Bamboo House and Air Tree from Madrid

Composed at May 25, 2010 - 2:49 pm, filed in 2010 World Expo, from FLTA

"Bamboo House" and "Air Tree" are two projects from Madrid who participated in the Expo UBPA (Urban Best Practice Area) project. These two projects are 1:1 copies of the constructed ones in Madrid.

"Bamboo House" is a social housing developed by EMVS (Empresa Municipal De La Vivienda Y Suelo De Madrid) and it is located in Carabanchel, Madrid. It covers an area of 1607.2 square meters with 19.2 meters height and five floors. With a garden and public area, it can accommodate 88 households. The designer is the Spanish architect Alejandro Zaera (Foreign Office Architects).

Each house in the "Bamboo House" has a balcony with a bamboo window providing shade and privacy. It has also introduced energy-saving technology to enhance the recycling of water.

"Air Tree" is one of the Life Programs initiated by European Union; it is located in the Ecobulevar de Vallecas in the suburban of Madrid. It functions just like a traditional Chinese pavilion. Since there is no green gardening in this community, the architects Belinda Toto and Jose Luis Vallejo were asked to design such a temporary public space for residents.

It is a circle semi-open space inside which a water steam device and vine plants are designed to increase humidity and lower the temperature (with a amplitude of 8-10 degree) so as to regulate the dry and hot weather in Madrid during summer.