International contest for planning young artists’ house in Cordoba: a planning proposal

Research on contemporary housing involves considerations about some current issues:  The connection between city and society and the city-community relationship. The city is indeed of central importance because it represent a development site of the life of the individual;  Social changes, and new family models characterized by migration and job flexibility of young employeers;  New materials and new construction techniques, and more precisely the introduction of new communication technologies and sustainability, which is useful to understand building life, management and disposal. These consideration led to the work exposed in the present Master thesis. It was inspired by the international contest (april 2011) “Viviendas para jovenes artistas en Cordoba”, which required a proposal planning of a rental residencial building for young artists, linked with the Centro de Creaciòn Contemporanea de Cordoba. The work’s output should consist of two A1 tables. The international contest defined paradigm of an artists’ residence characterized by four elements: intelligence, flexibility, sustainability, accessibility. The possibilities left to the designer were restrict by the regulation of the location, known to be historically and socially degraded. The proposed housing accommodates common spaces (such as meeting and socialization spaces), laboratories and expositive areas), and private spaces (place of intimate life), all planned targeting versatility as a peculiar aspect. There are three types of accommodation proposed, to satisfy the demand of intellectually and socially active users. The definition of the spaces permits a good degree of independence, with spaces that could be unified and divided in many different ways depending on the needs of the guests. The external aspect of the building manifests itself like a series of multiform fronts thanks to elements that can be opened by the users. The solutions adopted derives from previous researches and studies on existing artists housing in Europe to understand the specific needs of the social category. Concerning the shared areas, much space was dedicated to green areas (garden roof and courtyard), that are the concept of the entire project. They were used not only for its positive contributions in liveableness, but also in view of their bioclimatic benefits. Sustainability was a fundamental characteristic of planning: the building was defined by its bioclimatic technologies. In some cases, solutions were analyzed only at a qualitative level. On the other hand, calculations were performed and bioclimatic technologies were applied concretely. Namely, thermal and lighting analysis through software by Ecotect; the results were exploited to define spaces, structure design and building envelope. Passive and active bioclimatic systems were introduced, too: contribution of cross ventilation for passive cooling, direct solar uptakes and sunscreens, optimization of natural lighting, or active system such photovoltaics, rainwater recovery system, geothermal plant using Guadalquivir’s groundwater. The building envelope was studied in detail too, having in mind the goal of low transmittance envelope. This was achieved proposing the use of a photocatalitic ceramic that depollutes the air, and that configures the aesthetic of the fronts with multiples colours. Overall, proposals planning and technologic suggestions characterize a building that is a living organism, constantly in evolution. The artists’ residence was designed to adapt its formal aspect depending on the needs of guests, and that collaborate with the surroundings environment.