HANGHAR challenges rigid rules in home design
The architecture studio redefines traditional housing concepts with flexible spaces.
1Challenging conventional housing concepts
Madrid-based studio HANGHAR opposes the traditional approach that imposes room names and fixed functions in home design. Founder Eduardo Mediero argues that real estate language prioritizes programmatic labels over spatial quality. In the 85-square-meter Ronda House project, the studio removed hierarchy between rooms, creating asymmetric spaces connected by central openings. This approach aims to increase residents' freedom of decision-making through architecture.
2Experiments with program-free spaces
In the 65-square-meter Lara House, HANGHAR designed four visually connected rooms without predefined functions. Large central openings provide continuity while only the fireplace and kitchen are fixed for specific uses. Instead of movable partitions, the architecture is deliberately made less prescriptive. Spaces maintain unique dimensions and atmospheres but remain open to changing functions over time.
3Reinterpreting the corridor
The 130-square-meter Casa Gracia project features two symmetrical living areas composed of hexagonal rooms and interlocking antechambers. Mediero notes they're fighting not against corridors themselves but against their perception as 'residual space.' In this project, corridors gain functions as storage, thresholds, or extensions of other spaces. This approach questions the rigid functional divisions of traditional floor plans.
4A deep green sanctuary
In the 2024 Studiolo project, the studio emptied a 1970s apartment and placed a compact deep-green cabinet-room at its center. Inspired by private studiolos of Renaissance Italy, this element serves as storage while providing an intense retreat space. According to Mediero, privacy isn't binary (private/public) but gradational. Distance, scale, light, and materials can provide isolation as effectively as closed doors.
5Industrial production, local interpretation
Completed in 2025 in Gijón, Casa Guadalupe extends HANGHAR's research into the construction process. The 120-square-meter house was fabricated off-site with a lightweight steel structure and assembled on its Asturian plot within 48 hours. Forms inspired by local typologies like agricultural sheds and casa mariñana use industrial production not as a one-size-fits-all template but as a framework responsive to topography and climate.
6A decade-long architectural experiment
HANGHAR was founded as a ten-year architectural practice set to conclude operations in 2030. Mediero says this finite lifespan creates urgency to test specific ideas and push them as far as possible. From Ronda House to Casa Guadalupe, the studio keeps asking: Which elements of domestic architecture are truly necessary, and which only seem inevitable because we've stopped questioning them?
7Spatial evolution over time
HANGHAR's projects enable spaces to remain open to different uses over time. The absence of fixed functions allows daily routines to evolve. For Mediero, a home should function as an adaptable spatial framework that serves as life's backdrop. This approach makes architecture less prescriptive and more open-ended, encouraging residents to develop dynamic relationships with space.
8A new paradigm in housing design
HANGHAR's work represents a fundamental mindset shift in residential design. Instead of rigid hierarchies imposed by traditional floor plans, it proposes flexible spatial frameworks responsive to changing lifestyles. This approach brings back fundamental architectural elements like natural light, cross ventilation, proportion, and spatial quality. The studio investigates how architecture can accompany life rather than dictate how to live.