The fascinating concept images and photographs of construction below are of course of Torre Balancas, Madrid which was completed in 1969. They are images from the magazine “AuJourd’Hui, Art Et Architecture ” no. 52, February 1966. An edition devoted to Spanish Architecture and Art.
The architect of Torre Blancas was Franciso Javies Saenz de Oiza, but also on the architectural team was Juan Daniel Fullando (see previous post).
Its style could be described as Spanish Avant Garde meets Brutalism. It is approximaetly 80 meters tall, and is a structure based on cylinders – but only consists of a single tower made of exposed concrete. It is one of the most complex and and experimental concrete structures of this era. It has 23 floors of apartments and offices. Saenz de Oiza lived in the building once it was completed for the rest of his life.
Oiza’s pretense was to build a singular, high-rise residential building that would grow organically, like a tree, run vertically up stairs, elevators and facilities, as if it were the tree’s woody vessels and with the curved terraces grouped together as if they were the leaves of the branches. Oiza took from Le Corbusier the idea of the rationalism of building houses with gardens in height, and of Frank Lloyd Wright the organicist proposals of his tower Price , making a personal synthesis of both tendencies, which is generally recognised as one of the masterpieces of organicism – (Source: Wikipedia)
Arch Daily has a well written article about the building HERE
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