Sixth Lesson: “Auzolan: several cases of building social housing in the twentieth century” seminar.

From the start of the twentieth century, the construction of housing was to become one of the central elements of a modern project whose aim was to transform and regulate the life of individuals. The universality of the new housing was determined by certain forms that, following the standardized repertoire of the modern movement, were applied in different geographical and temporal contexts. And also by its democratic character. Thus, the right to housing was incorporated into the list of rights that the social states were committed to providing and guaranteeing.

Known by names like “cheap houses”, “popular houses” or “minimum condition housing”, social housing was to be built in an ad hoc and exceptional way thanks to communal and cooperative work (auzolan in Euskera). In certain cases the use of this type of labour power responded to the principles of solidarity of left-wing programs. In other cases, it was also in response to a lack of economic resources that, in places where rural and pre-modern social forms still survived, led to a continuation of systems of mutual support in the organization of work.

Two examples of the use of cooperative forms of working will be analysed in this seminar: Cuban social housing from the 70s and the Casa Jardín, Azkoitia, by Tomás Bilbao, built in 1926. Subsequently, we will visit social housing designed by Calixto Emiliano de Amann y Amann in the neighbourhood of Solokoetxe, instigated by Tomás Bilbao in his role as president of the Bilbao Town Council Housing Committee. The Casa Jardín and the Solokeoetxe housing estate provide an idea of two models of public housing programs in Spain: housing for ownership during the Primo de Rivera dictatorship, and housing for rental and council programs during the II Republic.

“The garden city of Azkoitia, designed by Tomás Bilbao”. Imanol Mujika.  17:00h
A study of the Ciudad jardín de Azkoitia, designed in 1926 by architect Tomás Bilbao, a member of the Northern division of GATEPAC, which was an offshoot of the CIAM (Congrès International d’Architecture Moderne) and advocated the modern movement in architecture in the Spanish state.

“Public housing programs have their own history. The first chapters of remaining housing of any prominence came about in the 20s and 30s, under the auspices of Casas Baratas (Cheap Housing Law). This initial policy was designed to assist the middle class in purchasing housing. The middle class was made up of company directors, employees, members of liberal professions and specialised workers, among others; a sector which could not meet the prices in the Ensanche district and was starting to have serious problems with rising rentals. Many of these programs were supported by business funding. This is why, in Guipuzkoa, they can be found in interior settlements near industrial areas.”

[pgs. 78-80: Gipuzkoa: guía de arquitectura, 1850-1960. Nerea. Colegio Oficial de Arquitectos Vasco-Navarro / Diputación Foral de Gipuzkoa.]

“Microbrigades, Variations of a Story”. Florian Zeyfang, Lisa Schmidt-Colinet, Alex Schmoeger. 18:00h
Lisa Schmidt-Colinet, Alexander Schmoeger and Florian Zeyfang will give an insight in their research on the “microbrigades” during the last four decades in Havana, Cuba. Based on their earlier experiences in Cuba, the architects/artists visited in 2011 San Agustin, Alamar and other satellite suburbs around Havana, to conduct interviews and analyze the urban situation, and developed a contribution to the 11th Havana Biennial in 2012.

In 1971 the first microbrigades were formed to counteract the tremendous housing deficit in Cuba. Groups of workers were put aside from ordinary enterprises and commissioned to construct as laymen four- or five-story apartment blocks, which were further distributed according to the needs of workers and their merits within the organization. To involve the non-professionals in the field of construction, international systems of prefabricated elements had to be adapted to systems combining pre-fabricated and manually assembled parts. Between 1971 and 1975 microbrigades boosted the housing supply by finishing 18.000-20.000 units per year, until the deficiency of building materials slowed down the production and the program was reduced by the government in 1978. But until today several attempts were undertaken to re-activate the intriguing concept of housing built by the people.

Even though the program has to be debated critically, it is a fact that microbrigades have constructed large urban surroundings – whether within the urban realm, as San Agustín in Havana, or on open ground, as Alamar, constructed few kilometers east of the capital. Though standard types of buildings were developed and constructed with only small variations, complex neighborhoods were produced which are today highly specific and very different from each other. The research “Microbrigades, Variations of a Story” is exploring divergent views on the phenomenon of the state-organized self-constructed urban neighborhoods without aiming at one coherent story.

“Guided tour of the houses in Solokoetxe by Calixto Emiliano de Amann y Amann.” Mª Mar Domingo. 19:00h

“The serious housing problem in Bilbao, which had been a matter for concern since the end of the 19th century, was still an unsolved issue in the early 30s, in spite of the important development of the Leyes de Casas Baratas (Cheap Housing Laws) in the city. This issue, combined with a profound labour crisis, led the Bilbao Council to issue a tender for the building of a new block of housing in the Solokoetxe district, near the municipal housing area projected by Ricardo Bastida in 1918.”

“The tender served to bolster the first manifestations of rational housing as advocated by the Congresos Internacionales de Arquitectura Moderna. The proposal put forward by Calixto Emiliano Amann (1882-1942) won the tender because of its combination of rational distribution with comfort and intelligent use of space and economy.”

“More details in the coming tour.”

Imanol Mujika. Studied Geography and History and works as a researcher in the Azkoitia Municipal Library. He lives  in one of the homes in the Azkoitia garden city, which belongs to his grandparents, and whose parents were beneficiaries of the project in the 20s and took part in its construction.

Lisa Schmidt-Colinet, Alexander Schmoeger, and Florian Zeyfang have collaborated on exhibitions and projects since 2001. Within the artist / architect / curator collective RAIN they curated several exhibitions, including “4D – 4 Dimensions, 4 Decades”, Havana Biennial 2003, “Supermover”, Fotofest Houston 2002, “HALLWAY”, MAK Wien 2001, “This Is My House”, MAK Schindler House Center for Art and Architecture/Mackay Appts. Los Angeles 2001. Since 2008, Schmidt-Colinet, Schmoeger, and Zeyfang have conceived sculptural and architectonical installations for group and solo exhibitions, working with wood, concrete, slide projection, video, and other materials. Together with Eugenio Valdés Figueroa, they published “Pabellón Cuba”, an extensive reader on art, architecture and film in Cuba (b_books: Berlin 2008). Lisa Schmidt-Colinet and Alexander Schmoeger are architects and live in Vienna; Florian Zeyfang is an artist from Berlin.

María del Mar Domingo Hernández. PhD in History, Universidad de Girona, starting in 2005. Shc studied Geography and History at the U.P.V.-EHU, obtaining her degree in 1995. In 1998 she was awarded the “Mariano Ciriquiain” VI Prize for Historical Research, Portugalete. She has specialized in publications and articles related to architecture, urban development and housing for the working classes. Her PhD is titled “Vivienda obrera en Bilbao y el Bajo Nervión: las Casas Baratas, una nueva forma de alojamiento (1911-1936)”. (Working class housing in Bilbao and the Bajo Nervión: Cheap Houses, a new form of housing (1911-1936)”. Books published: Construyendo Portugalete: Espacio urbano y alojamiento obrero, c. 1937-1970 (1999); Repélega en el Siglo XX: Fugaces pinceladas de una historia reciente (2007); Las ‘Casas Baratas’ en Vizcaya 1911-1936 (2008); Portugalete: Desarrollo urbano, 1937-1970 (2010).