Rarely has there been a starker contrast between an architecture of expressive form and one of detailed effect. Working with almost identical programs and with extremely restricted budgets, two very different architects have produced very different low-income housing projects on the edges of Madrid. One, by the Dutch firm MVRDV, literally stands the whole idea of housing as it is practiced there on its head to dramatic effect. The second, by London-based David Chipperfield Architects, refines and abstracts the familiar forms of courtyard blocks into something monumental and crafted to surprise with subtle effects. Architecture today in many ways comes down to a choice between these two designs—or a belief that both are valid approaches that hold each other in tension.
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