CH 26 | I-ARCHITECTURE

This 100m2 apartment is located on the banks of the estuary in the picturesque neighborhood of Bilbao la Vieja, the proposal works around two topics:

On the one hand, it tries to deal with how to avoid the decontextualization of spaces in the era of programmed obsolescence, together with taking advantage of the surface by satisfying the needs of the program without diminishing the diversity of possible uses.

The answer lies in accepting the passing of time through the materials and allowing the textures to evolve by themselves, dressing their wounds and wrinkles with dignity, along with avoiding the classification of the different uses in defined spaces, seeking to promote new synergies and tensions depending on the needs of each day.

As a result, a cross-border space is generated taking advantage of every opportunity to filter the light and value the materials in their natural state. Drawing discreet and diaphanous atmospheres, perfection and imperfection contrast as a synthesis.

The originated landscape is modified every day making it impossible to conclude and fix the project. Labels are prohibited in favor of working in the kitchen, eating in the living room or resting in the dining room. The spaces open up and mix, integrating one with the other, the uses flow between the rooms. There are no borders between the living room, dining room, kitchen, hall, room or work space, the confusion is welcome.

Only the rigidity of the pre-existing structure is accepted as the norm, which sets the tempo throughout the spaces with its robust sections of chestnut wood. Old imperfections can still be read as sense of pride in manual labor that is increasingly out of fashion these days. 

The raw materials are used as expressive elements, extolling the beauty of the authentic, helping to remember how natural textures and colors look like. Every imperfection is a gift.

Lime washed walls highlight the succinct industrial interior design manufactured in natural steel, which reminds us of the increasingly rare telluric landscapes of the austere industrial poetry that settled on the banks of the Nervión River. 

Architects: JON IRIGOYEN, AMAIA GUIBERT, ENEKO DGUEZ DE VIDAURRETA, MIREN IRIGOYEN