Date Type: Construcción

N1 Housing

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N1 Housing

Financing
Urban Design
Promotion and production
Ownership and tenure

Main objectives of the project

N1 Housing is a small residential building in Kragujevac (Serbia) that enabled to detach from the surroundings and provide the full comfort of living space. The intention was to initiate debate and change in the aesthetics and program through confrontation with the context and local culture that has its own stereotypical expectations of architecture.

Date

  • 2017: Construction

Stakeholders

  • Architect: Marija Simović
  • Architect: Petar Simović

Location

Continent: Europe
City: Badajoz
Country/Region: Republic of Serbia

Description

Building is situated in the city core itself, on a narrow plot which is common for this chaotic urban environment inherited from the past. Urban context made of old single-family buildings that are constantly being replaced by commercial multi-family buildings, can only be negated. Shaped as row housing, N1 Housing is communicating with the urban context with street elevation which is perceived as 2D structure that is hiding two-bedroom apartments and two duplexes-penthouses with exits to the green roof terraces on the third floor.
The problems that occurred during design period and the period of realization are mainly on two levels: physical characteristics of the site and restrictive legislation. N1 Housing was initially designed with an open ground floor for greenery and parking space. As the bureaucratic limitations got in the way, the property was ‘sunk’, maintaining all the imagined morphological characteristics on the plot with a street front length of approximately 7 meters. That resulted that the entrance of the building and the parking space moved to a formally basement floor. The greenery was compensated with a backyard garden, that one of the ground floor apartments has an exit to, as well as with two rooftop gardens intended for two duplexes. Although there are no windows on the sides, the building has large openings on the street and backyard facades that provided the necessary lighting and ventilation to the living space. Discrete contextualism among interwar single-family buildings (from 1920-1930) is not eye-catching at first sight and is reflected in the neat fenestration and restored entrance door of a single-family house that used to be previously located on the plot.
The special attention was given to the construction which is a combination of reinforced concrete and masonry with a span from 7-7,5m due to the trapezoidal base of the plot. This provided to the future users with an opportunity to organize their units as they wish, having complete freedom with no constructional limitations in terms of columns or load-bearing walls within the apartments. This construction enabled to have free space for parking in the basement and a very specific cubic form from the street. To protect the street façade from further deformations by its users which is very common practice, the treatment was such that it has no terraces and the ventilated façade, HPL material of which became the material used for solving the apartment shading as well, resulted in a precise and ‘non-contextual’ street façade. The backyard façade, on the other hand, is shaped in unobtrusive way compared to the chaotic interior of the urban block, and its shape does not suggest a multi-family residence. As for the greenery, the yard and roofs are left to the owners of the apartments for direct care and maintenance as they became the integral part of their living space.

Authors:

Fundació Mies van der Rohe Barcelona

32 Cathedral Homes

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32 Cathedral Homes

Urban Design
Promotion and production
Ownership and tenure

Main objectives of the project

The 32 cathedral housing units complex includes 3 different dwelling typologies bringing a fresh look on density and infusing a diversity in architectural forms. The 2 variants of flats and the town-houses share a similar layout of the living areas, all featuring double exposure and a double-height portion, making possible a future densification.

Date

  • 2020: Construction

Stakeholders

  • Architect: Sophie Delhay

Location

Continent: Europe
Country/Region: France

Description

In a typical suburban landscape, between a national road, a residue of forest and sports fileds, on a former farmed land, the ensemble includes 3 dwelling typologies, recreating within the assigned plot the complexity of a residential neighbourhood which has grown over time. The project borders 2 sides of a triangular plot, clearing a big collective garden. 22 flats are installed in a 6 levels building. The ground floor accommodates an open car park, creating a level circulation between the street and the garden and bringing in natural light. On the 1st floor, a common space is extended by a terrace. A row of 5 houses connects the “main” building with a smaller one that hosts 5 intermediate typologies in a little tower notifying the entrance of the neighbourhood. At the top a terrace offers a 360 ° panorama and the first row to football matches which take place at the foot of the building.
Our first goal was to resists to the temptation of segregation of urban forms by implementing principles that govern 3 housing typologies until they merge into a unitary whole. The 32 dwellings are mainly distinguished by their access mode - individual for the houses, by landing serving two apartments for the intermediate typology and by outdoor passageways running along the façade for the collective housing. However, the same design guidelines apply to all. All apartments are characterized by double height and double oriented living rooms. Everywhere the same big windows are protected by xxl custom made curtains. All units, simplex or duplex, have a day and a night area and a private exterior. But all the ingenuity lies in the response to one of the sector's town planning rules: make possible the densification of the plot by 20%. Rather than amputating the garden with constructions, we suggest to create this possibility inside the existing volumes. The double-height living rooms are flexible spaces that can be upgraded over time by building a mezzanine or flooring. In tis case the “missing room” lost in the height paradoxically becomes extra space, proof that less in more.
The different typologies (collective, intermediate, individual) are assembled in a single hybrid volume that stands out by its raw concrete materiality and its large bay windows set it aluminium which give rhythm to the façade. The unity of the project is sealed by strong constructive

principles, a rigorous grid and a unitary materiality. The concrete structure and its plots are visible to all in the ground floor parking lot. To facilitate the appropriation of double-height spaces, we installed long textile curtains and oversized paper lamps, introducing suppleness that counteracts the exposed concrete of the walls and the orthonormal plan of the apartments. Moreover, we worked with our construction company on fine details, including the numbering of each apartment engraved in the concrete façade, a unit in the guardrails and an atypical staircase leading to the panoramic terrace.

Authors:

Fundació Mies van der Rohe Barcelona

La Borda - Cooperative Housing

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La Borda - Cooperative Housing

Financing
Urban Design
Ownership and tenure

Main objectives of the project

La Borda cooperative housing is a self-organized development to access decent, non-speculative housing. It contains 28 units (40, 60 and 75m²) and several community spaces: kitchen-dining room, laundry, multipurpose space, guestrooms, health space, storages, and exterior and semi-exterior spaces such as the patio, bike parking and terraces.

Date

  • 2018: Construction

Stakeholders

  • Architect: Pol MassoniMangues
  • Architect: Laura Lluch Zaera
  • Architect: Lluc Hernández Torns
  • Architect: Mirko GegundezCorazza
  • Architect: Ernest Garriga Vallcorba
  • Architect: Cristina Gamboa Masdevall
  • Architect: Eulàlia Daví Borrell
  • Architect: Ana Clemente Granados
  • Architect: Carles Baiges Camprubí
  • Architect: Ariadna Artigas Fernández
  • Architect: Eliseu Arrufat Grau
  • Architect: Arnau Andrés Gallart

Location

Continent: Europe
City: Barcelona
Country/Region: Spain

Description

The idea of a housing cooperative was born in 2012 as a project of Can Batlló driven by the community in the process of recovery of the industrial premises, and the neighborhood and cooperative fabric of the Sants neighborhood of Barcelona.

The project is located on a public land of social housing, with a leasehold of 75 years. Located in Constitució Street, in a bordering position of the industrial area of Can Batlló with a facade to the existing neighborhood of La Bordeta. The project aimed to redefine the collective housing program, while creating sustainable building and including user participation at its center.
La Borda's commitment to a community model opposed to the more traditional public or private promotions has made it possible to overcome some major limitations that are imposed on architectural projects. In the public sector, the fear of the future user, which is totally unknown, makes it impossible to introduce changes that may affect the way of living standardized. In the case of the private developers, the logic of the market that impoverish housing are imposed to facilitate their assimilation to a consumer object.

The innovation of the development process has been key to work the architecture beyond its formalization. We identify five characteristics of this model that have a direct response in the project: self-promotion, right of use, community life, sustainability and affordability.
The cooperative prioritized making a building with minimal environmental impact, both in its construction and its lifetime. Another basic objective is to eliminate the possibility of energy poverty among its users, which some of them suffered due to the high cost of energy. The initial strategy of the project to reduce energy demand has been the optimization of the program, renouncing the underground car parking, grouping services and reducing the surface of the houses.

The maximum bioclimatic parameters have been introduced to achieve a very passive building, with solutions that involve active action by users in the climate management of housing. The result is almost zero energy consumption, and therefore, the comfort in the houses with the least associated cost.

The structure of six floors is done using Cross Laminated Timber wood (CLT). This is a lightweight, high quality, renewable material in the environment that allows closing cycles, unlike conventional construction materials such as steel or concrete, whose production has a very high energy cost and are not renewable. La Borda is currently the highest building constructed using wood structure in Spain.

Authors:

Fundació Mies van der Rohe Barcelona

Vindmøllebakken

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Vindmøllebakken

Policies and regulations
Urban Design
Ownership and tenure

Main objectives of the project

Gaining by Sharing, a housing model concept based on owning less privately but sharing more collectively, forms the underlying framework behind Vindmøllebakken housing community. A project that questions how we build socially sustainable living spaces that reduce our carbon footprint and improve the quality of life.

Date

  • 2020: Construction

Stakeholders

  • Architect: Håkon Solheim
  • Architect: Ane Skarpnes Dahl
  • Architect: Randi Hana Augenstein
  • Architect: Reinhard Kropf
  • Architect: Siv Helene Stangeland

Location

Continent: Europe
City: Stavanger
Country/Region: Norway

Description

Vindmøllebakken housing development sits in the Eastern district of Stavanger, a neighbourhood with a diverse mix of historic industrial buildings and traditional timber dwellings. The new proposal combines 40 Co-housing dwellings that share 500m2 of communal space and facilities, with 4 townhouses and 8 apartments also incorporated into the scheme.

The project is constructed from solid timber and orientated in plan around a spacious, internal courtyard and a double height living room that has become the beating heart of the breathing, all-wooden complex. Through an efficient spatial organisation, private living units are minimized with smaller kitchens and bathrooms. Residents therefore gain more access to shared facilities such as a communal kitchen, workshops, library and guest apartments. Residents own less but have access to more.
User participation has been critical throughout the project with the user group being involved from conception through to the design and construction process. A common understanding of community living has been developed among the future residents, but also together with us as the architect. This process has formed and grown alongside the principles of the Gaining by Sharing model, together with Indigo Vekst and Gaia Trondheim. Architectural design choices that support sharing with, and caring for one another’s neighbour, sit at the heart of the project. We believe in the potential of this housing model in creating a more socially sustainable way of urban living by supporting and sharing with one another’s neighbour.

Designed for a diverse mix of resident demographics, different dwelling types are incorporated to suit multiple ages and life situations. Organised spatially around the central courtyard, family rooms and top lit common spaces are located towards the middle of the site. The dwelling units are stepped and shaped around the courtyard and atrium to provide roof terraces and balconies increasing access to natural daylight and ventilation.
The timber structure is formed by diffusion-open pre-fabricated panels with hemp insulation and a 6cm thick solid timber board as the internal finish. This exposed natural surface creates a comfortable indoor climate quality by naturally regulating moisture and emissions. The double height spaces maximise natural daylight into the depth of the plan allowing areas for internal planting to contribute the internal climate quality of the apartments and shared spaces.

Sedum roofs contribute to the natural and green areas within the built environment of the city and create a low maintenance finish to the roofscape. The external landscaping has also been carefully considered with materials from the existing industrial buildings on the site being recycled and re-used. Bricks, concrete beams and roof girders have been incorporated into internal details and finishes and external retaining walls. This holistic approach towards the construction and material composition of the architecture has been as important as to the design as the considerations to the social sustainability at Vindmøllebakken.

Authors:

Fundació Mies van der Rohe Barcelona

Urban Spaces 2 / Mumuleanu 14 Apartment Building

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Urban Spaces 2 / Mumuleanu 14 Apartment Building

Policies and regulations
Financing
Promotion and production

Main objectives of the project

The project densifies a fragmented neighborhood in central Bucharest. It works with local dwelling typologies, in an attempt to preserve the flavour of small corners, courtyards, gardens, long narrow houses which all used to fill the old center of Bucharest, and which are quickly disappearing under a fast and mostly uncontrolled development process.

Date

  • 2020: Construction

Stakeholders

  • Architect: Petra Bodea
  • Architect: Bogdan Brădățeanu
  • Architect: Adrian Untaru
  • Architect: Andrei Șerbescu

Location

Continent: Europe
City: Bucharest
Country/Region: Romania

Description

The apartments building is located within a very heterogeneous urban fabric. It consists of 7 house-like volumes, successively placed along the site, creating a community of 20 different apartments. The building's imprecise outline opens less towards the street, and more towards the deep and diffuse core which is often hidden between Bucharest’s old streets. The elongated volume stretches from the street to the (deep) back of the site and stays connected to the street through an access courtyard that runs along the site's western boundary. On the plot’s eastern side, the long and irregular strip of land is split into a sequence of private gardens.

The entrances’ careful customization and the units' double orientation are borrowed from the characteristics of the wagon-type dwelling, a typical housing pattern in Bucharest's old central neighborhoods. Thus, on the ground floor duplex apartments are entered directly from the common garden, like a series of "maisonettes".

On the second floor, an external gallery runs along the whole building, as an elevated "alley" or garden, through which all apartments from the 2nd and 3rd+4th floor are accessed.
Bucharest's central areas face nowadays a fast and rather chaotic densification. While we believe that density can, and many times is form of sustainability, we also admit that the relationship between habitation within an old urban fabric and the increase of its density is often a fragile one, as such areas and places of our city might lose their atmosphere and character.

Our project tries to mediate between different sizes and densities, in a central neighborhood with small streets, long, narrow plots, and a puzzle of old and new buildings, of all types and scales, which is also not far from the socialist intervention of a large boulevard and its "curtain" of tall apartment blocks.

The project thus tries to work with a local typological criterion (the long “wagon-house”) and aims to respect and complete the neighborhood’s character, by attaching and overlapping within one long and fragmented building several dwellings with distinct, private entrances, porches, gardens, loggias or roof terraces. All units benefit from cross ventilation and open towards the more public West side (front) garden and towards the more intimate East side (back) garden.
The structure is made of concrete frames which carefully follow the shape of the 7 volumes. Beams are used only on transversal direction, within the walls between the apartments, allowing for higher openings on the long facades. The slabs are cantilevered towards the Western side, creating the intermediate spaces of the verandahs and open gallery. The slabs are tied together with thin steel columns, working as cross-ties and allowing for a deep façade, with a “portico” appearance.

At the same time, the project has searched to reclaim the plaster as a simple, yet beautiful façade material and technique. A very common and rich technique in Bucharest’s older architecture, it has recently almost disappeared, in a period when the whole city is being arbitrarily clad in polystyrene, with standard mechanized finishing. The plaster was applied and finished manually all around the building - all small errors were left visible, precisely because they enhance the beauty of the material. We believe that such "syncopes" complete the whole design’s expressiveness and may recover some of the "handcraft" techniques' lost qualities.

Authors:

Fundació Mies van der Rohe Barcelona

Zdrave Residential Building

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Zdrave Residential Building

Mismatches
Urban Design
Promotion and production
Ownership and tenure

Main objectives of the project

Zdrave Mix-Use Residential Building is situated in the city center in close proximity to the Medical Academy. The program is focused on accommodating student, professionals, and families.

Date

  • 2019: Construction

Stakeholders

  • Architect: Plamen Bratkov
  • Architect: Rossitza Hristova Bratkova

Location

Continent: Europe
Country/Region: Bulgaria

Description

The building is located in close proximity to the city center and the Medical Academy. The neighborhood is comprised of the vanishing eclectic houses from the 20th century, the rigid socialist Modernist high-rise of the Medical Academy, and the kitschy, pseudo-contemporary housing blocks from the 2000's. The program is mixed, mainly residential however in order to respond to the specific needs of the place with some of the biggest national hospitals in the area the building accommodates medical practices in the first three levels, a coffee shop, the next several floors are smaller units designed for students, and the upper floors provide regular family apartments. After the first site was occupied the adjacent site was also acquired in order to continue the building and provide more student housing. The functional mix stemming from the specific locality becomes a social one as well, counteracting to the growing number of repetitive closed housing complexes in the periphery of the city.
The design aims at finding a middle ground, oscillating between the Modernist iterations across the street and the arbitrariness of the adjacent blocks. To break the monotony of the housing units perforated handmade aluminum panels are introduced as solar shading. Their pattern is in the smallest scale and corresponds to the pixelation of the entire residential façade which can be traced in the window openings up to the perforated roof, and finally in the four partite square units forming the largest grid of the façade. A visual distinction is sought between the public and the private in their different treatments, materials and scale. Both are horizontally separated by a thin goldish line that corresponds to the height of the lower hospital volume. The glazing below the line is subdivided by uneven verticals glazing. Their upper parts are goldish and popping out, the verticals are discretely outlining the silhouettes of the houses that existed on the plot preserving their memory.
The building is made up of black plastered walls, handmade aluminum panels, and goldish bricks. The structure is mainly reinforced concrete. Due to the small site of the building a regular construction with columns would have left little to no space for parking underground. In order to free the underground level for parking the structure features four pre-stressed beams for each building to carry the loads leaving open space for cars. In order to achieve a fully glazed façade on the ground floor I-beams paired with reinforced concrete were installed to have smaller column sections and attain the feeling of openness in the most public parts of the buildings.

Authors:

Fundació Mies van der Rohe Barcelona

16 Terraced Low-Rise Houses Spijkerkwartier

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16 Terraced Low-Rise Houses Spijkerkwartier

Policies and regulations
Financing
Urban Design
Ownership and tenure

Main objectives of the project

Organised in four parallel stripes, each consisting of four of almost identical houses, the allotment is surrounded by a compact landscape with trees and bushes. The project presents itself as a collective ensemble with a clear sculptural urban form that expresses the idea of the settlement as one built structure.

Date

  • 2022: Construction

Stakeholders

  • Architect: Paschke Laura
  • Architect: Jan Gerrit Wessels
  • Architect: André Kempe
  • Architect: Oliver Thill

Location

Continent: Europe
City: Arnhem
Country/Region: Netherlands

Description

Lying between an attractive 19th century Spijkerkwartier and a small park, the project is organised in four parallel stripes, each consisting of almost identical terraced houses. With relatively closed northern facades, the ensemble is quite open on the south side, allowing a maximum of sunlight in. The individual gardens are walled and have their own sheds, guaranteeing enough privacy and storage space. Alleys closed off with a small gate give access to the homes and function as collective areas while marking the border with the public space. A green buffer of trees and bushes stretches around the houses and defines the project as an entity: a collective ensemble with a clear sculptural urban form, expressing the idea of the settlement as one built structure. This turns the inhabitant into members of a small community instead of being merely the owners of private houses.
As a typological experiment this project aims to put a maximum of private homes on a rather small urban plot, offering an alternative to housing at the periphery of big cities. It tries to answer typological challenges inherent to high-density low-rise developments regarding the amount of individuality, privacy and collective form.

Located along an attractive 19th century area next a small community park, the ensemble is organised in four parallel stripes, consisting of almost identical terraced houses. With relatively closed northern facades, the houses are opened to the south, allowing lots of sunlight in. The individual gardens are walled and have their own sheds, guaranteeing enough privacy and storage space. Alleys give access to the homes and are closed off with a small gate, marking the line between public and collective space. A green buffer of trees and bushes stretches around the houses, defining the project as an entity: a collective ensemble with a clear sculptural urban form, expressing the idea of the settlement as one built structure. The inhabitants are then members of a community instead of being merely private houses owners.
Different options were offered to accommodate the buyers’ individual wishes, budgets and lifestyles. These simple and flexible homes have an open stair, placed inside a void it reduces mere circulation space. The southern glass facade creates a strong visual connection with the garden and a fluent spatial relation between the in and outside, enhanced by the large sliding doors. It also let the winter sun in while walled garden forms a private patio.

Bricks seemed to be the accurate building material for a quiet expression and to emphasise the spatial character of whole. The warm off-white colour allows a maximum of light reflection, reducing the visual impact of the dense settlement. No additional metal cladding around the elegant vertical windows of the north facade is required. These bricks have been specially developed with a German brick manufacturer. The visibility of the dilatation joints was to be minimized. Combined with bronze-anodized aluminium windows, sun-protection glass and sunscreens, the result is a modest ensemble with a striking generosity. The solid but light materialisation recalls classical mid-century housing estates from the 20th century.

Authors:

Fundació Mies van der Rohe Barcelona

Viale Giulini Affordable Housing

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Viale Giulini Affordable Housing

Policies and regulations
Urban Design
Promotion and production

Main objectives of the project

A compact and down-to-earth architecture.

Date

  • 2020: Construction

Stakeholders

  • Architect: Junko Kirimoto
  • Architect: Massimo Alvisi

Location

Continent: Europe
City: Barletta
Country/Region: Barletta, Italy

Description

The complex, divided into 3 blocks, counting 50 residential units including car parks and commercial activities, looks like a C-shaped monolith, spanning a height of 6 floors. The regularity of the elevations represents the main character of the building: the uniform dark grey brick curtain becomes a neutral score where dynamic rhythms are delivered by white protruding loggias.

All the apartments are organized around a courtyard, which occupies over 70% of the lot. The courtyard is designed as a small park, where the inhabitants can leave the chaos of the city behind, and enjoy trees and deciduous plants, which provide shade in summer and natural light in winter.

During the day, natural light reduces the apparent weight of the building, the volumes of the loggias and balconies become slight, combining the material and the abstract, lightness and gravity with maximum simplicity.
The project, conceived as the 'zero point' of a general redevelopment of this part of the city, breaks away from the typical forms of social housing construction. The main interest was working on the typology and quality of the spaces, not only on the design.

To balance the gravity of the volume, whose profile on the ground floor bends to expand the public space, we imagined a series of light and permeable loggias hanging on the facade, 'democratically' attributing extra space to everyone. What’s more, thanks to their white and perforated surfaces, they reflect natural light within the domestic environment, and they add a further 10 to 15 m2 to the apartments, enhancing the spatial quality of the more modest and limited typological cuts.

Rigorous lines, essential shapes and balanced colors: the result is a simple and refined design - in contrast with the eccentricity of the surrounding buildings - which restores dignity to social housing in the suburbs. A project that, with the same grace with which it stands, brings the theme of quality accommodation at affordable prices back to the heart of the architectural debate.
The building is highly innovative from a technological aspect. The solutions adopted ensure that the internal and external loggias are prefabricated and reproducible in series, without renouncing the richness of detail and durability. This strategy, shared with the client, has made it possible to make quality social housing and to deliver a unique, safe and durable home, with an extremely limited budget for the current market.

The balconies overlook Viale Giulini to optimize the natural light, and carved into the volume in the other elevations to limit the solar radiation. Protected from rain at the top and laterally by perforated sheet metal screens to increase the privacy. Their shape allows for maximum customization, without altering the general aesthetics of the facades.

The ground floor of the building transmits solidity and dynamism: the cladding starts from the ground, rooting the building, while a clear vertical diagonal cut boosts the volume. The same inclination is applied horizontally between the lateral elevations and the main front, as well as the roof parapet, which hides the thermal solar panels.

Authors:

Residential Complex at Gallarate

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Residential Complex at Gallarate

Financing
Urban Design
Promotion and production

Main objectives of the project

Construction of 20 apartments in the historical centre of Gallarate between via Roma e via Postporta distributed in two four storey building. The urban insert is conceived giving great importance to the external spaces, to the public and private paths, reproposing the traditional Lombard courtyard and the alleys of the ancient town.

Date

  • 2020: Construction

Stakeholders

  • Architect: Marta Rodrigues
  • Architect: Edison Okumura
  • Architect: Roberto Cremascoli
  • Architect: Álvaro Siza Vieira

Location

Continent: Europe
Country/Region: Italy

Description

Gallarate is a small town between Malpensa airport and Milan, situated within the natural area of the Park of Ticino, therefore submitted to lanscape bound. The vacant plot (50x60 m approximately) available for the construction is inserted in the limit between the fabrics of the historical centre and the Liberty period – the twentieth-century Borgomaneri factory facing the complex in via Roma is a good example. The functional program consists of 20 apartments with surface areas ranging from 75 to 270 m2, and housing typology varying from studios to four-bedroom apartments, 94 parking spaces and 20 cellars. There are 4 levels above ground and 2 under ground. The buildings are 15 m wide inclusive of the loggia (2m). The main courtyard is 10 m wide and 41.6 m deep. The apartments on the top of each builiding are duplexes with large terraces facing the urban landscape and the Park of Ticino.
The main concern has undoubtedly been to respect the continuity to the urban grid, designing the new volumes considering the hights of the sorrounding buildings and the conformation of the adjacent plots. Despite the fact that it consists of a private intervention, the functional program included municipal parking spaces, and a public autonomous pedestrian pathway (permeability of the plot), open during most part of the day, connecting via Roma to via Postporta. All this results in the city entering and crossing the complex. Both the resident and the no resident pedestrians experience the feeling of entering a small town marked by some elements that provide the complex with an articulate characterictic: from the portals that sign the entrances, to the volumes that rise from the basements, illuminating the underground levels with natural light. From the study of the dwelling typolgy point of view, the choice of designing apartments with double exposures (east-ovest) ensures a better thermal efficiency (cross ventilation) and an optimal solar orientation. Large balconies work as an extension of the living rooms.
In the 50x60 m plot, the two buildings, with reinforced concrete structure and post-tensioned floors, placed 10m apart from one another, bound a large rectangular courtyard with generous green spaces, and are designed as two different typologies of buildings: the smaller one, facing via Roma is an autonomous body, similar to a modern villa; the larger one, U-shaped, encloses another courtyard and interacts with the oldest part of the town.

The green spaces run through the plot, under covered passageways, galleries, or climbing the ritainig walls at the limits of the project. The stone material travertino cover entirely the construction, reaching the underground floors through the ventilation patios. The external paths are covered with grained stone and curbs in travertino. The vegetation characterizes not only the external ground floor level, but also the roofs of the buildings which are covered mostly with green areas. The only exception is where the photovoltaic panels are located. The concern about the energy efficiency is highlighted also by the presence of geothermal probes, used both for heating (floor heating) and hot domestic water.

Authors:

Fundació Mies van der Rohe Barcelona

Housing Block Bagebi

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Housing Block Bagebi

Mismatches
Financing
Urban Design
Promotion and production

Main objectives of the project

The building is located on the Tbilisi-Tskneti highway, next to the former Maghlivi student campus. The project brief was to create a building consisting of 35 residential units, though the client’s desire was not solely focused on the commercialization and selling of the apartments.

Date

  • 2021: Construction

Stakeholders

  • Architect: Giorgi Beriashvili
  • Architect: David Makharoblishvili
  • Architect: Gigi Shukakidze

Location

Country/Region: Georgia

Description

Due to the location of this building, which is adjacent to a forested area, there was a need to create a building that reflected a spacious, healthy living environment, unlike the tight constructions surrounding it. During the location analysis, we researched important Soviet-era buildings nearby, including the student campus complex of Maghlivi University, where refugees from Abkhazia have been housed for decades. Generally, our observation is focused on the process of living in abandoned and unfinished buildings and how existing structures become dependent on the different forms of life. The intuitive connection and predominant reference while developing the forms of the building was the notion of a completely bare frame, which contained various ways of fulfilling itself. In general, the form goes through many stages of criticism and often returns to the original intuitive image or archetype, yet with more sophisticated composition. In our case, we arrived again at the phenomenon of the bare frame.
The horizontal and vertical elements of the facade are as functional as possible and have both a basic structural and engineering-sanitary role. At their expense, the living spaces offer more freedom and are easier to customize. This allowed us to avoid excessive costs and omit materials, which tend to be expensive when creating the expressiveness of a building. Here, in each apartment, remains only a simple dividing line between the inner and outer realms. Due to the difficult terrain, the building has entrances to three different levels. There are sports and recreational spaces for children on the ground floor; a two-story underground car park and a garden planted with various plants, which was initiated by the client due to the necessity of filling the existing ravine. There are also swimming pools on the green roof verandas of the building.
Critical building content is important in addition to providing functionality to the client and residents. How can some methods, with the exemption of unnecessary formation, make a person feel free to use a building? As the inner life of the inhabitants of the neighbourhood is constantly changing, the facade’s net structure as the equalizer of this makes the process more contrasting to the observer.

Authors:

Fundació Mies van der Rohe Barcelona