House in Jaume Cancer street
credits
Site: Barcelona
Client: Amadó-Domènech-Estivill
Year of project: 1980
Construction: 1981
Area: 500m2
Awards: FAD prize finalist
location
description
In 1980, with the purchase of a plot at carrer Jaume C`nacer close to Gaudi’s Bellesguard in Barcelona, just beneath the future Ronda de Dalt, we tested the buildability allowed to its limits by constructing three dwellings on three different levels linked by a communal area, resulting in a hybrid of a multi- and single- family house. Here, the stringent clearance for the functional floor plan was established by by laws and the desire to enlarge the garden as far as possible as it housed two beautiful canariensis palm trees. The result was a square floor with an area of 100 sq. M., a tight measurement for a dwelling. Given the need to make savings we thought we would build highly concentrated and strict dwellings reaping the most of the four façades of the house which, in time, would triumph with added luxuries. In short, as the plot does not allow a display of architectural spaces, the physical space is left aside and we play with the power of evocation, capable of generating spaces of the imagination. Of the spaces added to the initial core, the most significant, one is the aforesaid greenhouse. After many trials, the orderly, expressive structure of the wood was reminiscent of the libraries and boats, images of conservatories and architectural fantasies. In winter, aside from providing a terrace for the neighbours on the upper floor, the passable glass roof allows us to see the rain falling while a Danish fireplace gives the necessary warmth. In summer, the opposite pivoting doors create a smooth, continuous cross ventilation.
