Post by tanitholortegui on Oct 30, 2015 21:15:57 GMT -6
ENTRY # 467841151
HARMONY HOUSE
by design team of Magaly GAYOSO CARRANZA, Orlando PACHECO ZÚÑIGA and Tanith OLÓRTEGUI DEL CASTILLO in Lima, Peru
by design team of Magaly GAYOSO CARRANZA, Orlando PACHECO ZÚÑIGA and Tanith OLÓRTEGUI DEL CASTILLO in Lima, Peru
DESIGN STATEMENT
Like different notes of a song linked together with spaces, silences and lines to compose a melody, the Harmony House is a composition of four elements placed around a courtyard for togetherness, creation and celebration. In this space, combining closed rooms and free courtyards, the artists interact with others and can create smaller groups for diverse artistic activities. We designed the togetherness courtyard upon the form of the recreated symbol of togetherness (from the African iconography) in which two paths cross in the center where a palm tree raises. At the end of these two paths, mud banks are located as well as in the rest of the courtyards, allowing people to seat and perform any work such as painting, modeling or playing an instrument, or just contemplate the landscape and rest. This courtyard also serves as a place to congregate the community in any communal artistic activity or celebration.The four units in Harmony House are for the following zones in the house: sleeping area, in two separate bedrooms for men and for women in a rectangular shape; sanitation, which includes 2 toilets shaped in a cylinder; cooking and eating, consisting in a kitchen with cylinder shape; and an extra multiuse oval room, for meetings and staying under a roof together. There is a covered gallery with bamboo structure connecting these four units all of which are facing to the courtyard.
The selected construction method is rammed earth which is a well-known technique used by the local population. Roofing is made of corrugated zinc sheets due to its characteristics to stand the heavy rainfall and long lasting conditions.
In the tropics, shadow and ventilation are a design premise, which is the reason for having a floating roof over the volumes bringing shadow to the surfaces and to the areas around them. This also creates a puffer zone for ventilation allowing hot air to ascend and escape through the transparent bamboo placed in the upper section of the walls.
The distances between the elements allows the air to flow between them and from the exterior into the courtyards. These distances also enables the community having views from the exterior into the courtyards and vice versa giving a visual contact that helps them know about what the artists do and avoid the sense of secretism or isolation from the community.
Due to the high rain regime in the Ashanti region, we considered saving rainwater and have it as supply for the Harmony House. A farming field designed to provide fresh vegetables is located in the north area of the plot of land.
The estimated manufacturing cost results in US$ 6,940.00 for the 4 units (US$ 5,150.00 in materials and US$ 1,790.00 in labor).
The Harmony House was conceived to shelter all kinds of artistic expressions such as painting, singing, acting, modeling with clay or mud, dancing and so on; it can also be used as a common house for the local families in Abetenim.