian,” because none of that stuff looks dystopian to me. Hideous curlicue Victorian architecture, on the other hand? That’s dystopian.

This stuff looks playful. I like it.
posted by sonascope at 6:58 PM on June 29, 2018 [1 favorite]

Skinny windows are something that makes me think of castles or prisons. Maybe that's where dystopian comes in? I feel like he was inspired by Escher.
posted by BrotherCaine at 7:00 PM on June 29, 2018

I love his work.
posted by nikaspark at 8:32 PM on June 29, 2018 [1 favorite]

Ooh, this is neat. You make the best dang posts MovableBookLady. Thanks!
posted by gusottertrout at 8:33 PM on June 29, 2018 [2 favorites]

I like it, too.
posted by MovableBookLady at 8:33 PM on June 29, 2018

none of that stuff looks dystopian to me

Brazil Begs to differ.
posted by q*ben at 8:44 PM on June 29, 2018 [3 favorites]

I am here for the ice cream-looking Memphis-derivative human-made buildings. All of it. I probably couldn't live in the Noisy one, but by that token there's a notable lack of interiors in this article.
posted by rhizome at 9:12 PM on June 29, 2018

I was traveling in Spain with an architect friend and he took us down to see La Muralla Roja. It was really breathtaking and beautiful, more than shows in the photos. Doing a Google search, you can find several photographers who do their best, seemingly using it as a test of their photographic talent.
posted by eye of newt at 10:24 PM on June 29, 2018 [3 favorites]

Oh wow. There's a Bofill building in Stockholm but it just looks simplistic and anonymous in comparison with his other work.
posted by Vesihiisi at 11:24 PM on June 29, 2018

This is fantastic! Hadn't heard of Bofill before, but I love his work. Great post!
posted by Dysk at 2:49 AM on June 30, 2018

Brazil Begs to differ.

Blade Runner made the Bradbury Building and the Ennis House look dystopian. Moody lighting, prop trash, and a world-weary director's perspective can make anything grim.
posted by sonascope at 6:45 AM on June 30, 2018

Oh dang, that's some great stuff, thanks for posting.

It's interesting how much some of it lands in what feels like a very canny (and, uh, uncanny) Real World Flat-Shaded Voxels territory despite predating that contemporary video game aesthetic by decades. I mean, it sounds like La Muralla Roja was built in the early 70s, but just look at this staircase! That's a promo screenshot for an upcoming Minecraft-alike or Mirror's Edge 3.
posted by cortex at 8:31 AM on June 30, 2018 [3 favorites]

To me, Bofill's work seems strongly related to vernacular architecture of North Africa and around the Mediterranean basin. Perfectly suited to deserts: thick walls, small windows, created shade. Bernard Rudofsky wrote two great books related to this kind of building: Architecture without Architects, and Streets for People. When I lived in Tripoli Libya in the mid-1950s, the city was a pleasing combination of southern Italian and indigenous desert style; it made the climate bearable and living sensible; sadly, it's no longer that way thanks to Gaddafi. Glad y'all are liking this.
posted by MovableBookLady at 8:54 AM on June 30, 2018 [2 favorites]

My mistake: on a closer read, Bofill predates Memphis.
posted by rhizome at 2:14 PM on June 30, 2018