Soacha concentrates a large share of the social-housing demand of the southern Bogotá savanna. Designing there takes more than stacking units: it takes building city. That was the starting point of Maiporé, the macro-project in which 57Uno Arquitectura developed the urban design and the housing of one of its blocks with Colsubsidio.
Maiporé sits on the southern edge of the savanna, on sloping ground with the dry hills always in view. The design premise is summed up in its subtitle: social housing where public space comes first. Before the buildings, the tree-lined walks, the outdoor recreation spaces and the relationships between public and private were laid out.
The block develops between 380 and 480 VIS and VIP apartments in compact unit types (38–46 m²), organised in blocks that combine products for different household profiles. The passive sustainability measures —natural ventilation, thermal comfort and daylight— were verified with simulations, and the complex incorporates rainwater reuse and a waste-management plan with a pilot block for plastics recycling.
The Soacha experience is part of the studio’s wider social-housing practice in Colombia: El Porvenir in Bosa (120 priority-interest apartments with the Caja de Vivienda Popular), Bosques de Ponderosa in Tunja (396 VIS apartments with CER Constructora) and projects in Pereira, Cali and Villeta. The conviction is the same in all of them: affordable housing deserves the same design rigour as any other commission.