Photographer Iwan Baan captured the construction process of the social housing Las Américas in León, imagined by the New York-based office, SO-IL who collaborated with the Municipal Housing Institute of León (IMUVI) in the design of the development.
The scheme proposes high density, sustainable, social housing that supports social mobility with opportunities in a thriving urban center. Las Americas is a 5,800 square meter, 6-floor development with 56 apartments, ranging from one to three bedrooms per unit. The project organizes the 56 families around two landscaped courtyards within a multi-story housing block at the city’s center. A collection of shared patios along a public staircase creates opportunities for community-building and offers the residents the ability to socialize and enjoy the outdoor space. The building also substitutes fences with trees, connecting it to the surrounding park setting.
In this series of photographs, Iwan Baan reveals the assembling process of the walls that make up the interior spaces as well as the façade made from concrete bricks designed specifically for this project, which reduces construction time and cost, increasing the potential design of each housing nucleus.
The images also allow the viewer to visually walk through the corridors that face the interior patio to understand the constitution of the common space. On the other hand, a series of aerial photographs generates a global vision, highlighting the impact on a more urban scale and its relationship with the context.
For more information about the project click here.