Not too long ago, we took a look at the emergent ‘houses within houses’ concept and its increasing presence in the architecture scene. From Brooklyn to Berlin, architects and designers have been experimenting with this nesting technique, largely as a means of attracting young travelers and urbanites looking for alternative ways to experience and live in a city. A new project by designers Filipe Magalhaes and Ana Luisa Soars recently secured first prize at an open ideas competition in Portugal, and while it draws from many of our favorite tried-and-true architectural references (i.e. Le Corbusier, Japanese Metabolism and Ikea, all rolled into one!), it also explores the effect of enveloping meta-structures to imagine the future of urban infill strategies. Read on.

Starting in November of last year, a Portugal-based Origami Architecture contest called for architects to envision new ways to rebuild vacant urban spaces into livable and even thriving areas. Design team Magalahaes and Soars submitted Polikatoikea, winning first prize with their innovative approach to modular construction. The name is derived from a combination of two words: Polikatoikia, invoking the distinctively democratic rule of ancient Greece, and Ikea, the unstoppable ambassadors of Swedish modernism.

Polikatoikea uses a concrete, multi-level structure as its organizing principle, removing the building’s walls as in Le Corbusier’s piloti-supported Maison Dom-ino. Next, it implements the interchangeable pod architecture characteristic of the Metabolist movement. But what differentiates Polikatoikea from this precise breed of Japanese modernism is its loose arrangement, emphasizing the open and ambiguous use of space surrounding the pods instead of striving for systematized efficiency. The renderings show multiple floors of charming concrete backyards, individually furnished with potted plants, outdoor furniture and hanging light fixtures while laundry is left to air-dry.

Furthermore, the pods would be purchasable specifically from Ikea. Magalahaes and Soars even went so far as to imagine a diagram and product description appropriate for Ikea’s online shopping platform. Though indisputably modular in its concept, Polikatoikea lives up to the Greek half of its concept, giving occupants a space that invites a remarkable degree of individual control but fits harmoniously within the greater network of society.

[All images courtesy the architects]

by Kelly Chan

posted in New Projects sustainable design

tagged Ana Luisa Soars, before and after, Competition, concrete, Domino House, Filipe Magalhaes, IKEA, Le corbusier, Maison Dom-ino, metabolism, Piloti, portugal, urban infill

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