Irritable House
Z4A_Architects: Rafael Beneytez-Duran, Int. Assoc. AIA; Ophelia Mantz;
Enrique Krahe
University of Houston
The construction of a new speedway in Madrid, Spain, has displaced a long-established community, and city leaders have asked developers to prototype a modular system for affordable housing into which to relocate affected residents. Nestled in the southwest suburbs of the city, the Irritable House synthesizes multiple construction options into one design and apply its results at the larger scale of a multi-floor building. The prototype aims to reduce time/construction costs by using an industrialized process and by streamlining the home’s assembly through simplified details and minimal maneuvers. The Irritable House encompasses all potential construction solutions for multiple combinations of structures ranging from one-story houses to four-story apartment buildings. The use of industrial materials and low-resolution technologies allow further cost reduction in terms of building maintenance and replacement.
Jury Commentary:
“The craft is very high. The use of projection drawings, models, renders — it all produces a coherent sensibility, and that was singular among all the projects.”
“It speaks to a very relevant climatic concern, of a structure that deals in a really intelligent way with shading, self-shading, and creating a very different layering of spaces, which as a community we will need to engage with much more in the years to come.”