International Competition - A House in Luanda / Patio and Pavilion

CONTINUITY / INDIVIDUALITY The house consists of a horizontal texture of earth walls of a mesh of wood pillars, with different possibility of modification and aggregation. The house is topped by a giant pavilion roof, as its representative element, suspended above the living room central ambient and in close relation with the outdoor patio. SYSTEM CONSTRUCTION The house is divided into four components: - the earth walls type, compacted in wood formwork, 50 cm thick, defines longitudinal spaces which include the systems and services of the of house. - the walls in earth brick adobe, closed and open-work, are the perimeter and internal partitions. - the wood structures are the mesh continuous carrier, it organizes the internal and external space. - the roof pavilion is built independently of individual households –with earth, straw, wood– covered with coloured materials, an identifier within the urban contest. FUNCTIONAL ORGANIZATION The longitudinal hall-arcade, connecting the two entrances, cross the whole lot and is the main distribution of home. Space is the element on which attest to the service elements and structures of possible future extensions. The living room is the heart and scope, representative of the house, in continuity with the space of the kitchen and at the outdoor “patio”. The great pavilion of coverage that is topped gives it a unique spatial characterization and a different light. The modules of the bedrooms are arranged perpendicular to the axis of distribution and services, alternating with the patio and open spaces. The single nucleus is made up of two rooms, accessible by an interior corridor. The toilets and kitchen are arranged in a line along the distribution corridor and continue outside the house, in the area of the garden, as service areas for farming activities. PROCESSING AND AGGREGATION The structure of the house allows in the extent of the plot, various options for processing and aggregation of urban space. The extension of the house can be done with the next repetition of the blocks of bedrooms, alternated with open patios and lighting environments, placed at right angles to the corridor and distribution services. The elevation of the house has the scale in the back open space, extending the distribution corridor and repeating some blocks of the upper-level bedrooms and band services. The articulation of the house makes it possible to aggregate the different functional modules, based on the longitudinal development of the corridor and band distribution services on a regular grid by varying the texture of the pillars. The aggregation of the house may be made through the combination of different groups along the long axis, to form a more complex urban fabric made of different size of individual units housing.