When life gives you lemons, you make a livable high-rise
What it is now is not what it can be
Remember la Torre de David? You know, the abandoned skyscraper that was invaded by squatters and now stands as a monument to Venezuela’s housing crisis?
Well, architecht Alfredo Brillembourg (presumably related to the building’s namesake) moved into the building and studied it for a year. He came up with a project to renovate it and make it livable and … voilá … he just won the top prize at the Venice Architecture Biennale.
I love his approach to the problem: he’s not interested in how the situation got to where it is, but in how to build on what the squatters themselves have built.
I don’t know much more about the project, but there is some background here. Fascinating stuff.
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