The winning project of the Oscar Hagerman Prize International Architecture Competition has been announced. Established in 2017 to honor the career of architect Oscar Hagerman, the biennial competition recognizes social architecture concepts, encouraging participants to utilize regional materials while prioritizing user needs.
The award is the intellectual property of the Instituto de las Bóvedas Mexicanas y Tecnologías Regionales (IBOMEX). For this edition, they collaborated with the Oficina del Conservador de la Ciudad de Trinidad y el Valle de los Ingenios (OCCTVI), based in Trinidad, Cuba, to address sustainable housing in the country. The brief called for a single-family housing concept that is sustainable within the local social and economic context, factoring in regional materials, climate, and orientation, with a maximum built area of 90 square meters across two floors.
The winning proposal, titled "Vivienda Social Cuba VSC," was designed by Colectivo 9A –composed of Alejandra Aguirre, Gabriel González, Armando Palacios, Eduardo Pesado, and Santiago Vázquez.
The project is divided into four key development stages: 1) Initial Progression (40.00 m2): covers basic needs, including a kitchen, living-dining room, bedroom, and bathroom, with a focus on engineering systems and sustainability; 2) Intermediate Progression (64.00 m2): integrates a living room and a bedroom, as well as an upper-floor hallway to connect the rooms; 3) Full Progression (90.00 m2): completes the housing prototype, incorporating a portico-foyer, covered patio, and outdoor bedroom; and 4) Collective Progression: envisions development at the community level, creating housing complexes, streetscapes, and integrated blocks to explore new possibilities for social and community development.
The construction system utilizes a load-bearing masonry structure made of local red-fired clay brick, emphasizing the craftsmanship involved in building walls and roofs. For the central zone, a barrel vault serves as the main axis and foyer. In both public and private spaces, groin vaults are used to align with the square modular strategy while highlighting the quality of local labor.
The jury for this edition consisted of Oscar Hagerman (Mexico), Pilar Diez González (Spain), Ángels Castellarnau (Spain), María Teresa Méndez Landa (Peru), Fernando Cesar Negrini Minto (Brazil), Alejandro Ferreiro (Uruguay), Selene Laguna Galindo (Mexico), Pacha Yampara Blanco (Bolivia), Talya Miriam Engelmayer Kleinberg (Mexico), Pedro Pizarro (Mexico), Fabricio Lázaro Villaverde (Mexico), Frédérique Jonnard (France), Rosendo Mesías González (Cuba), and Gustavo Romero Fernández (Mexico).
This article was written by Mónica Arellano. The translation is powered by AI.
