Over fifty years of experience project the work of Ricardo Bofill – Taller de Arquitectura into the future. We create dynamic spaces founded on the centrality of the human scale in its purposes, functions, movement. Through refined technical expertise and a mature cultural sensitivity, the multidisciplinary team of specialists at RBTA develops a liquid vocabulary for the built environment in an ever-changing world.
Nomads on a journey to redefine style and space
RBTA prides itself with a natural aptitude towards novelty and exploration. Since its establishment in 1963, the core strength of RBTA lies in the plurality of skills of its team. Talented professionals in architecture, urban design, master planning, and interiors, combine top-level knowledge and diversity of qualifications in a unique blend of competence and cultural sensitivity. Each member of our team is a nomad, following the traces of the lifelong journey of our founder and chairman, Ricardo Bofill Levi.
From our headquarters in Barcelona, at the repurposed cement factory La Fábrica, we have formulated a language to interpret identity and innovation, needs and change. Our projects organically connect the spirit of a place and the best teams capable of grasping all its inner features. Seventy specialists with a proven track of successes and expertise compose the staff of RBTA – architects and urban planners, interior and graphic designers, professional executives and project managers. Devoting great care to technological, cultural and environmental development, RBTA is an experienced third-generation family business relying on an exceptional, multidisciplinary group of talents.
We adopt a holistic approach to planning and creation as architects of the world, on the pattern laid down by Ricardo Bofill more than half a century ago. In this capacity, his sons lead the activities of RBTA between architectural sophistication and an innovation-driven international outlook. Ricardo E. Bofill, Principal of RBTA, builds on a top-level education, one decade in the US, and works across four continents, to explore narrative architecture as an alternative to modern functional schemes. Pablo Bofill, our corporate CEO, facilitates the concrete production of creative ideas within and outside RBTA, drawing from experience in business and international cooperation.
Partner Jean-Pierre Carniaux, Senior Architect in the ranks of RBTA since 1976, participated in the making of our most renown and acclaimed projects in Europe, Asia, North America. The cadres of our architectural practice are then completed by Gabor Somssich as Chief Architect and Civil Engineer, Eduardo Wachs as Chief Design Architect, Giorgio Cui as Chief Architect and Master Planner, and Marta de Vilallonga as Chief Interior Designer.
An adaptive vocabulary and the spirit of the place
Over one thousand projects in forty countries carry the distinctive traits of RBTA’s approach, rethinking cityscapes and social maps while preserving local cultures and identities. From the early monumental Modern Classicism to the shift towards Classical Modernism, we rethink lines and patterns through complementary innovations in technology and design. Experience and contact with local identities across four continents brought us to develop a diverse, composite architectural vocabulary that interprets and shapes the contemporary world.
Adaptability of approach and dynamism of style are inherently connected to the distinct cultural sensitivity of RBTA, the leit motif guiding our projects and driving our operational teams. From concept design to production and detail planning, we provide fundamental support and cutting-edge expertise throughout all stages of the creation process. RBTA is the creative force of tailor-made public and private living spaces, receptive towards the individuality of each cultural and social context. We engage in a process of close cooperation with local actors and stakeholders, aware of the importance of legacies, to give form and purpose to the spirit of each place.
Giving shape to a changing world
The diverse portfolio of RBTA spans across urban scale developments, commercial ventures, transportation infrastructures, private and social housing. Since the very beginning, and throughout the decades, national and international architectural awards have been acknowledging the uniqueness of our approach.
Notable projects include, among others: iconic mass housing in Walden 7 (Spain, 1975) and Espaces d’Abraxas (France, 1982); residential estates with Xanadu (Spain, 1971) and La Muralla Roja (Spain, 1973); office and headquarters for Shiseido Ginza (Japan, 2001) and Cartier (France, 2002); urban design in the Antigone district (France, 1999) and the Moscow Agglomeration (Russia, 2012); public buildings such as the Leningrad (Russia, 2013) and the Mohammed VI Polytechnic University (Morocco, 2016); transport infrastructures for the Barcelona Airport (Spain, 1991/2010); towers in Chicago (USA, 1992/2003); luxury, design hotels as the W Hotel Barcelona (Spain, 2009).
For a new humanism of spaces
More than fifty years ago, the visionary Ricardo Bofill Levi gathered architects, engineers, planners, and intellectuals, to join him in the Taller de Arquitectura. Today, we renew our commitment to emerging technical and societal challenges in every project, giving back centrality to the human experience, constructing our vocabulary for the future.
Working to pursue new highs in living standards, keeping in high regard social and environmental dimensions, architecture and design come at the service of the everyday. Applied, they encompass the human experience in its multitude of identities, functions, actions, and desires. We create and design spaces, while humans have the freedom – and the duty – to fill them. RBTA finds its place equally in the social and the individual, from vast master plans to housing units, shaping the landscape of a complex world.