Ricardo Bofill, one of Spain's most internationally renowned architect, was born in Barcelona in 1939. He began his studies at the Barcelona School of architecture and completed his degree in 1960 at the Geneva School of architecture. In 1963 he set up the Architecture Workshop, a studio composed of architects, engineers, sociologists, film-makers and writers, which has tackled projects ranging from urban planning, architecture and landscaping to interior design. Throughout his prolific career, Bofill had been awarded many prizes and distinctions including the prestigious Honorary Member of the l'Ordre National des Architectes, France; Honorary Member of the American Institute of Architects (AIA); Honorary Doctor at the Metz University, France; Honorary Member of the Bund Deutscher Architekten BDA, Bonn, Germany; the City of Barcelona Award in 1980; the American Society of Interior Design Prize in 1978; the Fritz Schumacher Prize from Hamburg University in 1968, and the Tokyo Architecture Award 2002 from the Tokyo Association of Architectural Firms.
His most representative work includes Barcelona Airport Terminal; Miguel Delibes Cultural Centre, Valladolid; JP Morgan head office, Chicago; Cartier head office, Paris; Shiseido Building, Tokyo; Weidert housing complex, Luxembourg; National Theatre of Catalonia, Barcelona; Municipal Congress Centre, Madrid; Les Colonnes Belvedere Saint Christophe housing complex, Paris and Walden apartment building, Barcelona. In 2009, Ricardo Bofill created the Vela bench in conjunction with Escofet. This long, half-moon shaped bench is installed on Rosa dels Vents Square, alongside the Hotel W building, known popularly as the Sail Hotel, set at one end of the Barceloneta seafront promenade in Barcelona.
