Apartment Torres Blancas 2040 in Madrid, Spain by Hector Ruiz Velázquez

Article source: Hector Ruiz Velázquez

Torres Blancas is an emblematic building by Spanish architect Javier Sáenz deOiza (1918-2000), located in Madrid. This 91 m2 apartment is situated in one of the top floors of the building.  It is a result of the subdivision of the original plans by Sáenz de Oiza, who contemplated 400m2 houses. In this space, the intervention of restructuring by architect Héctor Ruiz Velazquez seeks to recover the original organic essence of this building of great architectural quality in the interior of the apartment.

Image Courtesy © PEDRO MARTINEZ

• Architects: Hector Ruiz Velázquez
• Project: Apartment Torres Blancas 2040
• Location: Heart of Mary Street 3 Madrid Spain
• Photography: PEDRO MARTINEZ
• Date of Project: 2013-2014
• Termination Date: 2013-2014
• Lead time (months): Five Months
• Quote from work (Euros): 80,000 euros
• Actuating surface (m2): 91 m2

Image Courtesy © PEDRO MARTINEZ

• Promoter (client): Antonio Maudes
• Construction Company: DECOTAS
• Business facilities: DECOTAS
• Structures: DECOTAS
• Masonry: DECOTAS
• Electricity and lighting: DECOTAS
• Air conditioning: DECOTAS
• Carpentry: DECOTAS
• Kitchen Cabinets: MOBILE CUCINE
• Flooring: SALONI
• Kitchen Cabinets: MOBILE CUCINE
• Locksmith: DECOTAS
• Paintings: VALENTINE
• Finishes: WALLS IN OAK RADISA

Image Courtesy © Héctor Ruiz Velázquez

The design by architect Hector Ruiz-Velazquez tries to tear down any orthogonal spatial fragmentation of the apartment and to reflect the outline of the building in the interior, achieving a complete symbiosis between the structures of the building with the available space for this new apartment.  The result is a total visual connection from the interior of the apartment outwards and in the same way –from a bird´s perspective- from the exterior inwards the space is wide and soaked in light.

A priority that connects both designers is a circular organic essence in the fundamental – they both seek forms inspired by nature for many of the details that conform the space. The curve is essential and constitutes the link that unites both works timelessly. This organic concept serves as aesthetic basis in which the idea to maintain the concept of openness centers. Architect Ruiz Velazquez identifies this openness of the building and applies it in the design of the interior of the apartment, using his renowned curves as structural and dividing elements with their own identity to configure and model the spaces without needing to cut them. This maintains the priority of mobility, as the reason to be for this living space and it invigorates the itinerary that seems to encounter a place for everything without obstacles.

The improved habitability in urban spaces is one of the outstanding characteristics of the architectural work of Héctor Ruiz-Velazquez. It seeks to build a second skin for the inhabitants in each rehabilitation project for private space. This goal is achieved through his great empathy with his clients and the result is always a harmonic space, well-balanced and in synchrony with the person living in it.

The richness of this type of spatial creation produces a typology of floor plans that oblige the architect to have a great knowledge for the selection of materials at hand because these materials need to communicate the surrounding lines in which the rooms convert. And most of all, they need to construct an atmosphere of emotions through the surfaces and the light of the space. The RADISA oak sheets cover the central wall as if it was the interior of a fruit. The floor extends as an orange autumn blanket, thanks to the chromatic intensity of the natural ceramic by SALONI. The counter top of the kitchen in TECHLAM by LEVANTINA has been created by Ruiz Velazquez for this apartment and displays a natural gesture which is contrary to the natural stiffness of this type of materials. These types of details are defined by the architect on-site in collaboration with the experts in placing of materials. The furniture pieces have been selected through a profound research on other masters of design of the 50s and help to reinforce this scene through technique and materials.  This research has been possible thanks to the collaboration of VITRA and some of the details, such as the curved modular sofa have been designed by the architect. In other aspects related to the apartment, the architecture melts with the space, shaping not only a curved division wall but also a very useful organizational element the central shelf that supports the interior hallway.

The whole rehabilitation project for this apartment is implicated and applied to transmit the essence of communicative and evolving architecture. The architect feels that he has reached not only the essence of the purpose of the project through the fidelity in the treatment of the idea of the building but also that the result of the work itself is HARMONIC, BALANCED, SENSITIVE, ORGANIC and JOYOUS.

Hector Ruiz Velázquez, born in Puerto Rico,  is the founder and CEO of HRUIZ VELAZQUEZ architecture & design Team.

Arrived on the European continent in 1992 with a solid American university education with a Master Degree of Architecture from the University of Virginia, USA with studio professorships from the Universities of Harvard, Columbia, Madrid Polytechnic Architectural School and Academy of Andrea Palladio, Vicenza Italy.Joined Alberto Campo Baeza Studio for the first year until he opened his own firm.

Because of the diversity of approaches during his formation he has a fresh and innovative aesthetic concept.

Ruiz Velazquez projects have materialized mostly in Europe, where he has developed his own style converging the natural essence of his homeland with the long professional career in Spain and other parts of the world.

His architectural practice is closely related with the development of a theoretical foundation in architecture that has the ability to create emotion. In the last five years he has given over 30 lectures with national and international institutions on the subject.

In the area of housing, the studio gains its deserved reputation for its practice of “multiplying space” and constantly working on the challenge of providing the space for new spatial sensations.

He has been a visiting professor with several universities and public institutions at Colombia, Panama, Mexico, Germany, Holland, Spain, Switzerland, Dubai and Japan.

Tags: Madrid, Spain

Categories: Apartments, Building

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