Assignment A4 Case Study

ARC-551 Comprehensive Architectural Design Studio

Case Study by Robby Turck Madrid Public Housing
Table of Contents Project Details
1. Response to Past Failures Location: Calle de los Morales 25,, Madrid, Spain
Client: Empresa Municipal De La Viviende - City of Madrid
2. Site Size: 236,800 gross sq ft / 21,999 gross sq m
3. Massing Program: Public housing with 141 two-, three- and four-bedroom units
4. Section/Parti Design: 2002 - 2006
5. Exterior Spaces Diagram Construction: 2006

6. Exterior Space Photos

7. Lower Private Terraces
8. Upper Private Terraces Project Credits
9. Public Plaza Main Entry Architect Paul Gonzales
10. Public Courtyards Landscape Architect (Morphosis)
Ana Luengo
11. Circulation Structural Engineer Carlos Pintor
General Contractor UICESA
12. Parking
13. Trees
14. Units: 2BR/1-Level
15. Units: 3BR/2-Levels
16. Units: 4BR/2-Levels
17. Other Contemporary Housing
Sources
 Personal Ownership

Belongs to Everybody = Belongs to Nobody Personal Ownership

Treated as one stereotyped group Treated as Individuals

Monumental, Unrelatable Scale Personal Human Scale

Rigid Flexible & Adaptable

Flat Rhythmic

Danger Security

Response to Past Failures 1

"...a responsive alternative to conventional housing blocks..."
 A Typology of Porosity to Realize Social Ideals

Site 2
Massing 3
Section/Parti 4
Exterior Spaces - Diagram 5
Exterior Spaces - Photos 6
Lower Private Terraces 7
Upper Level Private Terraces 8
Public Plaza Main Entry 9
Public Courtyards 10
Circulation 11
Parking 12
Trees 13
Units: 2 BR/1-Level 14
Units: 3-BR/2-Levels 15
Units: 4 BR/2-Levels 16
 The Eco-Boulevard in Vallecas, Spain has a new 163-unit social housing complex to add to its list of accomplishments. The urban
renewal project boasts a revitalization resume that includes the densification of trees, the reduction of wheeled traffic circulation,
and the installation of three air trees. Now Olalquiaga Arquitectos has added a large, sustainably-designed, social housing
complex that while help to engage this pedestrian-centric area with affordable and comfortable housing.

Read more: Olalquiaga Arquitectos Unveils Social Housing Complex for Eco-Boulevard Near Madrid olalquiaga arquitectos' Social
Housing Complex in Madrid – Inhabitat - Sustainable Design Innovation, Eco Architecture, Green Building

Another Social Housing Complex in Spain 17

 A word from the designers....
A Typology of Porosity to Realize Social Ideals
The model we developed in the Madrid Public Housing, located in the PAU
of Carabanchel, provides a responsive alternative to conventional housing
blocks. Instead of a rigid tower structure essentially owned by no one, we
suggested that a rhythmic structure would better resonate with the patterns
of a neighborhood. With various levels of social association,
communication, and organization, the scheme is simple, respectful of
traditional dwelling customs, and flexible enough to be updated and altered
as needed or desired. Changing the typology of housing is a slow process;
however, it is faster and more effective than changing an entire New Town
configuration.
Breaking down the institutional nature of the public housing project, the
basic parti is a low-rise J form in section, arranged in series of spaces to
evoke a village. Loggias and green spaces for the domestically scaled
massing afford community-oriented amenities, with private and public
courtyards interacting through shared views. As a prototype for future
development, the Madrid Public Housing project responds to a variety of
surrounding scales, building types, and found conditions and, in so doing,
might be applicable as a strategy for larger, more complex areas of
development.
Posted: Feb 22nd, 2009 / Last Edited: Apr 11th, 2012 Share this Article
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SOURCES
http://morphopedia.com/projects/madrid-housing
Link to free download of Creating Defensible Space by Oscar Newman
http://www.huduser.org/publications/pdf/def.pdf
http://www.hrw.org/news/2014/05/27/spain-rights-risk-housing-crisis
http://www.aia.org/practicing/AIAB092656
Pruitt Igoe 40 Years Later by Sara Cendon
In a suburban Madrid neighborhood of conventional, anonymous housing blocks,
we devised a typology of porosity to suit the social ideals of this project type. As
an alternative to towering blocks of faceless units, this project explores a radically
different social model that integrates landscape and village topologies. By
grafting properties commonly found in detached villas onto this low-income
housing project we achieved a multi-family living complex with amenities such as
loggias, green spaces, and domestically scaled massing that are not normally
found in public housing in Spain.
A layer of landscape overlaid upon a façade composed of a series of open
spaces and idiosyncratic punctures combine to break down the institutional
nature of the public housing project. The basic parti is an extruded “J”: a low-rise
“village” building, flanked by a tall, slender bar to the North and a lower multi-level
bar building to the South. 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. The landscaped lattice folds up vertically; like a carpet; plant
growth covers the flat village and climbs up the taller buildings creating an idyllic
refuge from the urban surroundings. The paseo, shaded by trees and a
vegetation-covered trellis, takes the place of a conventional interior lobby.
This idyllic design brings open green space to a dense urban milieu. The
idiosyncratic topology creates a community-oriented social fabric and challenges
the prevalent urban social order.
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