CASA LARA
The project consists of the renovation of a 65 sqm apartment in a 1970s building in Madrid. In response to the rapid real estate bubble the city is currently in, the home distances itself from market driven logics and offers a flexible system capable of evading prefixed and conventional definitions.
The project is understood as a spatial system indifferent to the site in which is implemented, continuing therefore the spatial investigation firstly carried at Ronda House. The system, conceptually generic whilst physically specific, negates any relationship to perimeter, program nor orientation. Solely the appearance of the home’s original fireplace and the cooking area creates a visual reference that grounds one’s presence in the space.
The original apartment is subdivided into four equal rooms, each measuring 3.5 x 3.5 m, creating a spatial isotropy connected through large, central openings that articulates the home.
The placement of mirrored surfaces across the home dilutes the project’s limits and amplifies a spatial system eager to expand itself beyond the physical space in which it is applied.
The material palette is simple and direct. The floor abstracts the traditional clay tile commonly found in homes of the area with a continuous, scaleless red linoleum sheeting. The ceiling, covered in enamel, amplifies the lights and colors present in the home while the cooking area, made out of stainless steel and mir- rors simply disappears.
