Casa para Maria

Quito, Ecuador

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Edificio Matriz Cooperativa de Ahorro y Credito "16 de Julio"

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Refugio del Rio

Casa para Maria

Quito, Ecuador

Firm

Metriq Estudio

Type

Residential › Private House

STATUS

Built

YEAR

2021

SIZE

0 sqft - 1000 sqft

BUDGET

$0 - 10K

Casa Para María was conceived without a budget, in an adverse context, yet guided by a clear idea. Located in the working-class neighborhood of La Gatazo, in southern Quito, the project emerged in the post-pandemic context as a response to the situation of abandonment faced by an elderly woman whose home was on the verge of collapse. The project was conceived as an exercise in empathy, understood not only as design, but as action, self-management, and social commitment. Developed on a non-profit basis and while still in an academic stage, it became possible through the coordination of professionals, neighbors, institutions, and companies, demonstrating the active role architecture can play in vulnerable contexts.
The process began with minimal resources: a pre-existing foundation, donated materials, and volunteer labor. These conditions became the starting points that guided every design decision. Through a resource management campaign—including requests to companies, institutional support, and crowdfunding—approximately 90% of the required budget was raised. Material and financial donations not only made construction possible, but directly influenced the project’s spatial and constructive configuration.
The program and spatial layout were defined through an understanding of the user’s daily life, prioritizing her routines, needs, and capabilities. The house is organized into three interconnected blocks: sleeping, service areas, and a mixed space open to the exterior. Conceived as a dining patio, this space becomes the core of the project, blurring the boundary between interior and exterior while welcoming María, the sunlight that warms her, and the animals that accompany her daily life.
Interior comfort was a central premise. Concrete masonry blocks, entirely donated, became the main construction resource—not as a formal choice, but as a defining condition. Their thermal, structural, and spatial properties were explored, using them both as load-bearing walls and as permeable elements. The translucent roof allows controlled daylight and heat to enter, improving interior climatic conditions, while a block screen regulates ventilation, provides privacy, and reinforces security. In line with this logic of resource optimization, a ceiling was built, existing furniture was restored, and new pieces were fabricated using available materials, minimizing waste and reinforcing a circular economy approach.
Built over four months, Casa Para María transcends the domestic scale not through its capacity for replication, but through its response to a specific set of conditions. Rather than proposing a repeatable solution, the project understands architecture as a situated practice. María’s situation is not exceptional, but representative of a widespread and persistent issue in vulnerable contexts, often rendered invisible in a rapidly growing city. In this sense, the project calls for a renewed attention to these realities, reaffirming architecture’s capacity to transform spaces and lives, while also revealing its limits when structural conditions and necessary public policies remain beyond the scope of the discipline.