Urban Social Housing

Saltillo, Mexico

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Designers:  Jackilin Hah Bloom, Florencia Pita

Team:  Esra Durukan

Structural Engineer:  Sergio Barrios

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Saltillo is a region of low, one level dwellings, creating a horizontal skyline only altered by points of interest, such as the Cathedral and Government Palace. The contrast between the horizontal line of the houses and the curved line of the profile of the mountainous landscape beyond produces an opportunity and gap between these two geometries. Our vertical housing building re-establishes the colors, materials, and geometries of the context into what is seemingly a stack of individual buildings.

 

The site is south facing and located on Calle Albaricoque between Escuela Miguel Lopez to the east and Teatro Garcia Cabrillo to the west in Saltillo, Coahilla.  Our project inserts itself on a lot that is 6m in width and 15m in depth.  The flexibility of the ground level plan can occupy one or two commercial tenants and there are three identical living units above the ground level with the exception of differentiated balconies and windows.  Located on the north (back) of the lot is an exterior patio that allows light and air to flow from the north side of the building.  The main construction system for the project is a concrete block wall system with four different types of cladding, making up the four distinct and stacked facades.