Unités & Hybrids (1963-74). Three Basque exercises on linear residential blocks

Abstract

The final result of an architectural experiment, especially in terms of public collective housing, not only responds to the will and creativity of the architects, and to the adoption of canonic models, but it also depends on the specific circumstances of the place where the housing was built. This work examines three residential blocks, built along the Basque coast, which reflect the influence of the main discourses related to linear residential blocks that prevailed in Western Europe in the 60s of the twentieth century. The three cases show the way in which architects, agents and local administrations tried to apply the architectural type in a certain place, and under specific economic and sociopolitical conditions. The article provides an innovative vision, as the authors decided to adopt a geographical framework that transcends the political framework of the time, considering the entire Basque area, where the different architectural discourses were deposited. The original projects of the three case studies have been consulted, as well as general and specific literature relating to each case. Further, a series of interviews were held with the architects responsible for two of the cases. From studying all the publicity around linear blocks carried out between the early 60s and the oil crisis (1974), the authors have obtained the sequence of influences under which these projects were developed.