An abandoned cement factory outside Barcelona, Spain, became the home of architect Ricardo Bofill. Ricardo Bofill has transformed the existing building into a groundbreaking studio in which his family living space sits. 

Ricardo Bofill first encountered the 31,000-square-meter factory on a drive around the Catalan suburbs in 1973. He had been looking for a property that would allow him to construct both a spacious office for the workshop and an ample home for himself and his family. It was a relatively radical proposition at the time: in Barcelona, where he was living, a series of regulations meant a work-cum-living space was impossible. However, the drive to the western outskirts of the city provided what he saw to be a monumental opportunity. Pumping smoke into the sky was one of the oldest cement factories in Spain, with the tallest chimney. Then, Bofill bought the property and all the land around it in a bid to bring his vision to life.

Contributing to this strand of the architectural canon was of great interest to Bofill, with his refreshing take on urbanism. It appealed to his desire to conserve and add to the built environment, just as cities were formed throughout history, rather than simply tearing down existing structures in the more contemporary model. Like the ruins he was fascinated by, it was a somewhat romantic vision. 

La Fábrica is a masterpiece of surrealism and it is the sum total of different buildings. The building flashes various images to people, filling their vision with ideas about how to use it: there are staircases that lead anywhere, and various Spaces that, though visually powerful, are practically useless. Due to its rough handling of concrete, it is both primitive and barbaric. 

Rejecting functionalism, La Fábrica reveals an existence beyond architecture while inheriting and preserving the creativity that shaped the modern fringe of western countries. From a decaying industrial settlement, a skilled architect can carve out a place where work and life can be completed in a benign continuum in an equal way.