CEDA / Arquitectura Rifa 2019

FOTÓGRAFO

Marcos Guiponi Pinelli / Elías Martínez Ojeda

OBJETIVO

The project aimed to be a whole volumetry capable of solving: the natural lighting, the privacy between the dwellings and the public road, the dialogue with the heritage and the topographic constraints while taking advantage of the views provided by the site. The formulated space consists on a half-story distribution that takes advantage of the natural slope and the previous artificial filling, creating a dialogue between interior and exterior spaces generating a direct and fluid connection. An elevated east-west prism holds the social area, avoiding the shadow casted by the party wall at north, allowing cross ventilation and creating a controlled dialogue with the street. Given the presence of the residential tower to the south, the service block was positioned to the center of the prism and the living and dining area towards the edges generating a distribution capable of enjoying the view to the south “rambla”. The social space generates a roofed area on the ground floor in which we distributed: the roofed porch, the main access, the barbecue and the laundry room. An intimate north-south prism is added, remaining partially isolated from the street. Through its volumetry it divides the plot without using any exterior dividing walls, creating a private yard for each of the dwellings. The west and east orientation of the north-south prism allows the correct natural lighting of the yards, avoids the shade casted by the west party wall and the direct contact with the street on the east edge of the plot.

CONTEXTO

P.H Carlos Gardel is the winning project of the 2018 housing contest of the faculty of architecture design and urbanism in Montevideo. As ever year, this competition was carried by “arquitectura rifa” an organization that creates a ruffle to fund an academic trip around the world for all the faculty students, its main prize were these houses. This contest is considered an invaluable tool, it generates a disciplinary debate that contributes to a collective construction and encourages a professional approach for all the students. The proposal for that year was based on the concept of Sustainable City, the use of existent infrastructure and connectivity and the revalorization of the landscape, urban, cultural and historical heritage of the area. It consisted of the realization of two dwellings on a plot of 336-m2 (21 x 16-m) [3617-ft2 {69 x 52-ft}] located in the "Barrio Sur”, at the singular intersection of Carlos Gardel and Julio Herrera Y Obes. Placed in an area under patrimonial protection, the project is conditioned by a strong neighborhood that dialogues directly with the great urban structurer that is the “Rambla”, with the highlighted presence of the former Gasometer, a referential landmark of Montevideo. Each dwelling must be capable of accommodating four inhabitants. Developed in a maximum of 90-m2 each (969-ft2) they must allocate: a living/dining space with a kitchen, two bedrooms with a spare room, a bathroom and a toilet. Its exterior must have a parking space, a barbecue and a vegetated space fenced for its protection.

ACTUACIÓN

From a morphological standpoint the project takes into account the analysis of the volumetry and the alignment to the neighbors, the facade heights and its rhythms. The resulting building can be perceived only in relation to its surroundings and its contribution to the environmental character of the area. The morphology, the construction system, the cultural aspects and the uses and valuations of the public space are embedded into the project. The alignment with the adjacent buildings was essential, it managed to maintain the perception of the street as a closed and continuous line between the limits of the constructions. The resolution of the houses allows to establish a parallelism with the typology of “casa patio”, linked with the formalization of the urban fabric in which they are inserted. The houses, introverted and centripetal, are distributed around the central courtyard. The access through a “zaguán”, allows direct access to the patio, the intimate area, or the social area without generating interference between them, giving great flexibility to the dwelling. The flat rooftop ends up acting as second living space and becomes another component of linkage with the urban space. The barbecue on the ground floor enables a direct relation with the street, the appropriation of the street as a space for collective use is an historical characteristic of the neighborhood. The resulting project stands out particularly for its physical-environmental characteristics, the continuation of the street profile and scale, its link to cultural tradition and a strong street-housing relation.