Antonio Bonet. Systems of urbanistic expansion. Graphical analysis of the poblado Hifrensa housing development (1967-1975)

Abstract

Most of Bonet's work in both architecture and urban planning uses patterns that implicitly contain systems of growth such as those found in natural biological life forms. When he designed La Ricarda House (1949-62), Bonet was looking not for a final definitive form but for a system that could grow. La Ricarda may be said to share its 'genetic code' with with his other works that also use sculptural expression of the roof and modular architecture as compositional resources (Berlingieri House, Rubio-Murcia House, Balañà House, the Hifrensa School). The same occurs on a larger scale in his urban developments, in which Bonet transforms a basic module to generate numerous versions around the idea of the city. As we shall see, in the Hifrensa housing development, systems of expansion are not a question of style, rather they are a tool to resolve the architect's theoretical formulations.

Keywords

• antonio bonet
• modulación
• planeamiento
• arquitectura moderna