Articles by Cristobal Rojas

To have the social area, either its private or public, around a water element, was the fundamental premise to give relevance to the existing excavation, now empty in the topography; product of a previous project discarded once its construction started, due to its inexperience and clearly far from the user’s real interest. The water element surrounds the construction which allows its users to contemplate it from the main points of interaction on their every day. 

One of the main goals of our architectural firm is to provide clients with an integrated approach to sustainable building concepts. The VV Residence is no exception as it generates connections with the surrounding landscapes and incorporates passive design strategies to create an optimal, high-performance hygrothermal home.

The neighborhood of Caselas, Lisbon, was built in 1949 and designed by architect Antonio Couto Martins. With a regular and orthogonal organization this neighborhood is characterized by the adaptation of its urban fabric to some pre-existing elements, such as the Church, which served as a reference to its main axes.

The brickwork façades are built in a non-classical way. Taking into account an increasing demand of isolation – and therefore thickness –, the classical cavity wall is expiring. Thus giving way for a plated façade which leaves more room for thicker isolation.

The Prototype: As a second life of the German pavilion for HIII, we developed a post-earthquake prototype for the rural Ecuadorian coast, which costs the same as the houses delivered by the state but better adapted to the user and the place where it is implanted.

Paf is a publicly owned organization that develops games. Headquartered in Åland, but it has offices all over Europe. The mission was to gather all the approximately 200 employees in Åland, by extension, in an energy efficient building, which supports and reinforces Paf’s corporate culture and working methods.

 Belsize Architects’ Nutley Terrace comprises two contemporary town houses with an integrated, limestone-faced facade on a brownfield site in a conservation area in Hampstead, North London.

“The school named “Habitat Learning Community”, is a “Metaproject” dedicated to childhood, with a new educational concept in Mexico inspired by the Italian philosophy of Reggio Emilia, Located in Santa Anita, Jalisco, Mexico. It is a complex environment made of contrasts, due to a multiplicity of factors. It must be conceived as a polysensory and self-learning space.

Project is located in the central area of Vilnius, by the river Neris. On the opposite side of the river, in the heart of the old town, stands the symbol of medieval history of Lithuania – Gediminas tower.

The project consists of the regeneration of three housing units that were built in the eighties during the first expansion of the city. The aim was to transform the typology and use of spaces to provide openness, natural light and accommodate new ways of living in the neighbourhood.