LA ISLA IIT(2021-2022)

The project consists on the design of a cemetery in the Chicago River. It’s located in the south side, and it destinated to unclaimed bodies. We chose a material that could be activated by light, give dynamism and, at the same time, be lightweight and strong: a composite material with a honeycomb sandwiched between rigid outlayers.

The cemetery is composed by vertical panels that are going to give shape to the different spaces. Its aluminum core gives strength to the wall, and its voids can be used to contain the ashes of the unclaimed. The glass panels at each side protect and strengthen the core and allow us to change the character of each space by varying the material of the outer layer. Also, this aluminum layer consists of cylinders of varying diameter, some of which are urns.

UPM (2022)

Vertical and horizontal prisms, both of very slender proportions and 100 meters long. They will be located in the project of a park located where the Cuatro Caminos metro depots were formerly located, in Madrid.

The blocks are arranged in relative proximity and will have to attend to the relationships between the high and the long, the upright and the lying down, the extruded and the compressed.

the objective of the project aims to turn both constructions into an architectural landmark in the city of Madrid, without breaking into the surroundings of the area, serving as a space for housing and daily development in a natural space in the middle of the city.

In the horizontal prism, the first intention was the visual division of the park in terms of leafiness and order. It’s an element of union between the two streets that surround it, rising so as not to interrupt the circulation of the park and to open accesses at the ends of the building.

Specifically, the horizontal uses minimum housing modules and complete homes. In addition, the building is passable from one side to the other and includes different open and closed common spaces, accessible to all users.

The skeleton that supports it is made of wood. It consists of an interior supporting structure that holds the houses and from which the enclosure or “exoskeleton” hangs. This materiality seeks to interfere as little as possible with the image of the city, providing the feeling of transparency and lightness and integrating with the adjacent elements .

In this case, the intention is to play with the scale, by adding horizontal elements every 60 cm that do not allow to distinguish the number of floors or the delimitation of the houses.

It is formed by a central communications core that holds part of these horizontal elements. The rest are layed on the previous ones since they have no structural purpose. In this way, a support building is generated in which the wooden slats shape the spaces and furniture.

We can observe how, being arranged every 60 cm, these are able to shape to the entire living spaces, giving rise to different possibilities of minimum housing that vary in terms of orientation and floor layout.

In addition, the materiality used, allows to obtain a sense of transparency and lightness in addition to offering privacy to users and a 360º view of the city of Madrid.