House of the Nine Porticos
Architects
Sol89. María González & Juanjo López de la Cruz
Collaborators
Javier Valenzuela, Miriam Domínguez, architecture student; Duarte y Asociados, structure; Miguel Sibón, installations
Technical Architect
Cristóbal Galocha
Client
Private
Construction Company
Meta 360
Photography
Fernando Alda
Gemma and Álvaro decide to build their first home after decades of living in Belgium, with the memories of their life in Catalonia and Asturias always present. They return to Andalusia, where he studied, seeking the life of a southern village, bright, peaceful, close to Seville, to reconnect with some common friends.
They acquire a 5×30 meter plot with a single facade almost facing north on the main street. The plot is narrow and long, a result of agricultural divisions that allowed the coexistence of the dwelling with some buildings intended for the storage of farming tools or corrals. The program to be developed is modest, just a couple of bedrooms and some particularities, like a room where both can enjoy a steam bath, a place where Gemma can make engravings, and where to have a small outdoor kitchen. They expect visits from friends and family from time to time whom they would like to host. They carry objects, books, and paintings, traces of a whole life; they also bring with them memories of having lived in intense places whose experience they would like to recover: a well and a tree, a courtyard, the southern light.
The proportions of the plot and the agricultural memory of these parcels suggest generating a space by repetition of equidistant porticos [1], which define bays[2] that are built on one or two floors or are hollowed out to generate courtyards, providing a continuous space that nuances its environmental and functional characteristics. In this way, a sequence is created, marked by a first reception courtyard that nuances the relationships with the street, followed by three bays that house the dwelling, another bay of which only the structure remains to formalize a shaded porch as a canopy [3], two bays that make up the southern courtyard (rather a hortus conclusus[4]) and a final volume that finishes off the plot as a pavilion where to paint and cook with friends, whose roof, lower than the rest of the house, is planted with shrubby species, continuation of the garden where the well and the tree that lived in Gemma’s memory take shape as a persimmon and a small pool whose emptying provides water for irrigation.
[^1^]: Note from the translator: “Porticos” refers to a series of columns or arches that support a building or garden pathway, a common architectural feature in traditional Spanish architecture.*
[^2^]: Note from the translator: “Bays” in this context refers to the space between two structural elements of a building, a term rooted in Spanish architectural vernacular.
[^3^]: Note from the translator: “Palio” is a term used to describe a canopy or covering, often found in traditional Spanish architecture to provide shade and shelter.
[^4^]: Note from the translator: “Hortus conclusus” is a Latin term meaning “enclosed garden,” often associated with the tradition of medieval monastic gardens.
