Torre Huerta

MVRDV, Co-Arquitecto: MGAARQTOS

The “Huerta” (agricultural smallholdings) of Valencia is in the process of receding and disappearing. What used to be a unique environment and agricultural oasis in the middle of the urban maelstrom is doomed to disappear in the face of a growing metropolitan Valencia.

The master plan for the La Torre sector attempts to combine the inevitable real estate interests with the existence of the “Huerta”. The “Huerta” is integrated with the building, maintaining large green and agricultural areas for the inhabitants, and densifying the sector’s buildable area in residential towers.

However, we believe that it is possible to go further. Despite the virtues of the master plan, there are areas of “huerta” that are being lost. Therefore, we wonder how we could help to recover the benefits of the “huerta” even inside urban buildings, thus helping to reduce heat islands and improve air quality in cities. The following questions were considered: Is it possible to create the concept of a vertical “huerta” where each house, like each plot, has its own agricultural space? Could houses have mini urban “huertas” that recover the idea of these unique Valencian environments? Is there a possibility for private residential apartments in a building to collaborate in enhancing public urban quality?

The proposal presents a solution to prolong the idea of the “huerta” inside the building through resident’s support: an outdoor space, an extension of the living area for each dwelling, formalised in a large balcony for the urban vegetable gardens.

Torrehuerta encourages contact between its inhabitants and the natural element, despite its high-rise building structure. This relationship is no longer exclusive to communal areas and rooftops, to parks between buildings or to public facilities. Now, the domestic scale of the residence also has the opportunity to engage with the natural environment through the urban “huerta” balconies.

The tree species are classified according to the orientation of the façades, wind conditions and the type of balcony-garden, which varies according to the different categories of dwellings. The introduction of domestic vegetable gardens in the building, in addition to their social benefits, helps to restore biodiversity and improves the solar and climate control of the properties, as the thermal inertia of the water present in the plants and of the cultivated soil itself means that the garden absorbs heat, reducing temperature fluctuations and improving air quality.

With this building and social project, we propose an involution of the “huerta”. We propose a positive step backwards to recover the dialogue with the natural environment from a vertical perspective.


Name:

Torre Huerta


Typology:

Collective residential


Location:

Bario la Torre, Valencia


Year:

2006


Surface area:

12610 m2


Promotor:

IVVSA (2005-2007) y Cooperativa “La Dolçaina”.


Architects:

MVRDV


CO-Architects:

Studio MGAARQTOS


Builder:

Fomento de Construcciones y Contratas, S.A