La Casa Uruguaya projects is intended to be an answer for the existing problematics in social housing following the regalmentations established by the competition. It is a way of combining an effective construction model with the principles of sustainability to truly achieve an efficient project for everyone to have. It way taken as a reference the words of the Uruguayan writer and journalist Eduardo Galeano about the Utopia, where it is described as an element that makes us keep looking and moving forward in every aspect and circumstances that is presented in the way. It's about building a beter future and that's our team spirit; moving forward into a sustainable era. Our vision is to build a home with innovation and the technology needed to self-sustain in order to improve the most difficult social context quality of living and at the same time educate the users about consumption and energy savings. This makes the people gain more conciseness about the present situation and value what they have. This is why the motto that best represents our project is MORE FOR LESS, because we are in the search of building more comfortable houses with less means, and more efficient for a less consumption of energy.
“La utopía está en el horizonte. Camino dos pasos ella se aleja dos pasos y el horizonte se corre diez pasos más allá. ¿Entonces para qué sirve la utopía? Para eso, sirve para caminar.” Eduardo Galeano, 1940
The house was design to be functional and comfortable for big families in a reduced space. This was accomplished within a layout of 75m2 with a clear circulation inside that separates the public rooms, living room, kitchen and bathroom, from the more private ones, dormitories, and improves the flow of the house. Because of bioclimatic and sustainable reasons, the house is covered by a vertical solar protection made of wood which functions as a external solar protection for the house, making it more isolated from exterior threats and thermally more efficient. The first section of the house is where daily activities take place, the living room and dining space. This will be the rooms most used by the families to spend time together, so they need to be comfortable and spacious, capable of holding various activities. The second section is where more passive activities take place, sleeping rooms and the multifunction room, which can have various functions depending on the home owner. The third section space contains the home facilities, bathroom and kitchen. In order for the design and the construction of the building to be more efficient it was projected a “wet” area, or “wet” core, built independently from the rest of the house, where the main part of the plumbing system is located. This 12m2 of wet area is where the bathroom and kitchen are placed, making it possible for them to move as a unit and making it easier to resolve any difficulty regarding the plumbing system if present.
The Urban Master Plan has an organization of four blocks of buildings, of five floors, group into two to share both vertical and horizontal circulation. This allows to be more outdoor space having a proper exterior public space. Within the first floor of the urban project there are services and features that are offered to the residents of the complex for them to be more comfortable and to reduce urban travel distances. These services and features are shops, a gym, a bicycle sharing system and a correspondence and assistance service. The complex has energy efficiency habits, with the active participation of the users, where there is a smart grid system that evaluates the energy produced by every house inside the complex and determinate where the excess of energy produced should go. This mechanism was designed for the urbanization is balanced and shared to those that are in need. The prototype exhibited in Cali is the model of the superior apartments in the blocks of the Urban Master Plan. The house keeps as many features as possible to make the proposal accurate to the real urban situation.