Housing is one of the primary aspects of the architecture profession. There are many ways to explore it, from a subordinate program such as a religious cloister to the splendor of a single-family home. Luis Fernández-Galiano is torn between the "waste" of a low-density area in this type of housing and its seductive formal charm. He reminds us that high-density collective housing, such as apartments, makes more sense in an urban context.
High-rise residential buildings are similar to single-family homes. They follow the same Vitruvian principles that apply to architecture - beauty, functionality, and durability. While single-family homes exhibit the triad more prominently, apartments can also display it. The means may be different, but they are no less attractive.
If aesthetics and function are given in apartments, the structural aspect can be highlighted and exposed. This is without devaluing the residence as a "fraction" of a whole or due to a standardized structure. Some apartments display all three elements of the "sacred triad" without compromising the context of urban density.
Arches Apartment / Ana Sawaia Arquitetura + Estúdio Paulo Alves
"As for the structure itself, it is worth highlighting the ingenuity of the solution contained in the project by architect Miguel Juliano, 50 years ago: the arched profiles of the concrete slabs not only allowed the complete absence of pillars inside the building - relying only on the pillars on the facade - but also the stability of such arches made possible to reuse the metallic concrete forms to pour the next vault just 24 hours after the previous one, needing to leave it for 21 days to cure the base and scaffolding. The sequence of arches quickly emerged, like a Roman aqueduct, penetrating the interior of the apartments and organizing the spaces. In the renovation, we sought to eliminate the excess finishes from previous occupations to once again bring to light the structure of this beautiful example of modernist architecture in São Paulo.”
Letná Apartment / Markéta Bromová
“How do you create one open space out of a large multi-room apartment so that there doesn't have to be a door between rooms because the client wanted as few as possible, but you still felt like the rooms were separated? We tried to clean the whole space, to use the existing structural and technical parameters of the apartment. The reinforced concrete ceiling structure with ribs was also exposed. This gave the apartment a rawer character.”
Edifício Casa Factory / Meraki Arquitectura + Diseño
“The apartments should be spacious, with materials and finishes completely different from common developments. We left the slab structure exposed, using the ceiling only in strictly necessary places, which gave greater height to the floors. The electrical and fire protection installations were also left in sight.”
Apartamento São Miguel / Nuevo Arquitetura
“We proposed to let Mayumi's freedom of thought flow: 1. Allowing an understanding of the physical space construction, revealing the supporting structure of the exposed concrete walls; 2. Highlighting the freedom of spatial experimentation of the open plan, creating a red-painted metal structure portico that runs from one end to the other of the apartment. The portico, inspired by the traditional Torii portal of Japanese culture, supports the tracks of the movable panels; 3. Minimizing the use of materials applied without distinction of spatial hierarchy. A single type of coating was used on floors and walls; the same goes for the composition of cabinetry and the color of masonry walls."
Acuerdo House / Positive Livings
“The house is located in a building constructed in 1893 by the architect Juan Bautista Lázaro. It is a building with a mixed structure of load-bearing walls and slabs with a metallic structure and partitioned vaults (volta catalana) introduced by the architect in Madrid after his time in Barcelona in 1888. […] The project was born with the idea of ridding the house of all the layers that, throughout its life, have been added to it and leaving it empty as a container.”
Apartamento Sumaúma / COTA760
“One of the things they wanted the most was to be able to enter the apartment through a spacious and bright environment. From the beginning, they had the desire to integrate the living room and kitchen and create a unique space where they could live day-to-day and also receive friends freely. Another thing they asked us for was to bring a little bit of the spirit of Rio to São Paulo, blending the more brutalist aesthetics from here with the more colorful and relaxed side from there.”
Galeria Apartament / CoDA arquitetos
“The expansion of the social area has been reinforced by the removal of the original plaster ceiling, increasing the ceiling height and revealing the existing concrete structure. To emphasize the presence of this element, lighting was proposed using reflective trays designed by the office and installed randomly, providing pleasant indirect light to the entire room.”
Alfornelos Apartament / Miguel Marcelino
“In one of the many suburbs outside Lisbon that germinated abundantly in the last decades of the last century, a typical narrow and long two-bedroom apartment. […] To the bare concrete of the structure that was left visible, it was added the presence of wood, stone, and steel that benefit from the natural light that now comes in more generously.”
Apartamento PSDL19 / EstudioReciente
“In contrast to the regionalist style of the building's façade, the inspiration for the interior project was the Sonneveld House (Rottherdam 1930), due to the use of color and materials in the different rooms. The new distribution aims to give priority to spaces with an obvious social function, uniting the dining room, living room, and kitchen in a single 45m2 room. This space is characterized by being the only one whose walls have a neutral, light beige base. For the floor, a green-based lime mortar is chosen. This floor, together with the metal pillars, the partition curtain, and part of the furniture, manage to generate a dynamic space where color is strongly present, but only occasionally.”
Apartamento Santana / Degradê Arquitetura
“The project took three months to develop, and the construction was completed in about six months. The main challenge was to update the apartment, bringing contemporaneity to the environment. [...] The existing concrete beams and pillars were stripped during the renovation and are now exposed, which is noteworthy.”
Copan Apartment / SuperLimão
“Located on the 11th floor of the Copan Building, the apartment signed by SuperLimão Studio had as a premise to integrate the spaces. The challenge was to create spans in the project since the existing structure did not allow to transform the apartment into a loft. The solution found by SuperLimão was open as much as possible the structural walls. The circulation gained fluidity, increased cross ventilation that enters both sides of the building.”
The passages in quotation marks were taken from the respective projects' descriptions.
