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Bitxo House
Lagula Arquitectes, Toni Alonso Ortega, Martín Ezquerro Fernández, Ignacio López Alonso, Manel Morante Mediavilla, Marc Zaballa Camprubí
Strolling through the countryside of Graugés, a landscape of gentle hills between the Central Depression and the Pre-Pyrenees, we discover a trail between the two lakes. A broken line appears diagonally and crosses the territory - an artificial and deliberate broken line that crystallises in concrete and brick. Adjusting the land and modelling future topographies familiar to Martina and Bruna as they descend on their scooter down the interior access ramp. The first element of the spiral that configures the house and recognises its natural terrain. One, the ramp. Two, the kitchen and the dining room where the ramp ends. Three, a change of direction, five steps and an opening onto the dining room and the garden. Four, five more steps and the main bedroom. Five, a change of direction and a spill onto the access ramp, five steps and a bedroom. Six, the last five steps and the other two bedrooms. Trying to capture the recurring light of dusk under a roof that has been sloped diligently so as not to offend the local authorities eager for traditional coloured Arabic tiles and, at the same time, humbly kneeling towards the street, disturbing passers-by as little as possible and accumulating volume towards the garden. Looking up and down and down and up, touching the concrete ceiling with your hand and your head, height expands and contracts to delimit the more public spaces and gather the more private ones. Adapting the staircase of the house to the different situations that arise along the way. A powerful and decisive concrete structure, necessary to support the outer skin and win the war in the first battle. Add the rest and close the shelter: brick partitions, brick screens and woodwork on one side and large shutters on the other. Inside, the concrete is expressed in screens and ceilings, as opposed to vertical strips of pristine plaster. The spaces have just been delimited with free-standing bodies, almost like obstacles on the upward journey. Cheerful volumes clad in brightly coloured glazed ceramic that house all kinds of service pieces and splash light into the surrounding spaces.2003 - 2013