Practice founders Marta Peris and José Toral talk about the process of designing this Spanish-Japanese ‘matrix’ of social housing in Barcelona, which has been shortlisted for this year’s RIBA International Prize
‘A matrix of identical rooms’ is how Marta Peris and José Toral of Peris + Toral Arquitectes describe their social housing project of 85 homes in the Cornellà district of Barcelona. But what is remarkable is the variety contained in that grid. The six-storey courtyard housing is much more than a rational approach to using timber frame construction. Its urban form instills neighbourliness and pride in the residents, says the RIBA citation for its shortlisting. Galleried access looks inward, private balconies outward.
The citation continues: ‘There is somehow a looseness of fit, giving flexibility within the home.’ The loose fit of room sizes also gives a chance to challenge stereotypes and norms within the home, say the architects. We asked Peris and Toral four simple questions to understand the process of design behind this housing and offer an idea of the possibilities of replicating this configuration in future housing.
Can you outline the design process for this project?
This project originated from a public competition in 2017 and operates within a tight budget due to its social housing programme. The design concept was based on a conceptual reflection that began with Marta Peris’s PhD, which explores the Japanese home through the films of Yasujirō Ozu. We adopted a modular system of interconnected rooms with multiple doors, typical of Japanese architecture, as the central axis of the design. The design process lasted four years, from the competition to the completion of the construction, facing additional challenges posed by the Covid pandemic.
What were the main architectural priorities?
The primary architectural goal was to create a typological proposal that would adapt to the challenges of the 21st century, aiming for a democratic house. To achieve this, we proposed changing the aggregation unit from the dwelling to the room. We designed a matrix of identical rooms measuring 360x360cm, about 13m2, interconnected in enfilades, without corridors. By eliminating the corridor and making the rooms equal, there is no hierarchy within the house. Movement is not canalised but filtered; the parents’ room is no larger than the children’s, which allows for adaptation to new family types beyond the nuclear family. Equalising the spaces also provides flexibility and adaptability over time as their uses are easily interchangeable.
What was the most challenging aspect?
Proposing a new way of living also implied a new way of building. We chose a mass timber structure as a renewable natural resource due to its low emissions and ease of industrialisation. Among the challenges of wood construction were addressing acoustic insulation between neighbours, fire resistance of the structure, water resistance, and optimising the structural solution to minimise the use of wood volume to reduce the cost. All these aspects were resolved economically and efficiently.
Which part of the project has been most successful?
The greatest success of the project has been observed in the users’ reception of the homes. Innovations have been successfully adopted, such as access via a terrace, movement through filtration between rooms in a house without corridors and placing the kitchen at the centre of the house to make domestic work visible and thus combat gender roles. These features have proven to be effective alternatives to traditional housing models.
As told to Eleanor Young
Modulus Matrix has been shortlisted for this year’s RIBA International Prize along with Lianzhou Museum of Photography by O-office Architects and Jacoby Studios by David Chipperfield Architects. The winner will be announced on 27 November 2024