Stepped Housing of the Ifara Urbanisation

Santa Cruz de Tenerife · Category: Architecture · Subcategory: Civil architecture · Year: 1969 · Authors: Rubens Henríquez

This housing complex designed by the architect Rubens Henríquez in 1969 for the Casas Baratas cooperative is developed in a stepped manner on one of the slopes of the Anaga mountain range overlooking the city of Santa Cruz and its port.

It combines garden city typology with others of collective housing. The direct connection with the ground is made at the entrances, taking advantage of the steep slope to access each dwelling from the natural terrain, and the exterior space is constituted by the roof of the immediately lower dwelling, which is used as a terrace.

The volumetric composition of the entire complex is made through prisms interlocked and recessed one over the other, producing a cubic fragmentation effect very much in tune with the Meccano aesthetic already addressed in international architecture. 

The whole complex acquires an austere aesthetic, without ornaments, where despite being stepped down the hillside, horizontality predominates. This is reflected in the importance of the exposed concrete slabs, which function as basic compositional elements of the entire work and play with the materialisation of the black railings of the terraces.

The use of local materials such as block and basalt stone contributes to the integration of the work into the natural context in which it is located.

28.482746, -16.256677