Operation Between Walls / Natura Futura Arquitectura

Operation Between Walls / Natura Futura Arquitectura - Exterior PhotographyOperation Between Walls / Natura Futura Arquitectura - Interior Photography, BrickOperation Between Walls / Natura Futura Arquitectura - Interior PhotographyOperation Between Walls / Natura Futura Arquitectura - Exterior PhotographyOperation Between Walls / Natura Futura Arquitectura - More Images+ 17

  • Collaborators: Teddy Andaluz, Jhonatan Andrade
  • City: Babahoyo
  • Country: Ecuador
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Operation Between Walls / Natura Futura Arquitectura - Exterior Photography
Cortesía de Natura Futura Arquitectura

Architecture as an Exploration of Limits and Possibilities. The absence of public policies that regulate the ways of generating a city affects a large part of Latin America. Such a situation is the result of a lack of reading the context and understanding that the city is a physical expression of those who inhabit it. Bearing this in mind, it is necessary to create laws that value traditional materials and local labour, creating more sustainable cities.

Operation Between Walls / Natura Futura Arquitectura - Interior Photography, Brick
Cortesía de Natura Futura Arquitectura
Operation Between Walls / Natura Futura Arquitectura - Image 21 of 22
Operation Between Walls / Natura Futura Arquitectura - Interior Photography
Cortesía de Natura Futura Arquitectura

History and diagnosis. The project is located in the centre of the city of Babahoyo, in the Los Ríos Province, Ecuador, of approximately 150,000 inhabitants, a coastal area with a tropical climate. The peripheries of the city have been characterized by a long tradition of brick production, where despite technological development, the artisan method has been preferred. The project is located in a block in the city centre where the local empiricism is evident, the diversity of architectural responses is palpable between the modern and the contemporary and the alucobond panels and the cement. That said, it is important to use the following recipe.

Operation Between Walls / Natura Futura Arquitectura - Exterior Photography
Cortesía de Natura Futura Arquitectura
Operation Between Walls / Natura Futura Arquitectura - Image 20 of 22
Operation Between Walls / Natura Futura Arquitectura - Exterior Photography, Brick, Garden
Cortesía de Natura Futura Arquitectura

Extended Limits. An elderly couple chooses to renovate a building in a state of disuse and deterioration. Given this, the reconfiguration of its front is proposed, thinking about the possibility of a wall that would be useful, both for the city and for the interior of the building. In this way, the link between the interior and the exterior is not reduced to a physical membrane, but it extends in use towards both ends, showing itself simultaneously as a limit and a useful program.

Operation Between Walls / Natura Futura Arquitectura - Exterior Photography
Cortesía de Natura Futura Arquitectura

The Material as Modulator. The project has a facade of 8m width x 10m height. Faced with such a situation regarding height, it is proposed to use the brick as a modulator of a new front. This modulation goes from the unit of the brick to the entire volume in an exponential way. Such a strategy is sandwiched between bodies and voids, allowing adequate natural lighting and ventilation in each space.

Operation Between Walls / Natura Futura Arquitectura - Interior Photography
Cortesía de Natura Futura Arquitectura

The Dual-Use Front. Starting from a basic squared volumetry, brick boxes are generated in its three levels. These boxes are joined at their vertex and are complemented by recessed glass panels. The aforementioned strategy makes it possible to generate bookcases, desks, galleries, and shelves on the interior wall on each floor, while on the exterior it gives way to floating vegetable terraces, thus highlighting the forcefulness of the brick cubes that are domesticating the urban.

Operation Between Walls / Natura Futura Arquitectura - Exterior Photography
Cortesía de Natura Futura Arquitectura
Operation Between Walls / Natura Futura Arquitectura - Image 22 of 22
Operation Between Walls / Natura Futura Arquitectura - Exterior Photography
Cortesía de Natura Futura Arquitectura

Altered Heights. During the process, a question arose: What would happen if, during the search for new habitable systems, the ways of seeing the city and its conventional limits and heights were altered? Such questioning resulted in windows with views that are enjoyed squatting and on tiptoe - depending on the height of the person in question. In other words, the concept of a "traditional window" has been transgressed without giving up its functionality, light, ventilation, and view.

Operation Between Walls / Natura Futura Arquitectura - Exterior Photography
Cortesía de Natura Futura Arquitectura

The Exploration. The project Opreación Entre Medianera aims to highlight enduring craftsmanship that is lost by the city, a way to rehabilitate a building while reflecting the idiosyncrasy of the community that generates and inhabits it.

Operation Between Walls / Natura Futura Arquitectura - Exterior Photography, Facade
Cortesía de Natura Futura Arquitectura

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Cite: "Operation Between Walls / Natura Futura Arquitectura" [Operación entre medianeras / Natura Futura Arquitectura] 14 Nov 2021. ArchDaily. Accessed . <https://www.archdaily.com/952633/operation-between-walls-natura-futura-arquitectura> ISSN 0719-8884

Cortesía de Natura Futura Arquitectura

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