Urbanisation Ecology

1923 saw the creation in Barakaldo (Vizcaya) of la Sociedad de Casas Baratas La Tribu Moderna (Cheap Housing Society, the Modern Tribe). At first it consisted of 50 members of a cooperative, mostly workers at the blast furnaces of Vizcaya, and they built fifty houses. Building finished in 1925 and followed Ismael Gorostiza’s project. The 50 houses are joined in lines of four set perpendicular to the railway line of the Compañía Minera Franco Belga. A parallel alignment was ruled out to avoid direct buffeting by the prevailing winds. The total constructed area is around 35% of the land. The slag and steel dust from the blast furnaces were used for the foundations, as these were cheaper and waterproof materials. They had to pay 98,320 pesetas each and they spent 51,238 hours working on the building.

Beatriz Díaz, environmental biologist and freelance researcher