In most of the so-called garden cities, of that romantic idea of living in a great palace isolated from the rest of the world and surrounded by nature, only its ridiculous caricature remains: small constructions surrounded by narrow strips a few metres wide and separated from the street and the neighbours by mandatory low and recessed fences that do not offer any type of privacy.
In the case we are dealing with, the plot was small and triangular, a senseless cutout born of an unfortunate plot division.
The Roman house, the Arab house, resting on the boundaries of the property, closed to the outside except in the entrance hall and open to one or several inner courtyards, intimate and silent, were intelligent compact building types, economic and which also defined precise and qualified public spaces. But all the regulations prevent this proven and admired model.
The proposal for this house was born from the struggle between these opposites, it was born from trying to create a comfortable building despite having to be governed by rules that forced a model of occupying the territory so irrationally. The plan ended up adopting a filamentary shape, a succession of spaces connected by a long corridor that caused a disproportionate façade in relation to the built surface, and all in order to be able to define two open courtyards towards the south, to which all the dependencies faced through generous openings.
The other façades were opaque and defined two long, narrow strips. The one facing the neighbour was used to access the surface parking lot and the one facing the street was given to the town and a public bank was built in it.
Admirable clients.
The project proposes to address the demand for nature, peace and isolation of the client, with the characteristics of a triangular plot, the result of a previous parcel segregation. The house adopts the geometry of the triangle in its general arrangement and in the smallest details and opens in three arms that allow the maximum release of the garden surface and create two patios with well-differentiated uses. The house is completely closed to the street, and all openings lead to these inner courtyards. The parents' patio serves the living room, the playroom and the parents' bedroom. The two children's bedrooms overlook the second patio. The kitchen, with its service patio, is the only element connected to the outside, at the apex of the triangle. Clotet and Tusquets exploit the contradictory aspects of architecture to find unusual solutions linked to atypical ways of life.
