Casa Patio Bioclimática (Elemental / UTFSM Research House)

Santiago, Chile, South America

Completed · Residential · Incremental Social Housing Prototype · Mediterranean · 2016

Elemental's half-a-good-house model, refined across Chile, delivers a structurally complete half-unit that residents expand over time. The innovation is the deliberate design of the unbuilt half: structural walls, slab cantilevers, and service cores are pre-positioned to guide self-build without creating a safety hazard.

Innovation highlights

• half-built structural system designed to guide safe resident self-completion
• cost cap of US$7,500/unit achieved without sacrificing structural integrity
• scalable social housing model replicated across Latin America and studied globally
• Pritzker Prize-recognised contribution to architectural social innovation

Client / Developer

Universidad Técnica Federico Santa María / MINVU Chile

Architect

Alejandro Aravena / Elemental

Engineer

Elemental structural team

Type

Incremental Social Housing Prototype

#incremental housing #social housing #self-build #structural design for expansion #Elemental #Santiago

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