Oriente 7 16 / Accidental

Architects: Accidental
Area: 1131 m²
Year: 2015
Photographs:Moritz Bernoully

Curated by ArchDaily

Text description provided by the architects. Oriente 7 16 is the project of eight apartments, located in a cluttered urban environment that doesn't have a consolidated urban image. We decided to bring the inside area to life with a colorful courtyard and a fresh and sunny atmosphere. This space is the heart of this project; an area for intimate, social and flexible meetings amongst the vegetation, which filters all views, giving more privacy to the apartments.

The building is made up of two blocks, each with four levels, joined by a bridge-ladder. Each block has four apartments, one per level, of four different typologies: a one-bedroom apartment, one with a private patio, four with two bedrooms and two with a large additional terrace to enjoy the city. These terraces are the quietest areas of the whole space; ideal for being outdoors, reading, resting or hosting small parties or meetings.

All apartments are arranged east-to- west to keep them warm, fresh and illuminated throughout the day. All public areas face the main courtyard and have spacious terraces with planters, to create a vertical green environment from and to the courtyard.

A typical apartment has 65m2 plus 20m2 of terrace. It includes heights of 2.80m, large clearings, compact service areas, warm environments and color accents; we aim to maximize the size and freedom of these spaces. The terraces expand the interior spaces, and are different based on their location: the ones facing the main courtyard are larger, have more vegetation closer to the street and are emptier, and freer, towards the east.

The stairs that connect both blocks are an open walk through the courtyard. A walk that is only protected from the rain, and which you can take between stairs, breaks and vegetation. The city can be discovered through the virtual windows that frame the blocks; providing a panoramic view of the surroundings, with its reliefs, such as the Ajusco.

The building's structure is made by two separate blocks over a box-shaped foundation at the basement level. Each block is a meticulous grid of gussets and light partition walls placed in a transverse direction. Homes like this are compact and efficient units that will allow for flexibility in the future, in face of a possible redistribution in the use of space, being able to use it even as a large open space.

We seek to complement our architecture with a piece of art that invites the users to an also emotional dialogue. For Oriente 7 16, the piece "Deseos" by Rachael Abrams, was designed exclusively for its lobby. The New York-based Californian artist created a piece of contemporary art that reinvents itself daily through the variety of interpretations that come from each person who interacts with it. Through 28 hand-painted canvases, it is the building's own welcome message, and explores the way in which we communicate, reinvent ourselves and use language. It is a dream-like proposal as well as a message.