Social Housing 'La Viña', Madrid (1988)

Collaborators: Antonio Domínguez Iglesias and Angel Ximénez de Embún.

Income, energy expenditure and housing in Madrid: retrofitting policy implications

Fuel poverty can be defined as ‘the inability to afford adequate warmth in the home’ and it is the result of the combination of three factors: low household income, lack of energy efficiency and high energy bills. Within this context, the present research is aimed at characterizing, for the first time, the housing stock of fuel-poor households in the Autonomous Region of Madrid. Fuel poverty incidence was established and households were divided into six different groups according to their relative position regarding fuel and monetary poverty. The housing stock of each group is characterized and those households most in need are identified. These results enable energy retrofitting priorities to be established, focusing on the needs of the different household groups and accounting for their housing stock characteristics. This allows Spanish energy retrofitting policies to be assessed for their capability of tackling fuel poverty and makes it possible to suggest some improvements.

Energy rehabilitation of social housing for rent, as demonstrator in the LIFE 'New4Old' Project

The main goal of the cofounded by the European Commission LIFE Project, New4Old (LIFE10 ENV/ES/439), is to define the most appropriate method and the best available practice in social housing rehabilitation with energy and environmental sustainability criteria, as well as to apply innovative technologies in the fight against climate change through an efficient use of resources and energy. The institutions involved in the Project are the Technological Centre AITEMIN, Madrid Polytechnic University (UPM), Portugal Technological Centre for Ceramics and Glass (CTCV) and the Zaragoza City Housing Society (SMZV). The demonstrator project consists in the energy rehabilitation of a rental social housing building located in Zaragoza?s historic quarter, according to the conclusions and strategies developed for the LIFE project. In actions taken in households of this nature passive design strategies are essential due to the limited income of owners, who often cannot afford energy bills. Therefore, the proposed actions will help improve the building?s passive performance and reach a higher thermal comfort, without increasing the economic cost linked to energy consumption.

Sustainability assessment of energy saving measures: A multi-criteria approach for residential buildings retrofitting—A case study of the Spanish housing stock

The building sector is well known to be one of the key energy consumers worldwide. The renovation of existing buildings provides excellent opportunities for an effective reduction of energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions but it is essential to identify the optimal strategies. In this paper a multi-criteria methodology is proposed for the comparative analysis of retrofitting solutions. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and Life Cycle Cost (LCC) are combined by expressing environmental impacts in monetary values. A Pareto optimization is used to select the preferred strategies. The methodology is exemplified by a case study: the renovation of a representative housing block from the 1960s located in Madrid. Eight scenarios have been proposed, from the Business as Usual scenario (BAU), through Spanish Building Regulation requirements (for new buildings) up to the Passive House standard. Results show how current renovation strategies that are being applied in Madrid are far from being optimal solutions. The required additional investment, which is needed to obtain an overall performance improvement of the envelope compared with the common practice to date, is relatively low (8%) considering the obtained life cycle environmental and financial savings (43% and 45%, respectively).

Vivienda de posguerra en España. La rehabilitación como herramienta para una arquitectura más sostenible - Post war housing in Spain. Renovation as a tool towards a more sustainable architecture

En los próximos años, el principal reto del sector de la construcción reside en la rehabilitación sostenible del parque inmobiliario. En muchas ciudades de España existe un tejido muy específico sobre el que es necesario intervenir: los barrios de bloque abierto construidos en el periodo de la posguerra. Este artículo parte de un estudio del parque residencial de la posguerra donde, pasados 50 años, resulta necesario intervenir. El análisis se ha centrado en la construcción de vivienda durante las décadas de los 50, 60 y 70, identificando las tipologías existentes así como las características constructivas y los materiales empleados. Además, y dado que actuar en estos edificios va a ser necesario en los próximos años, se ha analizado la rehabilitación de viviendas en España de los últimos años, proponiendo nuevas metodologías para la toma de decisiones que integren los aspectos ambientales y económicos, encaminadas hacia una construcción más sostenible.

Vivienda y Revolución. El Concurso entre Camaradas de la OSA, la Sección de Tipificación del Stroykom y la Casa Experimental de Transición Narkomfin (1926-1930) = Housing and Revolution. OSA’s Comradely Competition, Typification Section of the Stroykom and Narkomfin Experimental Transitional House (1926-1930)

La cuestión del asentamiento socialista en la URSS durante la década de 1920 estuvo caracterizada por el objetivo de definir y establecer un estado socialista en términos políticos, sociales y económicos. En este contexto de inestabilidad y cambio, un grupo de arquitectos pertenecientes a la Asociación de Arquitectos Contemporáneos, OSA, y liderado por Moisey Ginzburg, abordó el tema de la vivienda obrera asumiendo la responsabilidad y el compromiso por alcanzar un nuevo orden social. Su misión no consistió únicamente en solucionar el problema del alojamiento para los trabajadores en las grandes ciudades soviéticas, sino en redefinirlo como el marco adecuado para una sociedad sometida a un cambio sin precedentes que, al mismo tiempo y en un proceso dialéctico, debía contribuir a la construcción de esa nueva sociedad. La respuesta dada por la OSA trascendió el diseño inmediato bajo los estándares modernos establecidos en Occidente y tomó forma en un proceso de investigación que habría de prolongarse durante cinco años. Este trabajo, que culminó con la construcción y puesta en crisis de la Casa Narkomfin, se desarrolló en tres aproximaciones sucesivas. La primera, de carácter conceptual, consideró la participación ciudadana, así como de especialistas independientes, formalizándose en el Concurso entre Camaradas convocado por la OSA en 1926. La segunda aproximación al problema de la vivienda obrera se articuló a través de la investigación llevada a cabo por la Sección de Tipificación del Stroykom, esta vez desde premisas científicas y metodológicas. Finalmente, las conclusiones alcanzadas fueron transferidas a la práctica arquitectónica por medio de la construcción de seis Casas Experimentales de Transición, entre las que destacó la Casa Narkomfin. Este último acercamiento, de carácter empírico, ha sido tradicionalmente examinado por los expertos como un hecho aislado. Sin embargo, su estudio debe trascender necesariamente el genio del autor-creador en favor del proceso de investigación al que pertenece. En esta tesis, la Casa Narkomfin no se presenta sólo como el paradigma de vivienda soviética de vanguardia al que estamos acostumbrados, sino como un prototipo que recoge los principios y conclusiones alcanzados en las aproximaciones conceptuales y científicas precedentes. Únicamente desde este punto de vista cobra sentido la consideración de Ginzburg sobre su propio edificio como un medio propositivo y no impositivo: un proyecto concebido como una herramienta de transición hacia una sociedad más avanzada. ABSTRACT The question of mass housing in the USSR during the Twenties was marked by the drive to define and establish a socialist state in political, social and economic terms. In this context of instability and change, a group of architects gathered together under the Association of Contemporary Architects, OSA, led by Moisey Ginzburg, to address the issue of mass housing, thus taking on the responsibility and being committed to creating a new social order. Their quest not only involved solving the problem of housing for workers in large Soviet cities, but also redefining this solution as an appropriate framework for a society undergoing dramatic changes which, at the same time and in a dialectical process, would contribute to the creation of this new society. The solution provided by OSA transcended Modern standards of immediate design set by the West and was the result of a research process that would last five years. This work culminated in the construction of Narkomfin House and its self-criticism, developed in three successive approaches. The first was conceptual, being formalized in the Comradely Competition held by the OSA in 1926 and taking into account the participation of citizens and independent experts. The second approach to the problem of mass housing involved research developed by the Typification Section of the Stroykom, this time under scientific and methodological premises. Finally, the conclusions reached were put in practice with the construction of six Experimental Transitional Houses of which the most notable is Narkomfin House. This third empirical approach has traditionally been examined by scholars in isolation. However, its study must necessarily transcend the genius of the author-creator and involve the research process of which it is part. In this thesis, Narkomfin House is presented not only as the paradigm in Soviet housing avant-garde we are used to, but also as a prototype reflecting the principles and conclusions reached in the preceding conceptual and scientific approaches. Only from this point of view does Ginzburg’s understanding of his own building as a proactive and non-imposed environment make sense: a project conceived as a transition tool towards a more advanced society.

De la cápsula comunitaria al espacio compartido. La búsqueda del post-espacio público en la vivienda de ACM = From community capsules to shared intervals. The search of the post-public space In the housing developments by ACM

Arquitectos y no arquitectos como Rossi, Grassi, Jacobs, Sennett o Lefebvre, denunciaron críticamente durante los 50, 50 y 70 la ruptura entre la calle y el espacio doméstico y el consiguiente declive del dominio público urbano a escala de ciudad y a escala de barrio. La crítica a la "Ville Contemporaine" no solo se escribía, también se dibujaba y a veces, incluso, se construía. La primera generación post-CIAM trabajó intensamente en desmentir con palabras y obras al Oud que ya en los años 20 del pasado siglo, tomando la delantera a Le Corbusier y desde su mejor sentido práctico y estético afirmaba: "Las calles para el negocio, los patios interiores para la vida. Los dos estrictamente separados y con un carácter contradictorio".

Late life second move housing choices of international retiree migrants

Purpose – Many international retirement migrants are amenity movers undertaking the first move in the late life course model of migration. The purpose of this paper is to examine second moves within the retirement destination community to test whether the model of late life course migration accurately portrays the motivations and housing choices local movers make after retiring to another country. Design/methodology/approach – The paper combines secondary data and survey results to examine the composition of the retiree migrant population in the Alicante province of Spain. The socioeconomic characteristics and housing choices of those who have made a second move since retiring to Spain are compared with those who have not moved through a series of t-tests and chi-square tests. Findings – The paper finds that those who have made a second move within Spain are somewhat typical of second movers in the late life course. They are likely to cite mobility or health problems as a reason for moving and appear to recognize the need for a home that provides living area on one floor. Yet, they are choosing to move within an area that does not provide them with access to informal family care givers. Research limitations/implications – The data are restricted to retirees of two nationalities in one province of Spain. Further research is suggested in other locations and with retirees of other nationalities for comparison. Practical implications – Because many international retirees do not plan to return to their countries of origin, they will create demand for formal in-home care services and supportive retiree housing in the near future in their retirement destination countries. Originality/value – This paper provides understanding of a growing consumer housing segment in retirement destinations.

Examining retirement housing preferences among international retiree migrants

Housing demand models based on individual consumer’s utility function reflect preferences about the structure and lot, neighborhood, and location as related to socioeconomic characteristics of the occupants. As a growing proportion of aging residents in many countries are undertaking late life moves, their preferences will have an influence on destination housing markets. We examine the characteristics, attitudes and preferences about retirement housing among immigrant retirees currently living in traditional housing in a retirement destination in Alicante, Spain. Using results from a survey of German and British retirees living in the region, we find through logistic regression that preference for retirement housing is associated with aging and gaining access to in-home support services.

The other architecture: From natural caves to excavated housing

Excavated towns are an attractive example of underground urbanism that managed to solve, in a very interesting way, thermal problems thanks to natural ground inertia or transition spaces. The aim of this paper is to show the typological evolution of excavated dwellings worldwide, as an architectural proposal and urban solution. The proposed methodology provides an analysis of underground architectures from natural caves to excavated housing, focusing on the study of global constructive solutions to specific problems. Thus, architectures as a natural geography correction (horizontal excavation), buried underground architectures (vertical excavation), subtractive architectures (shallow excavation) and combined architectures (mixed excavation) are studied. In conclusion, there are many examples of typological combinations since troglodyte architects tried to adapt the most elementary constructive rules to get greatly enriched results. These proposals of different underground structures deal with each territory and its geographical features, and obtain urban and architectural solutions transferable to current configurations.

Excavated housing in Crevillente (Spain). Constructive and typologycal study

Underground architecture has sheltered man for many centuries, but the current need to emphasize the bioclimatic approach makes the study of excavated housing essential. This traditional construction is a part of the collective human living experience but also a reference in using the natural conditions of each region through simple proposals based on ground thermal inertia. The aim of this paper is to show the typological evolution of the excavated dwelling in Crevillente, in southeast Spain, compared to other worldwide architectural proposals or urban solutions. To show their adaptation to the regional geography and to comprehend both formal and material characteristics of these simple typologies, which do not need extra energy contribution for interior conditioning. This work is part of the doctoral thesis of the author.

The relevance of harmonising the technical level of social housing with the urban level of the neighbourhood through the example of the 500 dwellings in Albacete

The Architecture and Household Trade Union built nearly 2,000 subsidized dwellings in Albacete from 1941 to 1971. It was the responsible entity from the end of the Civil War until the beginning of Democracy of the social policy programs in Spain. Later on, and together with the National Housing Institute, were responsible for the construction activity. Its limited budget, scarcity of technical and human resources and an urgent need for new housing developments, constituted the basis for producing a vast housing market of low construction qualities. However, thanks to the true architectonic expertise of some of the professionals, some of the developments were designed with a clear urban strategy and in direct relation with the city, which characterizes them to be studied and conserved. This is the case for the selected development for the analysis, the urban complex of the 500 dwellings in Albacete, the Hermanos Falcó Neighborhood. Designed and built between 1963, Alfonso Crespo and Adolfo Gil architects, and 1977 second reformed project by the architect Fernando Rodríguez. It is characterized by its layout on the territory, its controlled relation with the city and its different types of open blocks. Above all, its spatial and human scale strengths, directly related to the European post-war proposals, have to be emphasized; although its technical deficiencies affect the interior quality of the houses. This paper examines its virtues and failures and proposes, using current tools, its renovation. This proposal main aims are to extend its lifetime and develop the particular and urban sustainability levels.

Low-cost cottage construction in America: a study based on the housing collection in the Harvard social museum

by Winthrop A. Hamlin.