Holland - Italy. 10 Works of Architecture. Mostra MAXXI Roma

Bakema’s slabs are beautiful.They provided a clever so- lution to a real problem. We have to transform and adapt them to a program that is completely alien compared to that for which they were intended, adapting them to a new constellation of de- sires.Yet, notwithstanding the wish for transformation, it is not possible to believe that these houses could trans- mute into something other from what they are now, that social housing could be converted into up-market subur- ban neighbourhoods, magically altering the assets of the residents as well. The requested housing density leaves no space for trees, hillocks, or gently meandering roads, and there will be no rise in property prices. Here, opera- tion aurum ex stercore will not work. Itis tosupposearadicaltransformationoftheareawith- out presupposing a concurrent reworking of the entire city in which the area is inserted. Ultimately, it is simply a case of moving apartment residents into the most au- tonomous houses, and believing that this will be enough to improve the overall conditions of the residents. We ask ourselves what sense our work can have under these conditions. Can we propose a subdivision of lots capable of producing a city setting? Can we somehow defend Bakema’s building? And, what are the margins to search for beauty? The need for individual housing units with gardens can be satisfied in a very direct way, by entrusting in the self- evident mechanics of the grid. The grid is applied in a most rigorous fashion in order to insure greater clarity and adaptability. We put forth a design-plan for a ratio- nal subdivision and study possible residential typologies to insert within the grid. We define credible dimensions for vacant lots and offer an abacus of possible homes to insert there. We demolish the minor buildings to increase the distance between the main buildings, creating a new disposition and arrangement. We go back to the distances of the CIAM’s city: the distances that CIAM cities had always claimed without ever truly possessing them.