House between party walls by Josep Ferrando
11/03/2016.
[San Cugat del Vallés, Barcelona] Spain
metalocus, CLAUDIA CENDOYA
metalocus, CLAUDIA CENDOYA
Josep Ferrando proposes a filling of the previously existing outer casing with a concrete body projected inwards, creating a gradation of spaces towards the interior of the house. The space between the original facade and the concrete interior envelope has generated a storage area to one side and a promenade enabling area to the other. The inside of the concrete body becomes the habitable living space, which can also be understood as a square, public space.
This area contained in the concrete house takes on a more friendly appearance through the use of wooden planes, which are also used as distributors of space. Thus, the degraded penetration into the inside responds both to the materials use and the organization of uses. The interior layout follows the principles of the raumplan established by Adolf Loos, which promotes a horizontally discontinuous path. All these architectural values, among others, have favored the inclusion of this dwelling in the next Spanish Biennial of Architecture.
Description of the project by Josep Ferrando
Located in the historical centre of Sant Cugat, a house between party walls is a project sensitive to the inhabitant and the city. A fragment that fits with the complex urban conditions: the Monastery, the cultural heritage of the street façade and the topography.
The party walls have an increased thickness to serve as storage and servant space, working as furniture and “promenade”. The horizontal slabs are adapted to the topography and the program of the dwelling unit with a “raumplan” system. A unique construction gesture to build the entire home, as if it were a hollowed piece of wood, shaped through light, void and visuals to interior and exterior.
Josep Ferrando Bramona is an architect based in Barcelona and director of the Josep Ferrando Architecture office. He has combined design, construction and teaching since the beginning of his career as an architect.
Since 1998 he has been a professor of projects in schools such as ETSAB (Department of Architectural Projects, Housing and City Course, City of Barcelona Award 2016 with the research "Arquitectos de Cabecera“), Torcuato di Tella University of Buenos Aires, Escola Técnica Superior de Arquitectura La Salle (ETSALS), the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC), the Hochschule für Technik Zürich (HSZT), the Escola de disseny i art Sina and the Istituto Europeo di Design (IED) of Barcelona and Rio de Janeiro where he is Director of Master Space Design Methdology. He has also been invited to prestigious international schools, where he has directed workshops and semesters.
In 2014 he participated with the exhibition "In progress Matter & Light" at the 14th Architecture Biennial of the prestigious Architekturforum Redes de Berlin Gallery, the Museum of Modern Art in Rio de Janeiro, the Museum of Contemporary Art of Santiago de Chile and the Biennial International Architecture of Buenos Aires. In 2016, with his work "casa entre medianeras", he was part of the "Unfinished" exhibition of the Spanish pavilion of the 15th Venice Architecture Biennial awarded with the Golden Lion of the exhibition. In the cultural field he has participated in numerous juries, among which stand out the FAD 2018 and the XI BIAU Awards, and since 2018 he has headed the Vocalía de Cultura of the Architects' Association of Catalonia, at which time he was awarded the National Culture Prize.