The “Espaces d’Abraxas”, has been constructed between 1972 and 1983 by Ricardo Bofill, Spanish architect. It was constructed to pursue the role of an urban monument to mark the beginning of the new town of Marne-la-Valle, Noisy-le-Grand, near Paris.

At this time the architect chose to use a complex architectural language, thanks to a system of heavy pre-casting. As a social housing project, the construction cost was low.

This is why Bofill decided to use pre-casting concrete. All the forms were created in a factory, on steel reinforcements, assembled on site, without any visible joints. This concrete look like sandstone colored, it gives the impression of solidity while evoking ashlar. The color of the concrete is a pink ochre with blue-violet reflections, obtained through a mixture of sand, grey and white cement and different oxides that allow the shades to be adjusted.

The First element is “le Theâtre”, it is a semicircle with buildings, it includes 130 apartments and as an aspect of an antic theatre. Elevator and stairs are used to serve an entrance hall of 2 apartments, indoors of the semicircle it face “l’Arc“, and outdoors they are facing Paris.

The Second element is “l’Arc“, it is place in the center of the interior space and compare to the others it has a modest dimension, it only contain 20 apartments over nine floors. “We wanted to render functional a symbol considered non-functional throughout its long historical use. Diverted from its usual symbolism, its final aspect will be that of a romantic, rather than a triumphal arc. For all it is the focal point of the scheme.” by Ricardo Bofill Taller de Architectura (RBTA).

The Third element is “le Palacio”, located in the back of “le Theâtre” with the form of a U composed of three buildings with 18 storey containing 441 apartments, with some duplex having two, three or four rooms.

This architecture in the origin was built on the idea to stand against the standardization of urban block buildings (social housing) that start being constructed massively after the world war two and still during the 1980’s. In the context of being in a new city, Ricardo Bofill had the ambition of creating social housing that has its own personality and symbolic character.

[ text copyrights: bibliothequer[dot]com ]