Ring a ring of roses

The competition Housing tomorrow gives the chance to think about the evolution of the building construction typology and its ability to reinvent itself in order to meet the needs of our contemporary life; the hectic and convulsive growth of the residential quarters brought to the creation of non-spaces: aseptic areas, without identity, without any connection with the territory and with the social background in which they grow. A missed consideration about the quality of the built spaces and their ability to improve both the quality of life and the social relationship between the citizens, has brought contemporary stereotypes cut off from all contexts, as well as repeatable models unable to be integrated in any kind of territory. In order to get through the above contradictions, “the Ring-a-ring-a-roses” has been proposed: a house prototype based on two principles: the relation between the household and the outside scenario and the social gathering of its residents. “The Ring-a-ring-a-roses” has a bivalent relationship with the outside scenario, the living area, partly built in the ground, gives a radial view of the landscape. The terracing that marks the drops and rises, near the residences, looks like pending surfaces. The white lines between the surfaces offer a 360° vision on the landscape. The horizontal stratification of the living area, contrasts with the punctual vision of the sleeping area, where from each room only a portion of landscape can be seen. The bivalent relationship inside/outside materializes itself in a complex volumetric articulation: a living area, integrated in the curves of level, characterized by a formal continuity between landscape- built volume, and a sleeping area characterized by embossed volumes that, as big eyes, are addressed to specific points of the surrounding landscape. Another goal of “the Ring-a-ring-a-roses” is the gathering of the residents, which is the reason why the housing modules have been assembled in circle, to protect a central space to be used by the community. Symbolically it represents a ring-a-ring-a-roses, where the residences, as children, join together to create a social area, protected and safe, dedicated to plays, free time and all those social activities which can contribute to create a spirit of identity, and to the birth of an “anthropization” process. “The Ring-a-ring-a-roses” stands as a land-art project where the housing modules lye on the landscape, without dominating but perfectly integrated, creating a continuity and a commixture between the territory and the buildings. The horizontal levels of the living area wrap the circular layout and as prosthesis, they merge themselves with the terracing of the curves of level, standing as pedestals for the free volumes of the sleeping area : these latter, as sculptures, lie down the landscape creating marks on the territory.