Quinta Monroy housing complex

Architecture: Elemental - Alejandro Aravena, Andrés Iacobelli, Alfonso Montero, Tomas Cortese, Emilio de la Cerda

Location: Iquique, Chile

Surface area: 3,620 square meters (93 houses)

Density: 162.5 houses/ha

Original floor area: ground floor 36 sq.m, 1st 1-2 floor 25 sq.m

Extended area: ground floor 70 sq.m, 1-2 floors 72 sq.m

Budget: 7.500 USD

Design and construction phase: 2003-2004

The challenge of our first project was to accommodate 100 families using subsidies of $7,500 per house, which in the best case allowed for a built area of 36 square meters on a 5,000 square meter site, three times the budget of social housing. None of the solutions available on the market solved the equation. So we came up with a typology that would allow the building to make efficient use of the land and the house, and eventually expand. After one year, each property was worth more than $20,000. However, all the families preferred not to sell and to continue to improve their properties.