ELEMENTAL - Alejandro Aravena · Las Anacuas Housing

Photo: Ramiro Ramírez

In the Mexican housing market, the cheapest solution that is offered is about $30,000 dollars. So the poor are not being reached. We developed an improved version of Iquique where houses underneath and duplex apartments on top have an initial cost of $20,000 dollars, but can achieve a middle-income standard of seventy-two square meters after self-built expansions. The efficiency in land use without overcrowding, allowed us to purchase land in a neighborhood where the average cost is $50,000 dollars. We expect the families to benefit from that value gain and from the fact that cost of land expresses close availability of services and opportunities.