Les espaces d’abraxzs ,
marne-la-vallee 1982
F.Ricardo Bofill
Student number : 4986020
Name : Sang-Hwa Choi
Where is the Marne-la-Vallee?
R i c a r d o
B o f i l l
The Fifth Element(1997)
Le Theatre
L’Arc
Le Palais
Le Theatre
Le Theatre
L’Arc
L’Arc
Le Palais
Le Palais
Ricardo Bofill on Abraxas
Les Espaces d'Abraxas, a complex consisting
of Le Théâtre, Le Palacio and L'Arc, was
conceived as a point of reference in the
landscape, an inhabited monument in the
context of the ville-nouvelle of Marne-LaVallée and the result of a form of planning
totally alien to the system of urban zoning that
became the norm after World War II. The
central space, in the form of a lawn-covered
plaza and limited by the surrounding buildings,
is all-embracing like a genuine open-air
theatre. Mastery of concrete structures and of
the system of prefabricated façades made it
possible to use a comprehensive and highly
complex architectural idiom. Although the
methodology employed for Les Espaces
d'Abraxas is related to previous projects by the
Taller de Arquitectura, especially Walden-7 in
Barcelona or La Petite Cathédrale in CergyPontoise, this work is nonetheless the first
volumetric exercise in space of such large
dimensions. This proposed alternative to
anonymous constructions in the suburbs is an
example of how the team has managed to
embrace different scales of architecture, from
the conception of the basic volumes of the
complex to the design of façades and urban
f
u
r
n
i
t
u
r
e
.
Program 591 dwellings and public spaces.
Client Le Palacio: CNH 2000. Le Théâtre and L'Arc: SAd'HLM, Les Trois Vallées
Gross area 47,000 m2
Charles Jencks on Abraxas
[...] Here [as in Bofill's Les Arcades du Lac near Versailles] modern concrete is used to do heavy
Baroque tricks; again urban space is nicely moulded to form an enclosed "theatre" that steps down to a
large "arch" and densely planted "arbre". But the handling of the classical language and technology is
more sure. Nine-storey fluted glass columns alternate with pilasters of masonry and carry a triple capital of
planting surmounted by a cypress tree! Is it the New Corinthian Order? Will giant, hormone-injected
a c a n t h u s l e a v e s s h o o t o u t o f t h e s i x - f o o t h i g h p l a n t e r s ?
C h a r l e s J e n c k s , P o s t m o d e r n A r c h i t e c t u r e , p p . 1 6 1 - 6 2 .
Charles Jencks on the revolutionary message of Abraxas
[...] Bofill and the Taller
have shown that massproduction is not
necessarily tied to any
language of form - the
machine aesthetic, as has
been argued this century.
The greatest orthodoxy of
our time, that the
fabrication process leads
to an inevitable industrial
style, is shown to be false.
There must be several
possible languages of
mass-production and, as
the Egyptians discovered,
Free-Style Classicism is
o n e
o f
t h e m .
Charles Jencks,
Postmodern Architecture,
p .
1 4 6 .
Source : www.idehist.uu.se/distans/ilmh/pm/bofill-abraxas.htm
www.ricardobofill.com