Apart-hotel “La Muralla Roja”, what in translation from Spanish means “The Red Wall”, was designed as a monument to the revolutions of 1968: a wall in front of which all the revolutions were shot down – the Prague, Paris, California and Mexican revolution. Author of the project Manuel Nunez Yanowsky, who worked on the project within Taller de Arquitectura, comments on the name of the complex and domination of red color: “We were 25 years old, we all understood that in 1968 the revolutions run their end. So, this was not a red flag, marked with the blood, this was a whole red wall…. In particular, the remains of the illusive castle, colored with the blood of the shot revolutions”. In 1968 this “Red Wall” was the last bastion of the red revolution – at this time Spain was still under the fascist dictate of Franco, being at the same time on the front line of struggle against the world fascism.

Till now, looking as a grand red wall on the background of flat Spanish mountains, this complex impresses with its greatness and monumentality, as though it is a revolutionary troop united with the protest act. Terrace composition of the buildings is organically floating in the surrounding landscape, in spite of the military image, caused by the clear red color, repeating vertical elements with thin fortification windows and bold walls without any attempt of decoration. The fortification character of architecture of “La Muralla Roja” recalls to the tradition of the defensive silhouettes and morphology of the Spanish castles (for example, such as Castillo de Coca).

The composition of the complex follows the industrial method of construction, based on the modular system, though the building was erected in traditional brick – the only possible construction method for that time within the budget of the project.

Publications and reviews:
АСС 2013
Extrait de l'Architecture d'Aujourd'hui 182 - Taller de Arquitectura