A House in Luanda

A HOUSE IN LUANDA: PATIO AND PAVILION was the title of a international Design Competition, an initiative of the Lisbon Architecture Triennale in partnership with the Luanda Triennale, and its aim was to select the best proposal for the design of a prototype of a single family dwelling, radically cheap to build, aimed at severely deprived families and located within the city limits of Luanda.

CONCEPT
Our proposal was a modular construction inspired in recent constructions near Luanda. A familiar, simple, well known construction module, easy to construct and therefore easy to be constructed by the population.















A common module (re)used in other circumstances, believing that with a banal module we can create a harmonized yet low-cost, evolutive, self-constructed, sustainable construction and nonetheless, capable of produce qualified urban landscape.

The final construction is the result of the combination of various modules with different functions and characteristics.
We have the (E) eating module, (L) living module, (T) technical module, (S) sleeping module and in another context we can have a (C) commercial module.

VARIATIONS
Each module can be combined with other modules of different functions.
The combination of the modules varies according to plot conditions, family members or other factors like taste. The only part of the building that is always equal to every solution is the street façade. This results in innumerous different typologies standing side-by-side along the street but maintaining the same façade aspect.

EXPANSION

The construction can be expanded so it can support alterations in the family or other conditions.
It is expected some internal expansions by subdividing some modules but the main expansion of the house is an external expansion, in two fases.
A primary expansion by repeating the occupation suggested by the proposal to the limit of the plot and a secondary expansion by occupying the courtyards to the limit.

BIO-CLIMATIC CHARACTERISTICS
Ventilation – the spaces are very well ventilated trough a transversal ventilation in two levels, a low ventilation trough the windows and a high ventilation trough a grid.
Solar protection – the windows are equipped with systems of solar protection that can provide better control of internal temperature.
Rainwater storage – the orientation of the slope of the roofs to the interior of the house, conducts the rainwater to a continuous gutter that is connected to a tank in the (T) module. If this connection is closed the water naturally overflows to the courtyards.

interior images

floor plan

sections

elevations

construction details