Isabel La Católica House
Isabel La Católica House
Drawing José Mª García de Paredes
A project by Agustín Gor, GRX Architects
The Isabel la Católica nº2 building corresponds to a little-known collective housing project in Granada by José Mª García de Paredes (1924-1990), but it also maintains the features that characterize the work of this architect. Respect for the work of García de Paredes makes us pay attention to his thought and drawing when trying to solve the initial premise of the work: to convert a 240 m² noble house from the mid-20th century into two independent homes with domestic patterns of contemporary families.
According to Ángela García de Paredes, his father was determined to create a modular and homogeneous system that would solve complex needs in different places. In this context, it is possible to understand that when García de Paredes built the Almendrales church (1961-1964), he was not betraying the principles of modern language, but rather demonstrating a criticism of the limits of this current, demanding greater freedom. Following this approach, we have several vertical planes conceived from a 10 × 10 cm Cartesian Grid capable of expanding and contracting according to domestic needs. It is a homogeneous mesh that adapts, like a living organism, to give shape to elements of the house, such as a hatch, a fireplace, a cupboard, a mirror or a bench, while establishing a filter between the different rooms. All the materials used trace the movement that corresponds to them, whether ceramic or stone, glass or metal. They are two houses that want to redraw the modern architect to meet contemporary needs.
The result of the restructuring process is two autonomous homes: one facing south, brighter and warmer, whose scope corresponds to the original common spaces and service area, and where the existing facilities are used so that a single curve is capable of catalyze all the uses and actions of the house. On the opposite side, the area occupied by the North house corresponds to the primitive private bedroom spaces, in addition to the main distributor which, after the intervention, adopts the plasticity necessary to absorb irregularities in the floor plan.
Credits:
Achitecture: Agustín Gor Gómez (GRX arquitectos)
Collaborators: Asunción Cobo, Rafael Pérez Ariza and Diego Vincenz
Developer: Private
Builder: Mayluka S.L. + Mármoles La Molaina
Date: 2022
Location: Granada, Spain
Photography: Imagen Subliminal (Miguel de Guzmán + Rocío Romero)
Architects: GRX Arquitectos
www.grxarquitectos.com
info@grxarquitectos.com
+34 958 04 22 13
Gran Vía de Colón 14B Ático,
18010, Granada, Spain.
Estudio conformado por los arquitectos Agustín Gor, Carlos Gor y Álvaro Gor.
GRX entiende la arquitectura como el nexo de unión entre el paisaje y sus habitantes. Esa alianza es múltiple, compleja y define a la sociedad que la construye, cristalizando las estructuras políticas, económicas y sociales. La arquitectura nos explica a lo largo de la historia como han sido las sociedades que las han construido. En GRX pensamos que la arquitectura puede transformar la sociedad en la que se inserta siendo un agente activo en la construcción de nuevas realidades.
La arquitectura no es nada más, y nada menos, que una disciplina artística con la particularidad de la inexorable necesidad del trabajo colectivo bajo condicionantes y demandas. Cada proyecto significa el comienzo de un proceso creativo que tiene como parámetros la realidad social del contexto y el paisaje en el que se inserta la arquitectura, con toda la complejidad que esto implica. Esta idea de partida, que responde más a una forma de proceder que a una forma de diseñar objetos, permite que nuestra arquitectura no responda a una formalización de autor si no a un proceso de identificación de las cualidades y oportunidades.
Foto de GRX Arquitectos de Javier Callejas
