This complex by dosmasuno arquitectos projected 102 housing in Carabanchel, Madrid, for the EMV (Municipal Housing Company).

The building is compressed onto one edge of the plot, in a single linear piece in search of views and optimal orientation in which east and west share the south, soothing the interior and defining the exterior.

Dwellings are planned by and for this location from an invariable core that after an modular addition complete the requirements of the program. This core is constructed attending to the surrounding views and sunlight, and its two main pieces, living and bedroom, are located to the south limit which are protected with a vibrant filter, relegating the services area to the back side.

Like clouds drifting over the void, variations are introduced by the addition of programmatic pieces that forma the dwellings of two and three bedrooms.

The following is from the architects:

//Footprint

Orientation And Introspectivness

Despite the guidelines drawn on the plots, places need to express their own personality, to arise naturally, to construct themselves. And concretely this one is aligned against a green area, against the concatenation of public spaces that link the old Carabanchel district with its forest through the new neighborhood. In response to these conditions, the dwellings are compressed onto one edge, onto a single linear piece, in search for the genus loci of the place, views and an optimal orientation in which east and west share the south, generating the limit of the activity, soothing the interior and defining the exterior.
The following is from the architects’ website:

//Strategies

Minimum Core + Additions

The dwellings are designed from an invariable core with a modulated addition which completes the requirements of the program. This fixed core is constructed attending to the surrounding views and sunlight, and its two main pieces, living and sleeping rooms, are stacked to the south limit, from which they are protected with a filter, relegating a services strip to the back side. Behind this strip, and like clouds drifting over the void, variations are introduced by the addition of programmatic pieces that form the dwellings of two and three bedrooms. The strict order achieved by the linear core is mathematically blurred into a shifting volume. Thus, the dwellings become ‘machines for living’, and they are designed as such, fitting surfaces and diminishing the transition areas of between rooms.

//Built

Modular Casting System

Its construction responds to a necessity of industrial optimization. Therefore, the structure of the main body is constructed in concrete from a single high accuracy aluminum cast. At the same time, the light steel structure modules that constitute the additioned elements enable volumetric variations. This industrialized system facilitates the constructive process, avoiding rubbish and accelerating the implementation times.