Antigone: La Place du Nombre d'Or, Montpellier, France, Elevation
Ricardo Bofill
Spanish, born 1939
c. 1978-84
An ink-on-vellum architectural elevation by Ricardo Bofill for the Antigone project in Montpellier that proposes a monumental, classically inspired civic façade using measured proportions to organize housing and public space.
The long, horizontal sheet reads like a theatrical set: precise ink lines render a symmetrical row of pilasters, arches, and a central colonnaded block, while stylized cypress trees crown and flank the composition, the warm vellum giving the grand design an unexpectedly intimate, hand-drawn presence.
The work exemplifies Bofill’s late-20th-century strategy of reintroducing classical order and mathematical proportion (hinted at by the ‘nombre d’or’ title) into modern urban planning, helping to define a postmodern return to historical forms in large-scale housing and public-space design.
Medium
Ink on vellum
Dimensions
14 7/8 x 70 1/2" (37.8 x 179.1 cm)
Classification
Department
Credit
Gift of Ricardo Bofill Taller de Arquitectura
Accession
389.1985
Palette
Art Terms
Exhibitions
