The 16th edition of the Europan awards, launched in the spring of 2021 under the theme "Living Cities: Metabolic and Inclusive Vitalities," has announced its results. “The Incredible Story of the Seasonal Worker Who Found His Home in Almendralejo” is a Spanish project selected as one of the seven winners within Spain.
Designed by Sergio Sañudo, Martina Almela, Daniel Cueto, Marina Fernández, and José Luis Ramos (Monochrome Estudio), the project responds to the challenge posed by Europan: “to consider new types of synergies —among environmental, biological, social, economic, cultural, and political dimensions— to think of space in terms of co-evolution and interactions, and to work with regenerative project dynamics that combine metabolic and inclusive vitalities.”
Project description provided by the design team.
The winning project for the city of Almendralejo addresses the issue of seasonal workers from an architectural perspective. It involves the rehabilitation of a highly deteriorated social housing complex, proposing a solution that recycles the existing structures. The design updates obsolete dwellings with a simple, sustainable approach: an exterior structure attached to the facade to expand living spaces and organize the public realm.
Almendralejo is a town that relies primarily on the agricultural sector, with a fluctuating population during harvest months. This social reality serves as the starting point for our proposal. On one hand, there are the long-term residents and local neighbors; on the other, a seasonal migrant population ranging between 7,000 and 9,000 people, mostly Romani individuals of Romanian origin who arrive during the grape and fruit harvesting seasons.
We aim to promote community initiative through a negotiation table involving both local residents and migrant workers, alongside all parties involved in the improvement process: the city council, property owners, and social agents.
Fostering integration between long-term residents and seasonal migrant workers is the primary objective, achieved through a “social condenser” operating at two scales for a comprehensive solution:
The architectural proposal is based on recycling the existing blocks and is divided into four phases of intervention:
A primary guiding principle was the human factor: avoiding the displacement of residents who wish to remain in their homes during the rehabilitation process. To achieve this, the proposal is phased over time, initially prioritizing exterior work and vacant apartments. This approach enables a residential rotation as construction progresses, ensuring that residents are housed at all times.
The existing housing typology is limited to traditional residential use, which is ill-suited to modern needs. The project proposes new, more flexible housing configurations that can adapt to demand as the local population fluctuates.
The construction strategy combines the industrial aesthetic of the dry-construction attached structure with nods to the neighborhood's vernacular architecture, reinterpreting local ornamental ironwork and colorful ceramics.
Project Name: The Incredible Story of the Seasonal Worker Who Found His Home in Almendralejo"
Architecture Office: MONOCHROME Estudio
Office Country: Spain
Competition Name: EUROPAN 16 - LIVING CITIES
Render Credits: MONOCHROME Estudio
Video Credits: MONOCHROME Estudio
Architects in Charge: Sergio Sañudo, Martina Almela, Daniel Cueto, Marina Fernández, Jose Luis Ramos.
This article was written by Elías Barczuk Pasamán. The translation is powered by AI.
