METROQUADRADO速
House what does it means? What
turns a building into a house? The answer seems immediate and obvious: a house is a house! The house is a response to such a primitive and basic need that a definition becomes almost unnecessary. Any human knows it’s meaning as well as its graphic representation. It is as natural as breathing.The house protects us from the sun and rain, wind, warm and cold; it protects us from the dangerous outside world and also from our own species.
JUST A HOUSE 04 | 2011
METROQUADRADO速
JUST A HOUSE 04 | 2011
METROQUADRADO速
JUST A HOUSE 04 | 2011
House is shelter Shelter
means that house can also protect us from ourselves – our fears, obsessions; and exalt our dreams and wishes. House is refuge. It can make our life a little bit easier or a lot harder. It can help us relax after a hard days work or even forget problems in a nice weekend, or incite our range against the world and lead to violence. House builds personality. To not have a house is like being an orphan. We feel stripped from a part of us, completely exposed. That’s why humans sacrifice so much to have one and, independently of its constitution, we tend to spend most of our savings in it. From the illegal settlement built with all sacrifice to the most luxurious place it as the same meaning, the house is an extension of ourselves.
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However it can take up as many forms as cells present in the human body, why? Because independently of our social status, religion or culture the house reflects our achievements in life, failure our success. House is a social barometer. We might ask then, why design a house without client if it is supposed to reflect him? Because it is the responsibility of architects to understand and interpret the positive and negative aspects of the place and think on the best way to find balance, harmony and sustainability of it with its surroundings so that after, the eventual owner of the house can feel free to dream, live and be happy.
METROQUADRADOÂŽ
JUST A HOUSE 04 | 2011
METROQUADRADO速
CONCEPTUAL APPROACH
The
place used for this study presents as much potential for success as for failure. A former fisherman’s village has, in recent years, been invaded by city dwellers looking for a nice house near the beach but still close enough to the city so that they can commute everyday. The weak urban control by local authorities as allowed all kinds of land occupation without respect for heights, alignments or density. While the humble older houses present a significant coherence, the new developments threaten to destroy the “seaside village” characteristic of the place.
JUST A HOUSE 04 | 2011
A
A single house is certainly not going to change this reality, but it might try at least, read the place, enhance its main features and compensate somehow the most negative ones hoping that maybe, the next ones to come, will feel inspired to continue this task. This area is characterized by a mix of older ground floor houses with high pitched roofs and a series of recent constructions apparently not following any type of urban rules except not constructing more than 3 floors above ground. This conceptual approach tries to understand the place and take the most advantage of it based on 4 basic principles: Sustainability Privacy Alignment Light
METROQUADRADO速
JUST A HOUSE 04 | 2011
METROQUADRADO速
SITE PLAN 1|700
JUST A HOUSE 04 | 2011
METROQUADRADO速
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GROUND FLOOR PLAN 1|400 JUST A HOUSE 04 | 2011
DR
1ST FLOOR | 2ND FLOOR PLANS 1|400 METROQUADRADO速
SECTION 01 | ACROSS STAIR GROUND FLOOR 1|400 SECTION 02 | ACROSS LIGHT PATIO EAST 1|400 JUST A HOUSE 04 | 2011
ELEVATIONS NORTH | EAST 1|400 METROQUADRADO速
ELEVATION WEST 1|400 JUST A HOUSE 04 | 2011
ELEVATION SOUTH 1|400 METROQUADRADO速
JUST A HOUSE 04 | 2011
METROQUADRADO速
JUST A HOUSE 04 | 2011
METROQUADRADO速
2ND FLOOR_BEDROOM JUST A HOUSE 04 | 2011
2ND FLOOR_BATHROOM | DRESSING ROOM | BEDROOM METROQUADRADO速
2ND FLOOR_FROM DRESSING ROOM TO BEDROOM JUST A HOUSE 04 | 2011
METROQUADRADO速
GROUND FLOOR_LIVING ROOM JUST A HOUSE 04 | 2011
1ST FLOOR_STAIR CONNECTING TO 2ND FLOOR METROQUADRADO速
JUST A HOUSE 04 | 2011
METROQUADRADO速
JUST A HOUSE 04 | 2011
DEVELOPED BY METROQUADRADO速 COLABORATION WITH NADEZDA FROLOVA CONCEPT SERIES 04|2011
METROQUADRADO速