Viviendas en la M-30, Social housing complex near M-30 highway, Madrid, Spain
Viviendas en la M-30 is a residential complex in Madrid built along the curve of the M-30 urban highway. The building is made up of stepped duplex units accessed from internal hallways, all wrapped in a continuous skin of small perforated ceramic tiles.
The complex was designed and built between 1986 and 1989 by architect Francisco Javier Sáenz de Oíza. It was part of a city-led plan to rehouse people who had been living in informal settlements on the outskirts of Madrid.
The complex reflects how Madrid tried to offer decent housing to families who had been living outside the formal city. The curved shape and the ceramic skin make it a visible marker of a particular moment in the city's social history.
The building is easy to see from the M-30 and can be viewed from the roadside or a nearby footpath without entering the property. As it is private housing, the visit is limited to the outside.
The perforated ceramic tiles that cover the facade are not purely decorative: the holes allow air and light to pass through while helping to block some of the noise from the highway below. This means the outer skin of the building does two jobs at once.
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