FIRST PRIZE | Architecture Competition July 2017

Site
The building is located between two main streets of the El Cabanyal neighborhood, between Calle de la Reina and Calle de la Barraca, located at the eastern end of the city of Valencia. From its origins, the neighborhood presents a singular morphological, typological and landscape development, differentiated from the rest of the city of Valencia.

Goals
The historical process of construction of the current building complex has been the progressive massing and occupation of the free spaces, especially the patios, until reaching the contact of the two buildings on Barraca and Reina streets at their rear parts. Now and to restore the utility and dignity of both buildings, the process that will be carried out will be the reverse.

A separation will be created between both original constructions and the modern elements built improperly at the rear will be eliminated.

With this, we will recover the intermediate space between both housing blocks, revaluing the common patio and, due to its strategic location, we will place the central core of the vertical communications that will be created to access the different levels of the built complex.

This new space will be heterodox in its architecture, complex in its spatiality as it contains two stairs and a ramp that are used to create a varied, suggestive and labyrinthine interior walkway from the ground floor access to the open space of "Mira Terra" that build on deck.

Strategies
The project strategy consists of taking advantage of modern needs to solve old problems, with a clear intention of uniting the architectural synergies that can be deduced from the reading of the built complex.

Thus, an emptying action is proposed in the center of the project complex, once again separating the buildings that make it up, regenerating the original interior patio, now reinterpreted according to the use to which it is intended. This action allows us to:

At an architectural level, to return the original geometry to the buildings, allowing their view, rescuing the idea of ​​a traditional inner courtyard of the neighborhood typology.
At a functional level, it allows the centralization of the circulation and laying of facilities, locating the equipment in a specific area at the top. In addition, with the game of routes and unevenness proposed on the void, adapted access to all dependencies of the complex is enabled.
Finally, through the correct planning of openings in this new construction, natural lighting and ventilation are recovered and integrated into the functioning of the building.
Regarding the two historical parts into which the building is divided, they will require specific actions on their construction, repair and consolidation or complete renovation of elements, to adapt to the program and current quality demands and technical regulations.

The mira-terra
As singular elements and culmination of the narration, an exterior space is proposed, in the manner of the neighborhood's mira-mar, conceived in this case for the inverse gaze, that is, towards land.

From this point, you can enjoy a view of the historic core of the cabin, above its roofs, offering a different image from the one offered from the street, showing the interiors of the houses and allowing you to understand this part of the city a little more.