41 social dwellings in Vallecas
I have always been a linear block. I was aware, from the very first moment, of what the regulations said about my future: "Building an open linear block." The shape of the plot did not help much. A corner L with three arms that wrapped up the square (an urban block with an interior courtyard).
Being linear, even if one turns around the corner, and with gallery accesses, has many advantages. You can be even fairer, by giving all the housing units two orientations: the street and the interior courtyard, cross ventilation and access to all tenants from a single entrance.
The radial organization, fan-shaped, brings the open space closer to all the housing units. Balance of conditions. Their vertical stacking makes logical the application of all the structural services systems.
The gallery provides access to each of the housing units while being the vertical communication street. It also creates a space that we understand not only as a dynamic corridor but as a true open lobby for each unit. An intermediate, transicional space which allows to filter or tame outside elements like wind, cold or excessive heat.
The access to all units takes place through an elevated courtyard-laundry room, as the last step in the gradient that separates the public from the private. Crossing the housing units, the openings that are set-back offer a greater intimacy to users because they contain only their own windows. The house is organizad in two area: a day one, with the Entrance, the kitchen and the living area; and the night one, with the bedrooms and the bathrooms.
In the upper level – which accommodates the lumber rooms – the terrace solarium, with its artificial grass carpet, extends the dwelling towards the roof and offers privileged views over the Ensanche (urban expansion area) of Vallecas.
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