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21 Oct 2019 
Viktoria 
This is why Bofill decided to use pre-casting concrete. All the forms were created in a factory, on steel reinforcements, assembled on site, without any visible joints. This concrete look like sandstone colored, it gives the impression of solidity while evoking ashlar. The color of the concrete is a pink ochre with blue-violet reflections, obtained through a mixture of sand, grey and white cement and different oxides that allow the shades to be adjusted.
The scheme of this complex is composed with 3 elements: “le Theatre”, “l’Arc” and “le Palacio”.
The First element is “le Theâtre”, it is a semicircle with buildings, it includes 130 apartments and as an aspect of an antic theatre. Elevator and stairs are used to serve an entrance hall of 2 apartments, indoors of the semicircle it face “l’Arc“, and outdoors they are facing Paris.
The Second element is “l’Arc“, it is place in the center of the interior space and compare to the others it has a modest dimension, it only contain 20 apartments over nine floors. “We wanted to render functional a symbol considered non-functional throughout its long historical use. Diverted from its usual symbolism, its final aspect will be that of a romantic, rather than a triumphal arc. For all it is the focal point of the scheme.” by Ricardo Bofill Taller de Architectura (RBTA).
The Third element is “le Palacio”, located in the back of “le Theâtre” with the form of a U composed of three buildings with 18 storey containing 441 apartments, with some duplex having two, three or four rooms.
This architecture in the origin was built on the idea to stand against the standardization of urban block buildings (social housing) that start being constructed massively after the world war two and still during the 1980’s. In the context of being in a new city, Ricardo Bofill had the ambition of creating social housing that has its own personality and symbolic character.
The eclectic vocabulary of this closed utopia, thought as a process and not as a finished
In all of his text Toward a critical Regionalism: Six points of an Architecture of Resistance, he put in light the fact that in terms of architecture it became hard to create architecture that are not related to the world culture, the international style. It also reject the idea of ornamentation that are part of postmodern architecture. He evocate the critical regionalism as a manor to create architectures that are deeply dig both in modern tradition and a cultural local context.
However the Abraxas Spaces are classified as postmodern architecture because of its ornament, and also how it stand against the rigidity of modern architecture. The fact that this project is a manor to stand against a world universalization make some link and opposition with the text of Kenneth Frampton. In the beginning of it Paul Ricoeur speak about this “universalization” on History and Truth. It has its own personality, and in another way it is a progressive approach of design as a bridge between global and local language of architecture. It is an inspiration of what was produce in the past to think of a futuristic way of experience common life in a brand new kind of social housing. Ricardo Bofill did care about the city and the way that he thought the future life there.
This process was supposed to create a space that generate a social mixed between residents. Unfortunately it didn’t work, even the architect himself consider this project as a failure for multiple reason. The construction of this monument was supposed to inspire other cities, in a way that they could build other social housing that has its personal and local identity. Unfortunately it didn’t work, block building continue to be built even after.
The social mixed that was expected in the Abraxas space did not succeed and a lot of people was not satisfied with the final result. In a certain point of view the “Espace d’Abraxas” are an example of the limit that can include an architecture made by someone who wanted to stand against the universalization of social housing. During the past years it was question about destruction, the way that the architecture is organized contribute to make a space that didn’t let any space to natural day light, also this complex have a bad reputation, it is classified has a ghetto. It might be well deserved, this space it to close for the habitants to get mixed. It is judged as to cold because of the non-presence of nature and the monumental presence of the concrete.
The hypothesis of destruction has been a lot of time mentioned, but this architecture in anyway still a monument for Noisy-le-Grand, destruct those buildings would be too expansive, for both the commune and the habitants who would have to be relocated. The use of precast concrete at this time was part of a sustainable idea of creating an architecture with a certain design, materials and construction technique. It was meant to stand the test of time and so make sure that the next generation would be able to take an advantage of it in the future.
The option of transforming those spaces into a Hotel has been evocated, because of the style of those buildings and also this hypothesis would be more sustainable for this place. Maybe it is not the architecture the problem but just its function who has not already been find.