BASIC NEEDS

The theme description of the competition starts from a quotation about basic human needs. On the last century, basic human needs were the leitmotiv of a global consensus mainly due to the action of UN and NGO's, centered on cooking, hygiene and sleeping. One of the things we must learn from actual “musseques” is that “home” has to be thought as the place one work in. Therefore, we decided to integrate on our proposal a place to work, considering it as a basic human need.

LEARNING FROM MUSSEQUES

Musseques urban sprawl and continuous change is impressive. We don't think new interventions should do tabula rasa of rooted construction know-how. Even the most clean and designed house project will be enriched and appropriated by unpredictable family needs. Our option is to consider it, not as an undesirable consequence, but as an instrument on urban planning. The intervention will provide the basic elements and infrastructures, limit the plot and provide the basis to be arrogated.

THE CORE

Low budget, forced to focus on the essential. We concentrated on the human basic needs by designing the main volume as one core.

This will be composed by two floors (two bathrooms, one bedroom and the staircase). The social areas will be on the ground floor (two living rooms - one interior and one exterior, and one open-space kitchen, as a linking element of these two rooms.

On the upper limit of the plot, and conforming the patio, we placed the working place.

SELF-CONSTRUCTION

As said, self-construction is deep-rooted as a cultural activity. The difficulty on defining the number of inhabitants per house and its volatility, suggests that bedroom numbers will always be increasing or decreasing according to the needs. That's where we can potentiate self-construction.

The basic module provides one bedroom and the floor slab of the first floor as a plateau for people to appropriate themselves joining or removing bedrooms according to family needs.

SHADOW AND VENTILATION

Due to the geographic situation, the roof is the main tool for shading. Using it on exteriors provides useful places for socialization.

The ventilation is accomplished by the walls. On one hand, the grids, a typical device on Portuguese architecture's colonial legacy, may be used as a way of distinguishing neighborhoods and providing layers of privacy. On the other hand, the interior walls of the living room don't reach the ceiling so that the air may also circulate.

CONSTRUCTION

The construction system is made in concrete, comprising columns, beams and floor slabs, and cement bricks. The house pavements will be built in a continuous floor slab upon ground compression and regulation, finished by lining it with cement tiles. As a way to avoid electricity black outs, a generator is a necessary requisite and will be located on the exterior living room. The roof plans will have the proper pending for climate conditions and rain. Ship, simple and modular to be easily reproduced.

[Official results]