About Torres Blancas

Intervening in an architectural icon such as Torres Blancas is not an easy feat. This brutalist landmark, designed by Javier Sáenz de Oiza, became an exemplary case study of the mid-century collective housing utopias, imagining the vertical extension of the linear garden city model with a mixed use of residential, commercial and civil spaces. Even though it never fully achieved this potential of collective housing with a shared social infrastructure it became an architectural achievement for its novel use of reinforced concrete and its formal complexity.

Our proposal for a 400 square meter apartment sets a dialogue with the building in which the original ideas embedded in the project become the starting point of the design. This allowed us to experiment with new material and organizational solutions that create a unique living space, one that cherishes and admires its context without becoming stagnant or paralyzed by the burden of traditional preservation values. This two-storied house recovers the outdoor spaces (which were lost to real estate speculation) and turns them once again into the heart of the house, populated by a diverse ecosystem of plant and tree species and a small edible garden.

The proposal is charged with subdued references to the building, not only formal or material but also ephemeral, such as the distinct amber light cast by the original glass block façade. With this we wanted to highlight a way of looking at preservation that goes beyond the “freezing in time” of architectural components and offer our own take on inhabiting a landmark such as Torres Blancas.