Samstag, 7. März | 15:45
Social Housing Palma | Sa Pobla | Ibiza
Spain has one of the lowest rates of social housing in Europe. The reason for this is not necessarily the public expenditure cuts before the financial crisis, but the fact that the Spanish Government has historically put emphasis on subsidizing owner-occupation rather than rental. Since the post-Franco constitution of 1978 divided the country into regions, most of the autonomous governments have created their own housing agencies to manage their social housing. On the Balearic lslands, the lnstitut Balear de I’Habitatge (IBAVI), attached to the regional government, is in charge of promoting and rehabilitating public housing.
Starting in 2007, IBAVI undertook several commitments and challenges in the promotion of public housing, including its social role. It organized open competitions for the construction of social housing with the intention of obtaining a modern architecture, of quality, with respect for the environment and the urban landscape. It also prioritized research and innovation in the typology of public housing, to approach the new ways of living of today’s society and adopted a strong commitment to the environment and especially to energy efficiency. This institute is also the developer of three social housing projects on the island of Mallorca and Eivissa, all of them as a result of contests that our office won between 2007 and 2008.
The first project develops 18 social housing units in Palma de Mallorca’s Pere Garau, a neighborhood known for its eponymous municipal market. The project is defined by its many loggias that diversify the otherwise compact white volume.
The second project consists in the construction of 19 social housing units in a plot located in Sa Pobla, a compact city engulfed by agriculture in the Northeastern part of the island. The proposal explores the existing opportunities in complex environments, where the accumulation of diverse constructions over time has resulted in numerous particularities, tensions and nuances.
The third project consists in the construction of 19 social housing units as a result of exporting the systems of aggregation of the Ibiza rural constructions for a building resolved in height and located in an environment of luxury residential buildings.
The projects located in Mallorca were completed in 2012 while the Eivissa project will start building in early 2020. All of them share our preoccupation to assemble diverse typologies through modular arrangements, while still allowing the standardization that social housing requires.
J.M.T.
Ripoll Tizón was founded in 2002 by Pep Ripoll, born 1970, and Juan Miguel Tizón, born 1973. The office has built a portfolio comprising a broad range of awarded competitions and built residential projects, public buildings and education facilities. The office has become known for designing projects with a strong conceptual basis derived from the local conditions as well as the specific needs and aspirations of each client.
The work of the office has been exhibited at the International Architecture Biennale in Argentina, has been finalist in the Spanish Biennials of Architecture and Urbanism, the FAD Architecture Awards, the Ugo Rivolta European Architecture Award and the International Biennial Architecture Barbara Cappochin and also featured in the Catalunya-Illes Balears Pavilion of the 2012 Venize Architecture Biennale.
Social Housing, Sa Pobla, Mallorca, Spain, 2012
Foto: José Hevia