Social Dwellings in Vitoria
The proposal aims at rationalizing as much as possible the urban occupation as well as the resulting schemes. This project elevates the principle of efficiency to architectural category, a principle that is considered essential when it comes to dealing with subsidized and social housing projects, because it affects not only those decisions regarding layout or typology, but also the architectural projection and design.
The corners and the partitions amid different architectural types such as the tower and the adjacent linear building, often have a very complex architectural solution that results, most of the time, in inefficient distributions. In our proposal, these areas become ‘special places’ that provide solutions in keeping with the aforementioned pursuit of efficiency, with wood-paved surfaces in the form of large terraces that articulate the different blocks that are placed at specific points, and which may be considered “built extensions of the interior landscaped space”.
The proposal highlights two elements that are considered essential in the layout. On the one hand the interior landscaped space, conceived as an area dotted by tall trees; and on the other hand the tower, which goes up as a freestanding, autonomous element.
As far as typology is concerned, the aim is to establish a strict geometric order that sets the service areas apart from the living areas and kitchens. The organization of the rooms ensures an easy adaptation to the different needs of the families. All this allows a constructive and practical order that in the end reduces expenditure in home improvement. In the linear blocks the living areas and kitchens are oriented towards the large interior space, always towards the east and the west like the rooms. The terraces earn a special significance in the case of the tower. Generous two-meter wide terraces measuring that can be conceived as extensions of the interior living space, places where one can rest, eat or simply observe the landscape and enjoy the faraway views, taking advantage of the height of the tower.
