Low-density social housing with concrete blocks: tradition and present features

Abstract

This paper aims to proof that the building system based on load-bearing concrete block walls is suitable and competitive for the construction of low-cost low-density housing. For this purpose, this paper will brief ly analyse the relevant cases built traditionally, which shaped the typolog y of attached housing, providing some selected criteria for the use of block systems. Afterwards, we will describe a solution developed by our team in recent years based on this study, applied in some of our projects of social housing built in Castilla-La Mancha.Our aim is to prove that low-cost housing solutions have to be based on rationalized construction systems, recovering the spirit that characterized many of the housing proposals of what has been called the Modern Movement.