Medellin Hill
experimental social housing in medellin
Type: Social Housing, Public Center
Status: Schematic Design
Location: Medellin, Columbia
CONTEXT
In Medellin, a number of people are dwelling in informal houses on the mountainside, which represents the identity of Medellin city. Every year the population grows by about 30,000 people and they usually settle in self-built houses on the mountainside, expanding the city limits.
Also, the city lacks of public spaces, including cultural, educational facilities and moreover, they are detached from the general public.
INFORMAL HOUSINGS IN MEDELLIN
CREATING A "NEW HILL"
In this context, the goal of this project is to create a Social Housing that incorporates Public Space within itself. In order for that, we propose a "New Hill", lifted from the ground level. By doing this, the new intervention can accommodate both housings-above the hill- and public spaces-below the hill. The new hill is lifted from the ground where it creates new public nodes. More importantly, this project proposes an architectural gesture that corresponds with the atmosphere and memory of the site.
BELOW THE HILL
Different kinds of public spaces are created below the Medellin Hill, linking the housing as a private sector directly to the public domain. The church is preserved and open to the new cluster of public programs so that it generates stronger publicness. Slits in between units provides lighting into individual households.
