It was in the early 1970s when Ricardo Bofill came across a cement factory abandoned since 1968 in Sant Just Desvern, a suburb of Barcelona. And the young architect fell in love with the old, dilapidated building at first sight.
Located west of Barcelona, the most prominent landscape of Sant Just Desvern in 1968 was nothing but massive concrete blocks, giant silos and rows of grey smokestacks. But soon after, the entire 31,000 m2This building was completely demolished. For an architect, this was the perfect opportunity, a space large and beautiful enough to satisfy his creative desires. Thus, Bofill gave this abandoned building a chance to be reborn.
After three years of hard work and a huge amount of work, the architect moved his company Taller de Arquitectura here, and he himself has lived in this building since 1974 until now.
“When I first visited the cement factory, I wondered if something horrible could be turned into something beautiful, the way stupidity can sometimes become genius. By changing my perspective, like looking into a kaleidoscope, I began to imagine all the artistic styles I could use to redesign the building: brutalism, surrealism, even abstraction. So I decided to keep the building and turn its ugliness into a true work of art.”
From an old cement factory
Gradually becoming a fairy tale castle
Let's take a look at the results of 45 years of creativity, with Ricardo Bofill's efforts to turn an old factory into a romantic and beautiful castle.
