Architects: Iterare arquitectos
Area: 80 m²
Year: 2021
Photographs: David Zarzoso
Manufacturers: AutoDesk, GRAPHISOFT, Cortizo, José Buendicho
Lead Architect: Rubén Gutiérrez Rodríguez, Pedro Ponce Gregorio
Collaborator: Lidón Sánchez Giménez
City: Valencia
Country: Spain
Located in a typical street of the Valencian neighbourhood of El Cabañal, the Mirasol house is recovered as a singular piece of this important seaside district of the city of Valencia.
A modest, unpretentious and anonymous construction that follows the characteristic typology of those old fishermen’s houses that once shaped the streets of the neighbourhood.
Rescuing the legacy of the old building, the intervention is based on the particular approach to some of its most characteristic elements: whether it is the case of the facade, delicately split from the historic residential building to which it belongs; or the body of skylight, which in the manner of a sunflower (mirasol), it rises with autonomy and significance over the ancient roofs of the neighbourhood.
It seems natural, therefore, that from a spatial point of view, this same skylight sets itself apart as the most significant element of the house. A true void of light (and shadow) capable of retaining within its surfaces the delicate nuances that the Mediterranean light offers us during the day.
Thus the house will change its atmosphere, and therefore its inhabitation, as the sky shifts its appearance; from the imposing shadows of the morning cut on the walls of the “mirasol”, to the delicate tones of the sunset, by now more delicate and kind.
Meanwhile, a small backyard ensures a constant and gentle breeze over each of the rooms of the house, whether they are on the ground or second floor, thanks to the efficiency with which the “mirasol”, now turned into a vast ventilation duct, is able to guidethe different upward and downward flows that wander through the spaces of the house.
