The House of Jesus / Rubens Cortés Arquitectos + Raúl Rodríguez Ruiz (RRR)
Curated by Clara Ott
Text description provided by the architects. The house of Jesus is located in the Vega de Granada, in the Ventorrillo de Cullar Vega. The plot is part of an urban plan where it is possible to build single-family homes of two heights, which occupy ap-proximately one third of the available area and leave free space for a garden and a swimming pool. However, the house of Jesus had to be fully accessible and therefore developed on a single floor. This condition involved doubling the occupation, leaving very little outside free space, the most wasted and residual between the house and the borders.
In this situation, one considers the possibility of projecting a hybrid that maintained the advantages of adjoining homes – which enjoy the maximum possible land space by reducing the occupancy by half – and bringing to this scheme the advantages of a horizontal dwelling. This is the starting point of the project, a house composed of ‘two halves of similar proportions and different nature. One night, massive and private, located in the most protected part of the plot. Another day, completely open to outer space. The result is a U-shaped open living, where the outer half is introduced inside and at the same time the interior is projected onto the outside by a cantilever (9 x 16 m.) that only rests on two columns of 25 cm in diameter.
The pleasant climate and changing keys of the Vega de Granada invites you to design a versatile space. That is why the house of Jesus can be interpreted as a single space with different environments ranging from the intimacy of the bedrooms, through being in the central space to the living room, which is projected towards the terrace and the pool. An atmosphere changing by the variations of lights and shade inspired by the Nasrid palaces of the Alhambra, and specifically in its magical game of courtyards and halls.
Architects: Raúl Rodríguez Ruiz (RRR), Rubens Cortés Arquitectos
Location: El Ventorrillo, Spain
Area: 266.0 m²
Year: 2017
Photographs: Javier Callejas
Manufacturers: Porcelanosa Grupo, Elesdopa
Lead Architects: Rubens Cortés Cano, Raúl Rodríguez Ruíz
Structural Engineer: Francisco Vílchez, Manuel Rojas
Industrial Engineer: Juan Fernández Cañedo
Collaborators: Raúl Melguizo Rodríguez, Anna Daskalaki, Lucía Balboa Quesada, Rafael Vega Reguero.
Building Engineer: Francisco A. Jiménez.
Available in: www.archdaily.com/935722. Accessed in: 04/16/2020.