Rio House is a minimal home located in Madrid, Spain, designed by HANGHAR. Most residents in Madrid cannot afford the average property price, creating a dilemma that is shaping the lives of several generations. The project is situated in the Carabanchel area, which is gentrifying quickly as a result of the city’s present shortage of affordable housing. The concept responds to this scenario by offering a basic, unfinished environment that enables the locals to restore their homes on a tight budget and with reduced construction costs. This bare-bones situation raises the prospect of allowing future interventions while distancing itself from market-driven logics that place a significant portion of the developer’s earnings on finishing and fixtures. By building a technically advanced wall that houses the plumbing, electrical wiring, and storage for both the kitchen and the bathroom, the apartment’s original layout is preserved and improved.

Its raw aluminum finish creates an ethereal backdrop that reflects domestic activities taking place around a sizable, monolithic working area as well as light. The apartment’s structure, a grid-like arrangement of steel I-beams and pillars, divides the space into public and private parts and arranges the room. The materials are simple and unadorned. The ceiling’s monstrous and cavernous presence stands in stark contrast to the home’s reflective, continuous epoxy resin floor. Simple, ceramic tiling is used in the bathroom and the work area in the kitchen because it is long-lasting and water-resistant. Due to the bareness of the room, the surroundings are made more appealing by the minimal details in local red marble.

Photography by Luis Díaz Díaz