Ricardo Bofill’s avant-garde approach has been influenced by everything from baroque to Islamic architecture during his five-decade-spanning career. A prolific Spanish architect, he continues to push boundaries with his philosophies on large-scale design, leading what’s now a three-generation family business at his Taller de Arquitectura, which is based in a converted cement factory on the outskirts of Barcelona.

Walden 7 features five interior courtyards and 446 residences.

One of his most pioneering projects, Walden 7 was built in 1975 and aimed to tackle the problems of modern city living, such as a perceived lack of both community and privacy. A stone’s throw from his firm’s headquarters in Sant Just Desvern, the imposing 14-story structure consists of 18 towers and five courtyards arranged in a modular but unsystematic fashion—an architectural solution conceived to counteract the uniformity of conventional apartment blocks.

Walden 7's unsystematic layout offers an alternative to conventional apartment blocks.

The staggered, geometric configuration of the 400-plus apartments, combined with a complex labyrinth of internal bridges and balconies, creates a proliferation of unexpected views and intimate spaces. A bold, Moorish-inspired color palette was implemented to enhance the building’s striking silhouette, with a rich terracotta exterior and an interior resplendent in azure blue.

A dynamic walkway bridges a gap above terraced planters.

The apartments themselves are based around the idea of a modular "cell," which normally comes with a kitchenette, a toilet, bath, table, and an assortment of cupboards. Units are designed to be connected together, allowing for a diverse range of housing typologies. The smallest apartments, measuring 30 m. (323 ft.), are made up of a single cell. The largest combine up to four cells in a duplex formation and can be joined or divided as changing lifestyles or family needs require. Whatever the configuration, most of the apartments benefit from a view of both an exterior and interior courtyard.

Walden 7 is a vertical labyrinth of connected courtyards, terraces, and apartments.