Morphosis - Circuit City

Marilene de Wit

Research seminar
Analysis Index

3. General project information 17. Dwelling types urban

4. Urban structure 18. Dwelling units urban
5. Public space and infrastructure 19. Routing urban
6. Traffic flows 20. Entrance and private space urban
7. Building site
8. Landscaping and typologies 21/22 Building Circulation
9. Connection to street level village 23. Building mass
10. Connection to street level urban 24. Building grid
25. Collective space
11. Dwelling types village 26. Microclimate
12. Dwelling units village 27. Private space
13. Dwelling organization village 28. Sequences of open space
14. Composition village 29. DNA
15. Routing village
16. Entrance and private space village

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General project information

Project name: Circuit City

Location: Calle del Patrimonio de la

Humanidad 2, MADRID, Spain

Architect: Morphosis

Year: 2002 - 2006

Number of apartments: 141

Square meters: 21.999

Type: Social housing

Prizes:
2009: AIA California Council Honor
Award
2008: Ayuntamiento de Madrid Awards,
First Prize
2003: Los Angeles AIA NEXT Award

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Urban Structure

The building is located

inside a quiet residential
area at the border of
Madrid.

Most building blocks

are standard plastered
buildings, built a few
years before Morphosis
made this design.

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Public space and
Infrastructure
There are some small
parks in the vicinity, yet
none of them have a
visual connection to the
building.

There is a freeway right to

the south of the building.

The building is connected

to the primary street
only by going through
secondary streets.

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Site Traffic flows

In terms of traffic flow

this is the most quiet site
in the area. Part of this is
because its a corner plot
and only has traffic flows
on 2 sides. The other is
because its only has a
secondary connection the
main road.

In terms of traffic
nuisance I can image its
one of the lesser building
sites, because of the
highway right next to it.

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Building Site

The site is a corner plot,

which means the majority
of the traffic flows to the
north and west of the
building.

The south-east corner

is rounded of, which
give building its arched,
triangular shape.

To the south is a freeway,

with open land in
between.

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Landscaping and typologies

The main slab has been

raised on both sides,
but different heights, so
it creates a difference
in height. This is the
landscaping.

This is then divided into

parts. I will refer to the
middle part as a Village
typology, while the top
and bottom part are
referred to as having an
Urban typology

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Connection to Street level
Village
The elevated slab creates
an autonomous object.

As a passerby you look

at the side of an elevated
building, which on the
one hand creates a
disconnection on street
level.
This is done purposefully,
because even though
the interior feels and acts
like a village typology, its
important that it remains
a building in itself and is
not accesible from many
sides from the street
level.
Instead of creating a
gate, they created this
elevation.

164 Street windows - neg 9

Connection to Street level
Urban
At the facade of the urban
section, the connection is
more direct. There is no
elevation slab here.

Also there is a sightline

that gives a strong visual
connection through the
main entrance or gate
into the main street.
This used to be all public
space and meant as a
thoroughfare, but now
it has been closed off
due to complaints of the
building inhabitants.

101 Building thoroughfare

165 Opening to the street 10
Dwelling types
Village
The village consists of a
composition of different
types of maisonettes, in a
low-rise typology.

They are all mostly

slightly different, but
colored are the main
archetypes based on a
L-shaped or U-shaped
footprint, private outdoor
space and number of
bedrooms.

95 Building complex 11
Dwelling units
Village
These units are all
maisonettes with a patio
in the front, and 0, 1 or
2 balconies in different
compositions.

All the dwelling units are

similar, yet all slightly
different.

This example has 3

bedrooms on the upper
floor and a small balcony
on the right side.

Dimensions: 8x12m

21 Four story limit

97 Number of stories
76 House for a small family
77 House for a couple
140 Private terrace on the
street
160 Building edge
167 Six foot balcony 12
Dwelling organization
Village
The dwellings are
organized with their wide
sides along the street,

This enables more light

from both sides.

Also, it creates the

opportunity to carve out
building mass from the
side to enable an extra
circulation layer without
becoming too narrow.

Top view

100 Pedestrian street

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Composition
Village
By carving out building
mass on the ground floor
of some of the dwellings,
a there is the creation of
alleys.

They have a different

dimensions from the
main street.

Every so often, there is

a dwelling taken out of
the pattern, to create a
collective courtyard, or
place.

115 Courtyards which live 14

Routing village

In between the dwellings

there is some space left
open where you can
pass through, to take a
shortcut or to avoid the
main street. This works
like an alley.

38 Row houses 15
Entrance and Private space
village

Units can be accessed

from the street, under
the overhang. From the
dwelling you can enter
your private patio, or
balcony,

All gardens/patios/
balconies are oriented to
the south.

The top floor has a

completely dark wall on
the north side, for privacy
purposes.

105 South facing

N
outdoors
111 Half hidden garden
128 Indoor sunlight
129 Common areas at the
heart
161 Sunny place
195 Staircase volume 16
Dwelling Types
Urban
This urban part of the
building consists of a
composition of different
types of apartments and
maisonettes, in a high-
rise typology.

The units have, like the

village, a few archetypes
and many variations
based upon these.

The apartments have

2 bedrooms, and the
maisonettes 3 bedrooms.

Dimensions big tower:

8x142m

Dimensions small tower:

7x37m

160 Building edge 17

Dwelling units
Urban
This is an example of an
apartment unit.

This one has a setback

on the entrance, which is
the urban equivalent of
a front garden or patio.
The layout is simple, with
2 bedrooms organized
around a loggia, an open
kitchen/ living room and a
bathroom.

This is one of the few

apartments that have this
loggia as an addition.
In most cases, the
floorspace is used for a
bigger living room and
separate kitchen.

76 House for a small

family
77 House for a couple 18
Routing
Urban
The staircase leads to a
gallery, from where you
enter your unit.

There are little setbacks

for the entrances in some
cases, that you could
interpret as a little front-
patio.

112 Entrance transition 19

Entrance and Private space
Urban
There is a big difference
in the presence of outside
private space between
the apartments.

The top apartment has

for example a private
loggia and a semi-private
loggia, but a smaller
indoor space

Size: 13,20 x 7,60.

Other apartments dont

have any outside space
at all, but some more
indoor space, like the one
in the bottom floor-plan. Floorplan apartment type 7
Also, it has a more direct
connection to the gallery.

It seems that the

architects tried to create
different types of layouts
and access to private
space for people with
different priorities.

128 Indoor sunlight Floorplan apartment type 3

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Building Circulation

101 Building thoroughfare

100 Pedestrian street
53 Main gateways
31 Promenade

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Building Circulation

There is one main

entrance to the building.
The apartments can be
reached by taking a left
or right stairs, and the
dwellings can be reached
by ground floor streets.

The dark red is one floor

higher than the bright red.

53 Main gateways
101 Building thoroughfare 22
Building Mass

Even though this is a

densification project,
there is still a lot of open
space.

In the village section,

there are 62 apartments,

In the urban section,

there are 82 apartments.

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Grid

The horizontal grid is

regular, with a steady
interval.
The vertical grid however
is more irregular due to
the shifts dwellings make
to the left or right, and
the fact that some units
are slightly shorter than
others.

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Collective Space

Between the maisonettes

there are open spaces
that form courtyards for
the dwellings that border
it, like places, which is
semi-collective space.

Right through the middle

is the big collective
space that used to be the
thoroughfare. This is the
main street

31 Promenade
115 Courtyards which live
174 Tree places 25
Microclimate

The roof of each dwelling,

and the facade of the
tower all carry structures
that create a micro-
climate above your head
or next to your facade.
Helps to create healthy
environment and provides
sunshade.

173 Garden wall 26

Private space

A very regular pattern of

balconies and patios,
that are part of the
maisonette dwellings.

140 Private terrace on the

street
111 Half hidden garden
161 Sunny place 27
Sequence of open spaces

The way your enter and

make your way through
the building to your
dwelling is connected to
which spaces are placed
and how you get there.

Not just which spaces are

there are important, but
also how you get there.

Together they form all the

space that is not inside,
and there is a hierarchy in
it in this village typology.

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DNA: The hierarchy of open
space.

1. Main square
A public courtyard, where all residents enter and
(used to be) a passageway to connect with urban
fabric.

2. Main streets
Division takes place between the village/urban
sections of the building in collective space.
Village typology Urban typology
3. Streets
In the urban typology, this is translated as a gallery, 1
and in the village typology as openings on the 2 2
ground floor which arise from the difference in
building volume on the ground floor and first floor,
which is collective space on a smaller scale.
4
3
4. Place 3
The village typology has the smaller courtyards,
which is semi-collective space.
5 6
5. Alley
In between the dwellings there is some space left
open where you can pass through, to take a shortcut
or to avoid the main street. 6

6. Front yard
You can enter through a space that is private, but
visible from the street. In the village typology this is a
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patio in the urban typology a sort of loggia.

7. Terrace
Through your unit you can enter your private balcony/
balconies. The urban types dont have this, and some
of the village dont have this either, while others have
two.

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