Mirador MVRDV

The Mirador building, by MVRDV and Blanca Lleo, is a housing unit located in location: the rapidly developing and industrialized of Hortaleza, near . Madrid, Spain There exists a large difference in context between the agglomerated urban environment of the highline, and the Mirador, placed remotely in the middle of date completed: other residential units, surrounded by highways. 2001-2005 There are however, key parallels to be made between the two sites. First, the highline, in its elevation from the ground, establishes itself as a point of visual primary program: interest. The idea of gaze on the street is further developed as one stands on residential the highline, where a series of views of the are deliberately framed. Similarly, the Mirador building aims to create a contrast in relation to its sur- secondary program: roundings. The decision was to negate the horizontal, flat development sky plaza of adjacent , and rotate the Mirador to a considerable height of 60m above the ground. The architects took the typology of surrounding buildings, primary structure: which all have large inner courtyards, and expressed these elements vertically steel truss roof system within the Mirador. The result is an elevated platform, 14 stories above ground. As the name suggests, the building is designed in relation to the surrounding and opportunities for observing it. The elevated platform becomes a total floor area: key point in this respect. 18300 m2 at 22 floors

Both the Mirador and the highline provide alternate levels and manners of cir- maximum building height: culation, trying to reinvent the opportunities available for community gather- 40 m ing.The Mirador makes a bold statement in its exposed, red circulation corridor that traverse the building in what creates a network of streets, alleyways, a climate zone: microcosm of the city within a building. warm, temperate, & subtropical Development of a project on the highline can be informed by the methods of min/max temp MVRDV and Lleo in their fragmentation and re-organization of space into verti- -10.1 oC / 40.6 oC cal neighbourhoods, as well as their special treatment of circulation corridors.

The succes of Mirador’s intended accessibility can be contested: The original intention was to make the elevated platform a space open to the public, being connected by an escalator. Without this connection to the ground, the space is fully private and underused. Analogously, how can the Highline, and the projects developed around it, create accessibility and promote interaction, in contrast to the current trend of caused by the popularity of the park? Port(u*o)s “MVRDV Edificio Mirador Madrid.“ Online image. Wikimedia Commons, 5 Nov. 2009. Web 15 Jan. 2015.

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Axonometric Mirador

Program Analysis and Building Typologies Residential Types and Unit Plans

Each residential block represents a size and type of apartment space. Each housing units become their own building and are stacked on top of each other with the sky-plaza / courtyard at its center. Each block fits with different lifestyles and make up the 165 apartment complex.

1:500

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Photographic Study of Meeting Spaces

Port(u*o)s “MVRDV Edificio Mirador Madrid.“ Online image. Web 15 Jan. 2015. http:// Hart, Robert “Mirador.” Online image. Divisare, July 30 2008. 13 Jan 2015. http://divis- Lleò Blanca. “ http://divisare.com/projects/69883-MVRDV-Mirador/images/943772 www.kientruc.eu/clanky/mirador are.com/projects/69883-MVRDV-Mirador/images/943772 The rooftop circulation connecting the uppermost apartments as well as the east The view of the Vertical Courtyard give massive views of the city to its West and the The enclosure of the ‘Meeting Spaces’ create areas for gathering as well as public and west apartments mountains to its East indoor spaces that are open to the outside air.

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