Comments on: SUSTAINABLE PUBLIC HOUSING by Foreign Office Architects

By: tanya

tanya — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 05:42:18 +0000

can anyone tell me who was the facade consultant for the rue des suisses, by herzog????

By: Carmen

Carmen — Sun, 24 Feb 2008 18:12:03 +0000

Estaba pensando exactamente lo mismo. Gran Idea pero costosa en el largo plazo. Bambu expuesto al sol 24/7 necesita mantenimiento constante y cuando hablamos de Public housing no necesariamente hablamos de high en upkeep. en cuanto al Disenho formal del edificio, pobre para mi gusto pero arquitectos tendemos a ser criticos de las obras ajenas y muy rara vez diremos que obra ajena en buena. Arquitectura para mi tiene mas connotacion funcional y si hablamos de disenho Verde porque no estamos usando las orientaciones en nuestra ventaja. Todo el edificio parece bloqiueado al sol Norte sur etc. Hmmm.. to many questions about the building design.
Great Idea though.

By: anonima

anonima — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 08:37:41 +0000

este edificio es un FRACASO, ya tenemos los dichosos babum podridos y funcionan fatal, parece que vivimos en una CAJA DE CERILLAS. cualquier dia prendemos.

By: Arkitip™ | Intelligence | Blog Archive | Public Housing Project: Madrid

Sun, 25 Nov 2007 19:44:26 +0000

[...] Housing Project: Madrid Carabanchel 16 is a public housing complex commissioned by the city of Madrid to realize an efficient and [...]

By: Aleks

Aleks — Sat, 21 Jul 2007 00:51:21 +0000

It’s an interesting project, though it will be interesting to see how it ages and weathers in the hot sun of Spain. Is that green wall covered in grass sod? Is that going to have to be watered? If so I wish FOA put a bit more thought into that. It will require a lot of maintenace and watering, especially for a place that is very dry, has a water shortage and quite high water prices. It could have easily been done using native plantings or another material. Nevertheless, I’ll definitely have to go take a look next time I am in Madrid.

By: kia

kia — Thu, 12 Jul 2007 20:39:54 +0000

I agree with Ann, to some degree. Great concept with the right intension in mind, but think 10, or even 15 years down the road when the shades start to break, fade, when the wood needs to be treated again (think of moisture), whos funding? I do believe that something timeless, as affordable housing will always be needed, should be well thought out….choose materials and details to sustain. Perhaps this building will surprise us, becoming better with time.

By: c-dub

c-dub — Wed, 11 Jul 2007 19:12:05 +0000

Jared, I think you’re being too harsh with Ann. She makes a very valid point. I’m an architect who has worked on affordable housing for years (it’s just about all my firm does) and I have found that durability is absolutely critical. It’s a fair generalization to make that affordable/subsidized/supportive housing projects take a tremendous beating. I don’t know anything specific about the population living in this building, or the funding available for construction and maintenance, but I wouldn’t even consider trying something like this on one of my projects. The shading system would likely be broken, and the available maintenance funds would never cover its repair – and unrepaired damage seems to only promote more abuse. I don’t even put exposed downspouts on some of my projects, because they’ve been quickly flattened by kids with sticks and baseball bats. It’s a very unfortunate reality.

Furthermore, I don’t think Ann was talking about taking anything away from anyone: I think she was talking about providing a sensible, durable building that will continue to look good and function well for years. That’s nothing to criticize – it’s why we do the work we do.

As an aside, your previous point about it looking like “home” without looking like a “house” was right on the money. Nicely said. I’d be happy to live in such a gorgeous building.

By: jared

jared — Wed, 11 Jul 2007 02:41:59 +0000

yeah ann you are so right… so let us never try! better yet lets take away from those that need it.

i think you have never worked with those in public housing; in fact they do the exact opposite of what you “speculate” they would do.

By: rick bradner

rick bradner — Wed, 11 Jul 2007 01:34:48 +0000

this idea is quite ols.
check out this web site: http://www.baumschlager-eberle.com/
project is at least 15 yrs. old.

of course. this is all very much trad japanese architecture withits use of shoji and fusuma partitions….

By: BLOG’en » Blog Archive » FOA

BLOG’en » Blog Archive » FOA — Wed, 11 Jul 2007 00:02:36 +0000

[...] G by Foreign Office Architects [...]

By: BLOG’en » Blog Archive » FOA

BLOG’en » Blog Archive » FOA — Tue, 10 Jul 2007 22:40:11 +0000

[...] clipped from http://www.inhabitat.com [...]

By: BLOG’en » Blog Archive » Inhabitat » SUSTAINABLE PUBLIC HOUSING by Foreign Office Architects

Tue, 10 Jul 2007 21:15:34 +0000

[...] Inhabitat » SUSTAINABLE PUBLIC HOUSING by Foreign Office Architects [...]

By: ann

ann — Tue, 10 Jul 2007 13:13:45 +0000

I agree with everyone’s comments but I see a big problem here. In less than a month some of those moveable shades will be broken or removed or just not functioning, more over time. This is an unfortunate aspect of public and subsidized housing, nothing of a remotely delicate nature or of moving parts lasts. The residents typically have little sense of ownership and take out their frustrations on where they’ve been given to live. This, no matter how good the living condition is.

By: jared

jared — Mon, 09 Jul 2007 21:58:58 +0000

what looks like housing and what looks like institutional? i think it is all relative and this is a new idea for a problem that is not addressed….

just because it does not look like your idea of “house” does not mean it does not feel like “home”

By: Environmental News Bits»Blog Archive » Sustainable Public Housing by Foreign Office Architects

Mon, 09 Jul 2007 16:17:50 +0000

[...] Read the full post at Inhabitat. Faced with a shortage of public housing, the City of Madrid commissioned Foreign Office Architects to create a sustainable multi-unit residential alternative for its new public housing development at Carabanchel. Simply known as Carabanchel 16, this building shows how you can is a simple housing design transformed into a beautiful canvas of light and shadow using the simplest tool in an architect’s arsenal: shading devices. • • • [...]