Project 4 corners / APS - Arq. Pablo Senmartin

Curated by Danae Santibañez

Architects: APS - Pablo Senmartin
Area: 800 m²
Year: 2018
Photographs:Gonzalo Viramonte
Manufacturers: Aberturas de Aluminio, Geotecnia Srl, Hormigones Terra, Instalaciones Saniplast srl, Terralon

Text description provided by the architects. The project 4 corners establishes an exercise of reflection and action of value on the block and the urban corner of a neighborhood located in the periphery of the city of Córdoba, with contemporary problems such as insecurity and diverse architectural expressions.

The 4 corners present similar typologies that change their relation with the exterior according to the orientations of each lot. The use of traditional materials was proposed, giving each corner a different meaning. Corner 1: Different ways of using the common brick in masonry and several screens. Corner 2: Masonry of reinforced concrete walls with insulation, ceramic brick revoked and screenings of concrete block. Corner 3: Reinforced concrete and brick walls of 20 with block screens and Corner 4: Insulated ceramic bricks with exterior and interior plaster.

Similar relationships are established between the corner lot, the dwellings and the housing relationships between them and with the existing urban fabric in the 4 "ph" (see diagram).

The houses do not come into contact with the neighboring medians, this gives future users possible extensions of the typology in that available interstitial space, nor do the two houses that are in the lot come into contact with each other, thus obtaining better sun conditions and privacy for each of them.

The typologies are simple, with a social area on the ground floor fully integrated and flexible, which offers users different occupation alternatives. Upstairs is designed with the possibility of dividing the environment according to user needs in areas of study + rest.

Links are established between the houses to be 4 corners and 8 homes of 100m2 of the same block, with similar but flexible typologies. Priority is given to an introverted attitude of architecture towards the urban exterior, where the link is nuanced through the tectonics of the material, the nuances of the different types of screenings and the parking spaces that connect the courtyards with the sidewalks and the street.

The interior of the house presents spatial connection with the courtyards as a continuity, through large openings. The openings are divided into panels that allow internal divisions according to the user's needs. The minimum patio is the protagonist.

Using traditional materials in different ways, allowing different expressions and spatial situations is the main theme of this set. In each of the 8 dwellings different possibilities arise according to the orientations and links with the context, the combination of the materials of the envelopes, was in turn looking for an optimal thermal performance.

Finally, these low-cost homes ($ 10,000m2) became an exercise in the search for new expressions that value the neighborhood corner with traditional materials used and combined in a unique way.