REFORM: USE OF AND DIALOGUE BETWEEN MATERIALS

by | Aug 28, 2022 | Building Rehabilitation, Integral Reforms, Interior Design, Sin categorizar | 0 comments

Home renovation, From Miami with Loft, Zaragoza, Cronotopos.

To reform means to make modifications to a thing in order to improve it. When we think of renovating a house to turn it into our home, we surely think of multiple designs and materials to use. But is it necessary to start from scratch in a refurbishment as if it were a blank canvas?
“Is it necessary to start from scratch in a reform as if it were a blank canvas?

We live in an era in which we are fortunately becoming more and more aware of the environmental impact that we produce to manufacture everything from a piece of clothing to a house. To mitigate such consumption, the “3Rs” principle is promoted: reduce, reuse and recycle.
Is it possible to carry out such an approach when planning the renovation of the house of our dreams?

When we find a space to renovate, first we have to make an exhaustive study of its structure, envelope and finishes to find the possible constructive elements to recover and revalue. These elements are the basis of our renovation, which will give identity to the renovated space.
As it is sifted through, the reform comes to life as elements that were not expected allow us to take risks and experiment. In this way, the old house or premises, which has undergone transformations over the years and has had other lives, begins to be purified, layer by layer, stratum by stratum, thus rescuing its essence. The elements that detract from the value of the building are eliminated in order to rescue the noble materials, which are the key elements of the new renovation project. From this point on, the game of putting the old and the new in tension begins. It is important to find a formal and tectonic balance that respects the dialogue of each material.
“From this point on, the game of putting the old and the new in tension begins. It is important to find a formal and tectonic balance that respects the dialogue of each material”.
An example of a comprehensive renovation project from a sustainability approach is the Mo de Movimiento restaurant in Madrid. The limitation of the use of virgin materials has ranged from the reconversion of demolition debris to make the benches for seating diners to the tiling of the kitchen from ceramic remnants from the construction site.
In Cronotopos we appreciate this type of projects in which in the same TOPOS we can find different elements, the result of the different CRONOS that have been lived. The integral reform of the house From Miami with Loft that we made had the added value of reusing the original materials. This process of purification and discovery resulted in the integration and dialogue of Aragonese brick with the purity of concrete. Projects like this one allow us to design over the existing by adapting old volumes to new ways of living.
“Projects like this allow us to design over the existing by adapting old volumes to new ways of living.”

Written by
Ana Moreno Bueno
published by
Cronotopos

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