Proyecto: Casa Tanzania

cliente: AFRICAN HOUSE COMPETITION DESIGN

ubicación: TANZANIA, ÁFRICA

fecha proyecto/ fecha construcción: JULIO 2020

superficie: 80 m2

arquitectos: LUIS MUÑIZ, INÉS PALLA, AFRICAN HOUSE DESIGN GEOMETRY AS A PROJECT GENERATOR

Geometry is present in all nature, and in Tanzania compared to other places on the planet it has even more presence. Facing a plot without planning and full of conditioning elements of the landscape and invisible routes, make it essential to generate a system of spatial planning.

This arrangement is generated by means of a regular mesh inspired by the terrain’s own texture, which allows the project to be modulated, but at the same time give a heterogeneous grouping; an irregularity of the whole within the regular structure. Geometry is not only part of nature but also part of the culture of this exciting continent that it´s Africa. The geometric shapes begin to be realized in the fabrics of the clothes, fabrics with which they have historically covered the African dwellings made as cabins with sticks. Later, these geometries became paintings, not only on the walls of houses of adobe, but also on the faces of the inhabitants in traditional rites.

Any drawing we find like these mentally transports us to the African continent. For all these reasons, geometry will be the directing element of the project to order the space. The proposed house is not a single piece with a subdivision of rooms as it could happen in a habitual western dwelling, but it consists of a grouping of individual rooms. This fact reflects the way of life in which this family develops its life. All rooms revolve around a space, almost like a square in which the center of the house, the outdoor kitchen, is located.

The relationship between the spaces allows this square to be open and at the same time have a certain intimacy with the rest of the families who cross each day to access their home. BIOCLIMATIC PROPOSAL. Historically, in Africa they always meet under the tree, since it is an element of shelter, gives shade, protects from the wind and is an element that orders the territory. As a treetop, the convex roofs of the proposed house seek to do the same effect. The group is protected from the southern orientation, from greater sunshine and creates a plaza with a lower temperature.

THE COVER The roof is the key element of the building: it protects us from direct sunlight in the house, as it is separated from it and allows the wind to cool the intermediate space, without radiation reaching the thermal envelope of the room. This movement generated by the inclination of the roof when the hot air rises, generates natural ventilation inside the building through ceiling openings. On the other hand, it serves to collect rainwater from some tanks on the shower modules to be able to accumulate in rainy times.