Francisco MANGADO
 
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FRANCISCO MANGADO

219 Social Dwellings in Vitoria+

2006-2010

Salburúa, Vitoria-Spain

22.991 m2


The proposal aims at rationalizing as much as possible the urban occupation as well as the resulting schemes. This project elevates the principle of efficiency to architectural category, a principle that is considered essential when it comes to dealing with subsidized and social housing projects, because it affects not only those decisions regarding layout or typology, but also the architectural projection and design.

The corners and the partitions amid different architectural types such as the tower and the adjacent linear building, often have a very complex architectural solution that results, most of the time, in inefficient distributions. In our proposal, these areas become ‘special places’ that provide solutions in keeping with the aforementioned pursuit of efficiency, with wood-paved surfaces in the form of large terraces that articulate the different blocks that are placed at specific points, and which may be considered “built extensions of the interior landscaped space”.

The proposal highlights two elements that are considered essential in the layout. On the one hand the interior landscaped space, conceived as an area dotted by tall trees; and on the other hand the tower, which goes up as a freestanding, autonomous element. 

As far as typology is concerned, the aim is to establish a strict geometric order that sets the service areas apart from the living areas and kitchens. The organization of the rooms ensures an easy adaptation to the different needs of the families. All this allows a constructive and practical order that in the end reduces expenditure in home improvement. In the linear blocks the living areas and kitchens are oriented towards the large interior space, always towards the east and the west like the rooms. The terraces earn a special significance in the case of the tower. Generous two-meter wide terraces measuring that can be conceived as extensions of the interior living space, places where one can rest, eat or simply observe the landscape and enjoy the faraway views, taking advantage of the height of the tower.

Salburúa, Vitoria, España

Competition for 219 Social Dwellings in Vitoria
2005
First Prize.
Future Arquitecturas #41-42
AV Monografías #156: Living together, Europe.
Future Arquitecturas #7
Future Arquitecturas #3
113 Social Dwellings in Mendillorri
1999
/
2002
The building is located in Mendillorri, a recently developed area very close to Pamplona. It is a low-density area devoted mainly to social housing and with a generous amount of green spaces. The site’s topography and the elongated shape of the plot, between a large park and a built area, are the essential features of the project and to a great extent the guidelines of the proposal.Hence, a first stretch of the building opens up to one of the most important and spacious public areas of Mendillorri (the “plaza”), in the intermediate stretch it shapes the street, and at the end it accommodates ground level dwellings with a garden. Different urban and typological conditions which are addressed specifically, but which start from one same architectural unit.The double orientation allows the building to be in contact with the park and the large square, as well as the street of access to Mendillorri. The entire building can be conceived of as a limit, a frontier, a shared boundary line between park and built area. The ground floors are very significant in this sense. When open to form large porches they act as “doorways” between one another, establishing a visual and physical continuity between the public spaces of the built area, square and street, and the park’s topography. The rear street, generated from an abrupt topographical cut and materialized with rough stone gabions, extends the paved surface of both square and street, allowing an easy access to the landscaped sides of the park and the arcades. There are two levels to reach the buildings: from the park via bridges that span the existing drop of the terrain and contribute to distinguish the “landscape” built on this side, or directly from the street at the lower level of the building.