arta building
team Gonzalo Cano (CO), Sebastian Duque (CO), Luisa Fernanda Sanchez (CO), Roubini Makridou (CO), Luis Vega (CO)
photos Ivan Ortiz (CO)
status built
program housing
plot area 756 sqm
built area 3157 sqm
budget 2.500 million COL $
client Gonzalo Cano
location Bogota,Colombia
date 2007
Arta is a housing building whose total built area is far lower than what allowed by regulations. This was done by eliminating from the program those units which, due to basement-area limitations, did not fulfill the market-law: one 80 sqm flat = two parking places. The "un-built" area was given to the remaining apartments as an extra free-height in their social areas, by introducing a basic-unit formed by two flats: the one gaining the extra height upwards while the other downwards. The unit allows a circulation system with just two floor-corridors serving all flats, and the fact that all apartments enjoy the same conditions of park-view and southern sunlight. Arta building owes its name to a Greek legend which explores the links between construction and sacrifice. The fact that its promoter was also the design-team's main architect, made it possible to conceive a building which can be a living proof that the void can be not only a design-tool but a marketing device for real estate.
