Often, we develop a kind of emotional attachment with the homes we live in, the schools where we studied, the temples/churches we went to throughout our lives, the public libraries we probably visited with our friends, and many more. To my understanding, it happens because the architecture of any structure is like a vessel to store our activities, memories, and emotions. Or you could turn my words and remark that the structure owns the goodness or worst part of the residents as well. As years pass and pass, it contains more and more references to our lives as if it was always there to record and commemorate our lives, sometimes acting as a cultural heritage. Now, there are many more factors in treating architecture significantly. For instance, as India marked the opening of the Ram Mandir, a lot of devotees literally cried as Lord Ram returned to India after several years. And not to neglect, the architecture of the temple played a significant role in bridging the emotions. In fact, the entire city of Ayodhya is planned in an order, introducing a silent cultural language with devotion and spirituality to the visitor. The grandiose of the town is however important equally because, in today’s generation, most of the architecture encounters a worse threat to budget constraints, resulting in no invention in architectural science and people learning very little about the history of their built environment or how to interpret the meaning of the environment they have inherited. And this environmental illiteracy isn’t good for anyone because it brings no good to anyone. In a similar way to public buildings or city planning, introducing a valid architectural meaning to our homes is equally crucial. Today, in this article, I am presenting you with one unique multi-family home design, which dominates the harmony of symmetry within its environment. Besides, for the ones who wish to understand architecture more through its meaning as my introduction stated, you can read Understanding Architecture by Leland M. Roth.
About the Project: House in Puntiro.
| Architects | Ripoll Tizon |
| Area | 3218 ft² |
| Year | 2023 |
| Lead Architects | Pep Ripoll, Juan Miguel Tizón |
| Location | Palma, Spain |
Located on a steep slope, rising above the Bay of Palma in Puntiró, Palma de Mallorca, Spain, the property has an exceptional contrast in terms of its design, redefining the relationship between the local environment and the building itself. The House in Puntiró adores a multi-family home design while establishing a firm route with nature and offering mesmerizing living to the residents. The project successfully manages the problem of regulation of the plot through its exclusiveness in design. Some features of this project stand out, including the large rectangular plan with simple volumetry, higher ceilings, sloping roof with a partition to accommodate two families with privacy. Cerámica de Ascer award XXII honors this piece.
Exterior View.
The exteriors of the project use a warm color combination, which blends pretty well with the local topography. As the structure stands on a sloppy top, the entire way projects the local vegetation with a similar sand color to the walls of the project. The boundary of the property is through the stones, lining the home exteriors walkaways. It is low-maintenance as it’s water and weather-resistant, keeping a natural beauty for years. In India, the stone cladding of boundaries over a few towns in Rajasthan provided a way to protect the inside of the structure from floods or earthquakes. The windows and doors have a natural wood finish, which further enhances the exterior of the home.
Features and Materials Used in the Project.
The project consists of two main bedrooms with a bathroom and an adjacent room for multipurpose use, a dining area, a kitchen, and a living area with a few other auxiliary rooms. The Puntiró house manages to occupy the guests and residents well with comfort, taking care of the privacy needed. The floor plan of the entire structure is almost square, which allows a unique insight into the balanced symmetry and more space with better transition and distribution of area within it. One of the significant principles used in this project is separating the space for private and guest use through an arrangement of the areas on the adjacent sides of the floor. Separating these spaces are the shared spaces, which are organized along a diagonal axis that crosses the floor and ends in the living room. In addition to this division of spaces, three patios are introduced on the facade as the transition spaces between the interiors and exteriors, creating proper ventilation and natural light while making an open space for the vegetation to climb while you enjoy the sip of your coffee outside. Further, the walls are load-bearing with unidirectional slabs, generating space in the home as traditional construction practices are embraced. These walls are then finished with lime mortar while the flooring is left exposed and uncoated, making a statement in the interiors with the natural materials.
Despite the limited furnishing, porcelain stoneware and glazed ceramic are used extensively in this architectural structure. These materials contribute to the comfort of the interiors and exteriors of the house.
Inside the project, there is a use of porcelain stoneware tiles with natural stone in the areas to improve the performance of hardness and water absorption. Aside from being used as a coating in humid areas, glazed ceramics can also be used to design fixed furniture, such as bedside tables, and to resolve in detail deliveries of elements that are usually concealed or disguised in the home: mechanisms, impulse inlets, air conditioning returns are valued as elements that define its interior space. Hence, the ceramic tiles used in exteriors and interiors serve the purpose.
Final Words.
The home is well established when it comes to the choice of materials, natural and traditional construction practices, dynamic exteriors, and distribution of spaces. In fact, the house is a complete architectural marvel while holding firm grips of innovative interiors. This multi-family home design is purely a bliss for the residents.
Resource.
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