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ELEMENTAL是一个位于智利的建筑工作室，他们专注于公共利益和社会影响的建筑工作。ELEMENTAL的领导者是Alejandro Aravena，荣获今年的普利兹奖和任2016威尼斯建筑双年展总监。

ELEMENTAL is a Chilean based architecture practice who focus on architecture work of public interest and social impact. ELEMENTAL′s director, Alejandro Aravena, was awarded this years Pritzker Prize and appointed director of the 2016 Venice Architecture Biennale.

ELEMENTAL起初成名是他们在2004年的Quinta Monroy，在智利伊基克很中心的社会住房项目。该基地从1960年开始，被97户家庭非法占有，他们安置在同一个5000平方米的场地上。

ELEMENTAL first made a name for themselves in 2004 with Quinta Monroy, a social housing project in the very centre of Iquique, Chile. The site had been illegally occupied by 97 families since the 1960's, who they rehoused on the same 5,000 square metre site.

该基地的中心位置的土地是市场房价的三倍，但是政府提供的补贴却是完全一样的-每个家庭7500美元，必须支付土地，基础设施和建筑成本。面临的挑战是，在购买土地之后，几乎没有资金的条件下如何去去建造房屋。

The site's central location meant that the land was three times the price of what social housing could usually afford, however the subsidy provided by the government was exactly the same - US$7,500 per family, which had to pay for the land, infrastructure and building costs. The challenge was how to build decent homes for these families, when following the purchase of land there was almost no money left for the housing itself.

当没有足够的钱为一个家庭建造一个舒适的家，通常的处理方法就是修建小的房屋。ELEMENTAL改变了答案和想法，为什么我们不建造一个好的、舒适的尺寸的一半的房屋呢？

When there is not enough money to build a comfortable sized home for a family, the market response is to simply make them smaller. ELEMENTAL rephrased the answer and thought, instead of building smaller homes, why don't we build half of a good, comfortably sized one?

ELEMENTAL 设计的'half-a-house' 实质上是一个家庭核心的部分，居民不能独立地建造他们房屋的一半。最初的住宅是两层高，坚固的混凝土砌块结构用最基本的基础—厨房，浴室，一些隔断墙和内部木楼梯。每一个盒状结构交替留有一个空的空间，大小完全一样。在这个空位上，家庭可以扩大自己的家，用他们的想法配置空间。

This 'half-a-house' designed by ELEMENTAL was essentially the core of a home, the half that the residents couldn't build on their own. The initial dwellings were double height, robust concrete block structures fitted out with the very basics - a kitchen, bathroom, some partition walls and an internal timber stair. Each of these box-like structures alternated with an empty space, of exactly the same size. In this vacancy the family could expand their own home, configuring the space however they desired.

对于ELEMENTAL来说，这是很重要的，这种住房的类型可以成为一个投资，而不是产生费用。不像其他的财产，社会住宅从建成的那一刻起就失去了它的价值，然而Quinta Monroy住宅从它完成时获得了巨大的价值。

For ELEMENTAL it was important that this housing typology could become an investment rather than an expense. Unlike almost all other property, social housing often loses it's value from the moment it is built, however Quinta Monroy has gained a huge amount of value since it's completion.

一般位于城市边缘的土地是便宜的，社会住宅区域典型的隔离区，充满社会冲突和不平等。选择安置的居民在现有的中心位置，Quinta Monroy的居民生活在城市网络中，不把它排除在外，能够获得工作，教育，公共交通和良好的卫生设施。在这个项目中，70%的预算是在土地上和30%在基础设施和建筑上，通常逆转是真实的。

Generally located within the fringes of cities, where land is cheap, social housing areas are typically sites of isolation, social conflict and inequality. Choosing to rehouse the residents in their existing central location, the inhabitants of Quinta Monroy live within the fabric of the city, not excluded from it, with access to work, education, public transport and good health facilities. In this project, 70% of the budget was spent on the land and 30% on infrastructure and building, where usually the inverse is true.

住宅的核心是宽敞和灵活的。每半个房子的设计，即使它是一个中等收入家庭的一部分，配有宽敞的房间和良好质量的（虽然是有限的）设施。每一间都有潜力成为一个富裕的家庭住宅。随着居民入住，他们可以享受宽敞的空间，按照自己的需求调整结构，自费和自己劳动来定制空间，添加色彩、纹理和生活感。通过这一过程，不仅房屋的面积和价值增长，而且居民的自豪感、所有权和归属感也会增长。宽敞的、可定制的住宅和理想的环境，使得每间住宅都在一年内增加了超过一倍的价值。对于有需要的家庭，这意味着一个适度的政府补贴可以真正摆脱贫困。

The housing cores were inbuilt with generosity and flexibility. Each half a house was designed as if it was a part of a middle income home, with spacious rooms and good quality (although limited) facilities. Each had the potential to become a generous family home. As the residents moved in, they could take these generous spaces and tailor the structure to their needs, customising their space at their own expense and labour, adding colour, texture and life. Through this process not only did the dwellings grow in size and value, but the residents developed a sense of pride, ownership and belonging to their homes. With generous, customisable homes and a desirable location,  each dwelling more than doubled it's value within the space of a year. For families in need, this means a modest government subsidy could then lead to a real turning point away from poverty.

在这个项目中，ELEMENTAL问我们如何能够通过设计，引导人们自己建造的能力？把非正式住区作为一个问题，他们已经找到了解决办法，这样做已经创建了一个独特的住房类型学，在拉丁美洲继续使用这种想法。

In this project, ELEMENTAL asks how can we, through design, channel people's own capacity for building? Rather than seeing informal settlements as the problem, they have looked to them for solutions, and in doing so have created a unique housing typology that they have continued to use throughout Latin America.
   
出处：本文译自www.arcspace.com/，转载请注明出处。