Ricardo Bofill is one of the 20th century’s most unique architects and radical visionaries. Evolving from the post-WWII forms of experimental architecture, his visions for urban and communal life have challenged preconceived notions of shared space and proposed alternative styles of living. A new monograph from gestalten compiles some of Bofill’s greatest works with Visions of Architecture. Spectacular new photography by Salva López present these constructions in all their glory, and texts by experts like Nacho Alegre and Douglas Murphy as well as by Bofill himself are complemented with sketches and floor plans.

Born into a family of Spanish builders, Bofill has, since 1963, lead the international architectural and urban design practice Ricardo Bofill Taller de Arquitectura. His creations, heralded as buildings that display great personality and progressive ideas, span many different continents and purposes. La Fábrica, found near Barcelona, is a modern day Hanging Gardens of Babylon, a surrealist wonderland of overgrown tropical plants and towering, concrete pillars. The Walden 7 apartment building in Sant Just Desvern, Spain, reimagines the typical high rise building, marrying blissful communal spaces with domestic living in a robotic, dystopian structure.

Visions of Architecture from Ricardo Bofill is available now through gestalten. Find out more here. 

Lead image: Les Espaces D’Abraxas, Marne-la-Vallée, France. Ricardo Bofill.