2_2_DiscoverBenelux_11_November_2014_Q9_Scan Magazine 1 06/11/2014 23:08 Page 69
Discover Benelux | Special Theme | Dutch Architecture & Interiors
world. “This was really a culmination of what our office stands for,” she says proudly.
An unexpected future The reversibility of the wheel points out another key STAR quality; its designs are prepared for the unpredictable future. Currently, Ramo is part of the prestigious AIGP or Atelier International du Grand Paris, together with 13 other renowned architecture firms. In collaboration with Rotterdam-based MONU Magazine & BOARD Ramo won her place on this advisory board to help the government develop the new metropolis of Paris. One of its first assignments was to help resolve Paris’s large housing crisis. “We came up with ‘co-residence’– a house model that shifts from ‘ownership’ to ‘membership’ extrapolating in the apartments the advantages of being a ‘user’ rather than an ‘owner’. It ties in with today’s shared economy initiatives; each apartment is divided into several private units and shared parts,” Ramo explains. “Certain householders only use pieces like the kitchen eight per cent of the time: why not share them between three apartments? Extra functions like a laundry room or sauna can be added and the fact they’re shared makes them affordable. Co-residency gives you twice the space, while saving a third in construction cost and energy spending.” This innovative strategy offers an alternative to Paris’s current trends where houses are becoming smaller and increasingly expensive. “People are priced out of home ownership but simply making homes smaller is not a solution. If property is becoming unaffordable we should rethink the concept of ‘property’ itself,” says Ramo.
OPPOSITE PAGE: Mirador del Palmeral - FIRST PRIZE Elche, Alicante (Spain). Instead of making the viewpoint the centrepiece, Ramo created a structure that kept the palm grove in the forefront: a Ferris wheel. ABOVE: In the Name of the Past – Critical essay about Preservation. Superficial sustainability policies and inconsequent preservation decisions will result in uncomfortable situations where the possibility of one can only exist due to the death of the other. ABOVE RIGHT: Beatriz Ramo. Photo: Hoda Hamzeh, AIGP.
She admits co-residence might not be for everyone but it answers very well to the dynamics of the many reconfigurations of the ‘traditional family’: single parents, senior couples, commuters. Moreover, once again, the project offers great resilience. Ramo: “If years from now housing trends change, the co-residences can be reversed into ‘traditional’ apartments’.” STAR has done six videos on co-residence; watch them online via its YouTube channel.
Innovative homes A family of five in Zaragoza, Spain asked STAR to design their new home but only had a limited budget. “The sons would leave the house in some 5-10 years’ time and the parents were afraid the house would become too big for them,” Ramo says. Her design allowed it to be transformed into two apartments by adding only one wall and building a second kitchen.
The second apartment could be for the daughter or rented out. Ramo: “In just 12 hours you can make two entire homes out of one, making the house today much more resilient for future developments.”
The bigger question Ramo isn’t afraid to speak her mind when it comes to topical architectural trends like sustainability or preservation. Recently she wrote two satirical essays on these topics. On the issue of preservation she says, “For example, making the centre of Amsterdam a UNESCO World Heritage Site was probably not necessary or even counter-productive. Municipalities want the UNESCO ‘label’ to attract tourists – but nowadays there isn’t a clear understanding of what ‘preservation’ really means, and the fear of being erased from the UNESCO list makes cities in many cases stop developing.” To read the essays in full, please visit: www.st-ar.nl
LEFT: O’Mighty Green “Eco-Nuclear Power Plant.” Satire about the misuse of ‘Sustainability’. MIDDLE: Zaragoza House(s). The entire house was designed under two scenarios allowing it to be turned from a single house to two apartments – the installations, the windows, the patios and open spaces – all without any extra cost. RIGHT: Co-Residence. The collaborative economy is booming, from shared bicycles and cars to co-working in cities. For Paris, STAR developed a model of shared housing called co-residence, where certain less-used spaces are shared between 3-4 apartments. It’s affordable and allows for a high standard of living.
Issue 11 | November 2014 | 69