By Dominique Serrell

Renowned in Europe as an avant-garde architect in the 1970s, the Catalan architect Ricardo Bofill was called to the French stage following the destruction of Les Halles de Baltard in 1971. Called upon to compete in 1974, the architect attempted to revive the historic forms of Parisian architecture and urban planning. Rejected in April 1978 by Jacques Chirac, the first mayor of Paris, who preferred a neutral and less monumental architecture, Bofill nevertheless played a leading role in the development of new towns in France from 1972-1985, with projects that were as striking as they were controversial. Designed as a fully illustrated diary describing the close relationship between architecture and politics under Valéry Giscard d’Estaing and François Mitterand, Ricardo Bofill: The French Years is the first to look back at the emblematic Les Halles project, which was covered by a confidentiality clause until the architect’s death in 2021. Through the accounts of witnesses from the time – Jack Lang, Jean-Jacques Aillagon, Paul Chemetov, Roland Catro – and the Taller archives, the author describes Bofill’s prodigious rise to superstar status.