Rochester 64 Building

Architecture articulates the experiences of being-in-the-world and strengthens our sense of reality and self; it doesn't make us live in worlds of mere invention and fantasy (Juhani Pallasmaa).

In the center a bank. If you sit down, you can observe the patio with its trees and have a good time. You can also sit down for a coffee in the morning or talk to a neighbor. Behind is the staircase that takes you from bench to bench, each one in a corridor whose ends end with entrances to particular worlds. The rectangular patio can also be seen from the staircase, but blurred. Around it, the life of this apartment building develops.

Rochester 64 is an austere and simple project, in which we prioritize common spaces. Those elements that usually go unnoticed, such as corridors and stairs, became spaces for contemplation, in which somehow the boundaries of the house are extended to provide users with options within the daily life of the place. Consequently, the materials respond to the privacy required in each case, some being more translucent than others.

The understanding of the urban context allowed us to create a free ground floor that works as a transition between the complex and the city, between being outside or inside. In addition, we maintained the link with nature by impregnating the resulting voids with vegetation, to complement the idea of transitions as resting places.