Mad

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Social H

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M o r p h o s i s , S p a i nC l i e n t M r J u a n J o s e D e G r a c i a , E m p r e s a M u n i c i p a l d e l a V i v i e n d a y S u e l o , S p a i n

1 Overview of the project, rendering2 General view of the project, rendering

In a suburban Madrid neighbourhood of conven-tional, anonymous housing blocks, Morphosis devised a typology of porosity to suit the social ideals of this project type. This project challenges the modern attitude toward social housing on a topological level, focusing attention on landscape and community by providing an alternative to the towering blocks of faceless units that evoke a sense of prisons rather than homes.

Incorporating landscape as a primary building material in both a literal and figurative sense, the project explores a radically different social model and hierarchy, referencing the traditional European village rather than the modern city of housing blocks.

The primary surface area is conceived as a morphing of landscape and village topologies.

Courtyards and footpaths covered by a vegetation-infused lattice surround two-level housing units. The

complex provides two-, three- and four-bedroom units totaling 10,000 square meters of built area. The units are housed in the flat village center flanked by a small multi-level building on one side, and a one-unit-deep (6.3 meters) tower through which visitors enter the complex, on the other. An underground garage allows occupants access to all parts of the village while freeing the complex of car traffic and thereby further enhancing the peaceful atmosphere of the living area. Narrow, weaving, pedestrian-only streets contribute to the creation of the social fabric of the village. The idiosyncratic topology creates a community-oriented social fabric and challenges the prevalent urban social order.

This idealized concept of single-family public housing in a dense urban milieu maximizes the number of units with direct access to outside areas in the form of both private and public courtyards. In total, the complex provides 3,000 square meters of open landscape area that is completely covered

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39 A

Mad

rid

Social H

ousing

,

M o r p h o s i s , S p a i nC l i e n t M r J u a n J o s e D e G r a c i a , E m p r e s a M u n i c i p a l d e l a V i v i e n d a y S u e l o , S p a i n

1 Overview of the project, rendering2 General view of the project, rendering

In a suburban Madrid neighbourhood of conven-tional, anonymous housing blocks, Morphosis devised a typology of porosity to suit the social ideals of this project type. This project challenges the modern attitude toward social housing on a topological level, focusing attention on landscape and community by providing an alternative to the towering blocks of faceless units that evoke a sense of prisons rather than homes.

Incorporating landscape as a primary building material in both a literal and figurative sense, the project explores a radically different social model and hierarchy, referencing the traditional European village rather than the modern city of housing blocks.

The primary surface area is conceived as a morphing of landscape and village topologies.

Courtyards and footpaths covered by a vegetation-infused lattice surround two-level housing units. The

complex provides two-, three- and four-bedroom units totaling 10,000 square meters of built area. The units are housed in the flat village center flanked by a small multi-level building on one side, and a one-unit-deep (6.3 meters) tower through which visitors enter the complex, on the other. An underground garage allows occupants access to all parts of the village while freeing the complex of car traffic and thereby further enhancing the peaceful atmosphere of the living area. Narrow, weaving, pedestrian-only streets contribute to the creation of the social fabric of the village. The idiosyncratic topology creates a community-oriented social fabric and challenges the prevalent urban social order.

This idealized concept of single-family public housing in a dense urban milieu maximizes the number of units with direct access to outside areas in the form of both private and public courtyards. In total, the complex provides 3,000 square meters of open landscape area that is completely covered

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3a-i Decomposition of the project, rendering 4 Back side of the project, rendering5 Interior street6 Interior street

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3a-i Decomposition of the project, rendering 4 Back side of the project, rendering5 Interior street6 Interior street

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3a-i

4

5 6

7,8,9&10 Social Housing, floor plans11 Social Housing, Sections12 Interior street

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7 Floor plan 00 8 Floor plan 01

9 Floor plan 02 10 Floor plan 03

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7,8,9&10 Social Housing, floor plans11 Social Housing, Sections12 Interior street

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7 Floor plan 00 8 Floor plan 01

9 Floor plan 02 10 Floor plan 03

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13 Street in front of the houses14 Interior street

FACTS OF THE PROJECTArchitect Thom Mayne, BDU estudio de arquitectura and MORPHOSIS SpainCivil Engineer Rafael Urculo, Urculo Ingenieros Developer Juan Jose De Gracia, Empresa Municipal de la Vivienda y SueloDesign and Construction 20022007 Interior Designer Begoa Begoa Daz- Urgorri, BDU estudio de ArquitecturaLandscape Architect Ana Luengo, CitereaMain Contractor Jose Antonio Sanagustn, Uicesa obras y ConstruccionesProject Manager Begoa Begoa Daz- Urgorri, BDU estudio de ArquitecturaStructural Engineer Roberto Vargas, Libro Informtico Tcnico S.LProject size 236,800 gross square feet/22,200 gross square metersProgram Public housing with 141 two-, three- and four-bedroom units

in plant growth. The vegetation-covered lattice over the village area both enhance its ambiance and shelters it from the extreme summer heat of Madrid. The landscaped lattice folds up vertically; like a carpet, the plant growth climbs up the taller buildings on either side of the village bordering the site and offers its inhabitants an idyllic refuge from urban surroundings.

A layer of landscape overlaid upon a faade composed of a series of open spaces and idiosyn-cratic punctures (positive and negative spaces) combine to break down the institutional nature of the public housing project. Open spaces occur on three different scales: small, domestic patios inside the individual residential units, mid-sized public courtyards that punctuate the low residential structure, and the large, communal, landscaped space, the paseo - a large central public court . The paseo, shaded by trees and a vegetation-covered trellis, takes the place of a conventional interior lobby.

This idyllic design makes a building look like a city by creating different scaled overlapping areas and layered open spaces with a green street as the montage line throughout different yards. In this way the building presents itself as a part of the citys urban space. The result is a blurred edge between building and city which make a soft transition possible between the Morphosis project and its suburban surroundings.

Text by Morphosis, 13 October 2008, editing by Mohamad Sedighi

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13 Street in front of the houses14 Interior street

FACTS OF THE PROJECTArchitect Thom Mayne, BDU estudio de arquitectura and MORPHOSIS SpainCivil Engineer Rafael Urculo, Urculo Ingenieros Developer Juan Jose De Gracia, Empresa Municipal de la Vivienda y SueloDesign and Construction 20022007 Interior Designer Begoa Begoa Daz- Urgorri, BDU estudio de ArquitecturaLandscape Architect Ana Luengo, CitereaMain Contractor Jose Antonio Sanagustn, Uicesa obras y ConstruccionesProject Manager Begoa Begoa Daz- Urgorri, BDU estudio de ArquitecturaStructural Engineer Roberto Vargas, Libro Informtico Tcnico S.LProject size 236,800 gross square feet/22,200 gross square metersProgram Public housing with 141 two-, three- and four-bedroom units

in plant growth. The vegetation-covered lattice over the village area both enhance its ambiance and shelters it from the extreme summer heat of Madrid. The landscaped lattice folds up vertically; like a carpet, the plant growth climbs up the taller buildings on either side of the village bordering the site and offers its inhabitants an idyllic refuge from urban surroundings.

A layer of landscape overlaid upon a faade composed of a series of open spaces and idiosyn-cratic punctures (positive and negative spaces) combine to break down the institutional nature of the public housing project. Open spaces occur on three different scales: small, domestic patios inside the individual residential units, mid-sized public courtyards that punctuate the low residential structure, and the large, communal, landscaped space, the paseo - a large central public court . The paseo, shaded by trees and a vegetation-covered trellis, takes the place of a conventional interior lobby.

This idyllic design makes a building look like a city by creating different scaled overlapping areas and layered open spaces with a green street as the montage line throughout different yards. In this way the building presents itself as a part of the citys urban space. The result is a blurred edge between building and city which make a soft transition possible between the Morphosis project and its suburban surroundings.

Text by Morphosis, 13 October 2008, editing by Mohamad Sedighi

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