Author(s)

J. Cortés Grao, R. Merí de la Maza, A. Díaz Segura

Abstract

This study focuses on the architecture of João Álvaro Rocha with the aim to discover the tools and strategies he applied in the design process to reach the highest quality standards in his social housing projects. We will focus on one of the housing estates developed by the architect: the complex in Rua da Seara in Matosinhos, Portugal. We have used diagrams and drawings to illustrate the application of some basic guidelines of architecture which facilitate the construction while reducing costs, basically: repetition, proportion, symmetry and rhythm. These guidelines have been implemented through a series of mechanisms, namely, the systematic use of structural, modular, compositional and building units. In this way, we can demonstrate that these tools help the architects when they face a social housing project.

Keywords

João Álvaro Rocha, social housing, design modular tools, repetition, rhythm, symmetry, structural unit, spatial unit, compositional unit and constructive unit