Casanova+Hernandez architects | A051_Housing Carabanchel

The building follows, when possible, the limits of the site trying to give the maximum free space to the interior courtyard.

The green terraced interior becomes the heart of the building. All the main circulations and the open communal spaces are placed there.

Four porched entrances are the connection between each facade and the urban context. The east and west entrances are connected with the two streets that end in the building and the south one on the lowest level connects with the public transport stops.

The four entrances are connected in the interior of the block by four platforms. These platforms are knitted together by a number of ramps that create a descending and ascending topography and that give access to the houses.

These platforms are used indoors for the parking and the storage rooms and outdoors for four different activities: a plaza, a garden, a children park, and a zone for sport activities.

Flexibility and typologies

There are three typologies that answer the needs of one, two and three bedrooms houses. They are linked to three different typologies of outdoor spaces.

Each unit of the block can be placed in different parts of the building and on different levels (ground floor in connection with the platforms, intermediate floors and high floors) creating multiple combinations that guarantee a great variety of types and possible open-air private spaces (patios, terraces and terraces roofs). These private spaces will be combined as well with the collective ones in order to promote social contact within the block.

Each house has two different zones: the day zone and the night one. By only moving some movable partitions, one room can be read as part of the day zone or of the night one. As a result of this strategy, it is possible to achieve more flexible houses that can be adapted to the different necessities of the current society.