Walden 7 Apartment Complex In Spain

The apartment building called Walden 7, located in Catalonia, Spain, is much more interesting than you’d find with such a building. A novel of a similar name inspired the concept, and it became iconic as soon as it was built. It has an odd blend of modern and futuristic design, and it uncommonly stands out from its surrounding area.

Walden 7 Catalonia Apartments

While this apartment complex is a private residential area still in use, tours are available for visitors. Unlike museums and exhibits, this is a living and breathing space with real people living their real lives. It’s perfect for architecture students and enthusiasts alike.

Conceptually, this architecture is based on the novel Walden Two and is B.F. Skinner’s depiction of a kind of idealistic community. The novel itself is a kind of sequel and reference to the original Walden by Henry David Thoreau. Ricardo Bofill Taller de Arquitectura created the building in 1975, and it definitely reflects that time period. This includes references to the style of old James Bond films.

Ironically, this supposedly utopian community center was underfunded when compared to similar buildings. A common issue with this was that the outside tiles would periodically fall off due to being attached with the wrong adhesive. This was noted when the building was featured in The Bilingual Lover, a film from 1993 that features two individuals who live in the building. The issue was mostly fixed as of 1995, possibly due to the film.

In Conclusion

So much of the cultural experience in Spain involves joining in on the local community rather than going out in nature or amusement parks. In that sense, this apartment complex is the perfect stop when visiting Catalonia. It presents a great opportunity to take pictures to share and for yourself to look back on. Besides this, be sure to check out the other local buildings in the area.