Elephant
soon...
v
Para Daniel
Faced with the challenge of a minimum house project,
we propose to act in all spaces according to the same logic,
understanding the procedure that leads the project as something
continuous: a single strategy through a single detail.
we propose to act in all spaces according to the same logic,
understanding the procedure that leads the project as something
continuous: a single strategy through a single detail.
We are in charge of the rehabilitation of an apartment
of just over 40m2. A bedroom, a hall,
a living room, a kitchen and a bathroom. The solutions adopted in the construction of
the kitchen, the most complex space in the house, give rise to the DNA that characterizes
all the actions of the project. The essential components of this space: the storage structures,
the work plane at 90cm in height and the tiling travel to the rest of the rooms. It is
a voluntarily incomplete construction, partly closed by curtains that reveal what they hide.
A necessary depth in a space of such small dimensions, also favored by the
brightness and reflections of the dark tiled surfaces.
a living room, a kitchen and a bathroom. The solutions adopted in the construction of
the kitchen, the most complex space in the house, give rise to the DNA that characterizes
all the actions of the project. The essential components of this space: the storage structures,
the work plane at 90cm in height and the tiling travel to the rest of the rooms. It is
a voluntarily incomplete construction, partly closed by curtains that reveal what they hide.
A necessary depth in a space of such small dimensions, also favored by the
brightness and reflections of the dark tiled surfaces.
The living room, the bedroom and the hall are not
separated by partitions but are distributed
by a single large piece of furniture that incorporates various types of storage spaces
and openings. A framework of 45x45mm wood slats, built from small variations of the same
detail, helps to articulate all the encounters between the different materials of the object
forming its edges. Some areas of this furniture are open, acting as a filter between rooms;
others are covered with mirror, giving the spaces a greater sense of spaciousness.
by a single large piece of furniture that incorporates various types of storage spaces
and openings. A framework of 45x45mm wood slats, built from small variations of the same
detail, helps to articulate all the encounters between the different materials of the object
forming its edges. Some areas of this furniture are open, acting as a filter between rooms;
others are covered with mirror, giving the spaces a greater sense of spaciousness.
Each room of the house, including the bathroom,
located in the old gallery, is crowned by
a small chapel, with a marble plane and a series of storage spaces. A specific corner
that is dedicated to a certain daily action: getting-away, dressing-undressing,
cooking, grooming, working.
a small chapel, with a marble plane and a series of storage spaces. A specific corner
that is dedicated to a certain daily action: getting-away, dressing-undressing,
cooking, grooming, working.
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David Steegmann Mangrané
Casa Conxita
Living on a terrace.
The project is conceived according to the client's main desire: a house turned
towards the exterior. The operation, however, is not so much to open the views to the terrace as
in providing the interior with attributes of the exterior, resonances of the landscape of the roofs of
the city, often invaded by clothes hanging in the sun.
towards the exterior. The operation, however, is not so much to open the views to the terrace as
in providing the interior with attributes of the exterior, resonances of the landscape of the roofs of
the city, often invaded by clothes hanging in the sun.
The east-west orientation of the apartment suggests not resorting to an orthodox distribution with
night and day zones associated with each of the two facades. Instead, the program is articulated
through two 'segregable' rooms located on opposite sides of the house and, beyond the idea of
'living room', a chain of common spaces of similar magnitude that extends from the facade of the
street to the inner courtyard. Against the spatial unity of the loft, the house is 'divided' by its
longitudinal axis into an area of public vocation, in contact with the entrance, and another of more
private inclination, next to the patio of lights, where the technical and storage spaces are accumulated.
The project is ordered, in this sense, from two main elements: a smooth topography,
whose different levels solve the relationship of the house with a terrace at a 40cm
difference height, and a 'shedding' of practicable light planes that crosses the house
from end to end, from the front of the street to the inner courtyard. The materiality of
the project is simple, defining the two main elements that make it up: wood for the tectonic
- as a definition of the mobile elements, and ceramic tiles, habitual in most of the roofs
of the city, for the stereotomy - as a definition of the static.
The program is not fixed, but mostly suggested. The topography 'gives rise' to the differentscenes
of domesticity. The project is revealed as the development of a series of moreor less stable,
periodic or fleeting activities in a territory of opportunities. In contrast,the sliding surface filter
works as a dynamic device that introduces complexity intothe plant, allowing the construction of
various forms of spatial arrangement.The house is organized, from a theatrical point of view,
through the dialectics ofdifferent degrees of transversal relationship between possible domestic
scenes,subject to different degrees of privacy or mutual exclusion.
from end to end, from the front of the street to the inner courtyard. The materiality of
the project is simple, defining the two main elements that make it up: wood for the tectonic
- as a definition of the mobile elements, and ceramic tiles, habitual in most of the roofs
of the city, for the stereotomy - as a definition of the static.
The program is not fixed, but mostly suggested. The topography 'gives rise' to the differentscenes
of domesticity. The project is revealed as the development of a series of moreor less stable,
periodic or fleeting activities in a territory of opportunities. In contrast,the sliding surface filter
works as a dynamic device that introduces complexity intothe plant, allowing the construction of
various forms of spatial arrangement.The house is organized, from a theatrical point of view,
through the dialectics ofdifferent degrees of transversal relationship between possible domestic
scenes,subject to different degrees of privacy or mutual exclusion.
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A Table (II)
The table is a blank page. A no-conditions surface that contain, static,
as many scenarios as elements are disposed on it. A blueprint for the
architecture of objects and a playing field for hands. The center of the house.
We are commissioned for a 140 m2 house refurbishment located on Verdi Street
in the Barcelona’s Garcia neighbourhood. The structure of the house has one drawback:
of the 16 pieces that make it up, only 5 are connected to the exterior, either to the street
or to the interior block patio, leading, as there is no additional patio,
or to the interior block patio, leading, as there is no additional patio,
to a dwelling especially dark in its centre.
The program required by the client is summarized in three different areas: the area of the
bedrooms, facing the street; the area that contains the kitchen, the dining room and
the main bathroom, giving the facade of the interior patio; and the central area of the house,
for whose spaces no specific program is specified.
The dimension of the house allows designing one of the bedrooms as an independent piece
with an additional bathroom and kitchen. This circumstance, together with the demand
for reform of the existing kitchen and bathroom, invites us to define the project based on
two essential elements: tiling - a landscape - and horizontal surfaces - some tables:
brilliant ceramic tiles facing the robust presence of granite.
In the original distribution, which little is altered, the central spaces of the house revolve around
a piece without any apparent value, composed of a closet and a small distributor. The bet will be
to open it to light by practicing a new family of openings in existing partitions and walls, which
will allow the surrounding spaces to see each other becoming a rosary of public rooms.
If in the new apartment and in the interior patio area the tables incorporate the double function
of kitchen and dining room, transforming into specific devices, the table that will occupy
the central space will be, on the contrary, characterized by the same ambiguity
as the pieces that surround it.
Conceived as an infrastructure rather than a piece of furniture, the table becomes
the protagonist of each of the three areas that make up the house.
The program required by the client is summarized in three different areas: the area of the
bedrooms, facing the street; the area that contains the kitchen, the dining room and
the main bathroom, giving the facade of the interior patio; and the central area of the house,
for whose spaces no specific program is specified.
The dimension of the house allows designing one of the bedrooms as an independent piece
with an additional bathroom and kitchen. This circumstance, together with the demand
for reform of the existing kitchen and bathroom, invites us to define the project based on
two essential elements: tiling - a landscape - and horizontal surfaces - some tables:
brilliant ceramic tiles facing the robust presence of granite.
In the original distribution, which little is altered, the central spaces of the house revolve around
a piece without any apparent value, composed of a closet and a small distributor. The bet will be
to open it to light by practicing a new family of openings in existing partitions and walls, which
will allow the surrounding spaces to see each other becoming a rosary of public rooms.
If in the new apartment and in the interior patio area the tables incorporate the double function
of kitchen and dining room, transforming into specific devices, the table that will occupy
the central space will be, on the contrary, characterized by the same ambiguity
as the pieces that surround it.
Conceived as an infrastructure rather than a piece of furniture, the table becomes
the protagonist of each of the three areas that make up the house.
+
David Steegmann Mangrané
David Steegmann Mangrané