Antigone District (Montpellier, France) : Looking east, from the Place de Thessalie, Place du Millenaire, south portal

Creator:

Bofill, Ricardo, 1939-

Published/Created:

Montpellier, Languedoc-Roussillon, France
1979-1997

Date Depicted:

2000
1950 AD - 2010 AD

Materials:

glass
precast concrete
steel

Notes:

The district is built on the grounds of the former Joffre Barracks, of which now only the Montpellier citadel remains. Part of the development created a new visual axis 1 kilometre in length, nicknamed the Champs-Élysées of Montpellier. Antígone (1979-1983), Montpellier, is a recent, axial city centre enclosing monumental volumes of Baroque scale and variety. The design of these multi-storey residential complexes, whose enclosed plazas are the antithesis of the fluid, abstract spaces of modernist urban planning, was based on classical rules, but interpreted with an absolute freedom that constantly transgressed the language, proportion and scale of canonical classicism, producing elements that are often distorted and enlarged to create a disturbing colossalism. The blocks were increasingly built with the use of industrialized construction techniques such as prefabricated concrete and curtain walling systems. Bofill’s re-creation of classical urban space with its emphasis on monumentality made him one of the most important exponents of Post-modernism; the architecture of his residential complexes has more to do with meaning than with other architectural values. His work has been labelled ‘modern classicism’.

Variant Titles:

Antígone

Topics:

Architecture -- France -- 20th century -- (YVRC)

Period/Style:

Postmodern
Twentieth century

Culture:

French

Accession Number:

1A1-BR-MA-B3

Genre:

architecture (AAT)

Format:

Image

Content Type:

Sculptures, Models, & Architecture

Rights:

Copyright Scott Gilchrist, Archivision, Inc
The use of this image may be subject to the copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) or to site license or other rights management terms and conditions. The person using the image is liable for any infringement.

Access Restrictions:

Yale Community Only

Digital:

architecture; contemporary (1960 to present); City planning; Housing; ideal cities complexes; housing projects; complexes; mixed-use developments; open spaces; squares (open spaces); plazas

Source Creator:

Gilchrist, Scott

Source Title:

Archivision Addition Module Six

Source Created:

2878 Chamonix, Montreal QC
Archivision, Inc.
2000

Source Note:

Purchase, Visual Resources Collection, May, 2011; photographer Scott Gilchrist

Yale Collection:

Visual Resources Collection

Digital Collection:

Visual Resources Collection

Local Record Number:

4125

OID:

10072957

PID:

digcoll:1786797