Luanda, Angola

A HOUSE IN LUANDA: PATIO AND PAVILLION

The living space is defined by a fence, that, starting from the kitchen, conceived as the central element in the house, is bent and fragmented in various points to define and qualify the interior spaces. The empty space of the inner patio, dedicated to the private family life, distributes the functions of the habitation, condensed around it: the living area, a big vaulted room, that leans against what symbolizes the hearth: a distinct volumetrical body containing an oven, a kitchen range and a tank for rainwater; the bathroom area and three sleeping room. In front of the house there is a second patio, a vegetable garden that works like a filter toward the street and contributes to the livelihood of the family. The house is built in adobe bricks, lime plastered and painted, wood, corrugated metal sheathing roofs and other cheap and easily available materials. The choice of the mud doesn’t respond only to a self – building logic, but it also implies the possibility of self-making the bricks. Adobe has high caulk properties. The exterior walls of the sleeping rooms are made of a double wooden panel, with straw used as an insulator. The roof, supported by wooden beams, are made of corrugated sheathing with an inner wooden paneling, covered by palm leaves that protect from overheating. The whole dwelling is raised off the ground: the floor wood floor mat is held on wooden “pilotis”: this assure the thermal insulation, the waterproofing and allow the air circulation. Natural ventilation principles assure the cooling during the hot season. The housing units can be variously aggregated. Three different solutions respond to different concepts of neighborhood: - The first combination shows a high socializing concept of neighborhood: the displacement of four units shapes a semiprivate common inner court. The variety of this disposition reminds a typical village organization. - The second combination shows a middle socializing concept of neighborhood: the units, assembled two by two, present the possibility of opening a wall to link the inner courts and the vegetable gardens. - The third combination shows a low socializing concept of neighborhood: the units, assembled two by two, are flipped in such a way that only few contacts are allowed between the families who live in.

Europaconcorsi Beta

A HOUSE IN LUANDA: PATIO AND PAVILLION