This house was built on the Galapagar hills, northeast of the Spanish capital, by the Subarquitectura workshop. Its unusual, eye-catching form, which is not so easy to speculatively "untangle", became a kind of response to the complex relief. The site that was set aside for construction had one major flaw - a steep slope. To link two levels of the building, located at different heights relative to each other, the designers had to go for a trick, namely, to twist the building into a spiral.
The original name of the building - Casa 360º (that is, "house 360º") - once again reminds us that this is not an ordinary house, made up of boring parallels and perpendiculars, but a round one, the walk along which is not limited by straight routes. To get around this building, you have to make a short trip equal to 360 degrees, a full revolution around its axis. The "tails" of the building originate on opposite sides, but then meet at one point. One of the volumes gradually "slides" down to calmly "lie down" on the hills of the Madrid province.
The whole house can be bypassed by two different routes, a short and a long one. If you go the first way, you will first get into the garage, directly adjacent to the public part of the house (kitchen, living room and pool). The lower and upper levels are connected by a straight staircase. The long route is a curved area with bedrooms lining the outside of the house. Here, the architects have provided for a continuous row of windows so that when moving around the block, you can continuously admire the mountain landscape. At the same time, one of the authors of the project, Carlos Bañón, notes: “The shape of the loop gives an interesting spatial sensation: as if the house would be about larger than it really is."
“We are looking for the poetic where, it would seem, there is only room for the pragmatic,” Spanish architects tell about their work. - In this project, the form is not a consequence of the functional content. It is a function in itself. Cyclical dynamics, a given algorithm and surprises turn into a way of life. Another plus of the loop-shaped design: such an extreme shape gives rise to the largest number of useful meters with a good panorama.
The whole essence of the building is concentrated in one point, called the media library - a dark inner courtyard, isolated from the outside world by walls. Here, as Subarquitectura architects say, "100% technology, 0% landscape."
Another comparison that the house received is a coiled snake. Slate panels served as scales for the "reptile": it was this natural building material of a dark shade that was chosen for the facade and roof. “We needed a material with which to create a continuous covering for walls and roofs. Otherwise, the design would not have been convincing,”explains Carlos Bagnon. In turn, the black, light-absorbing façade is in complete contrast to the interior space. It was decided to make both walls and ceilings in the interior white, light, reflecting light.
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