THE LAW OF THE MININUM, A SHARED CHALLENGE

FROM KIEFHOEK TO THE POBLADO DIRIGIDO OF ENTREVÍAS

Abstract

The metric control, functional effectiveness and constructive precision of the poblado dirigido of Entrevías (Oíza, Sierra and de Alvear, 1956-59) show a skill that is neither improvised nor instinctive, but that is based on previous experience – both the architects’ own and others’. As a “manifesto of the minimum”, Entrevías is a key witness to the influence of the Existenzminimum on post-war Spanish architecture. With this as a starting point, the article proposes to reconstruct a hypothetical – but plausible – conversation about the challenge of the minimum between Oíza himself and the Dutch architect J.J. Pieter Oud, who thirty years earlier had designed the iconic working-class neighbourhood of Kiefhoek. The interest of this parallel analysis lies in delving into a relationship that has been mentioned many times before but has never been studied in depth. It is therefore a matter of drawing lines of continuity and rupture between two similar architectural challenges born from very different historical-cultural contexts, in order to, ultimately, shed a new light on that specific, cumulative and systematic body of research produced by Modern architecture around the minimum dwelling, which continues to be used as a fundamental reference for designing contemporary housing.