Pasodoble / NOMOS Architects

Architects: NOMOS Architects
Area: 6,133 m²
Year: 2020
Photography: Paola Corsini
Team Project: Lucas Camponovo, Katrien Vertenten, Massimo Bianco, Maxime Poirier, Mariko Tsunooka, Marta Mato, Jean-Luc Chênes, Sébastien Correard, Paul Galindo, Ophélie Herranz
Program / Use / Function: 32 apartments collective and social housing, 33 units for mentally challenged people (SGIPA), commercial spaces, center for physical training and rehabilitation.
City: Geneva
Country: Switzerland

Pasodoble, a social housing project by NOMOS Architects in Geneva, Switzerland, provides living spaces for individuals with mental disabilities, students, and local residents. Completed in 2021, the design draws inspiration from the rhythm of the pasodoble dance, with green and white ceramic tiles adding a lively aesthetic, aiding orientation, and creating a visual departure from standard clinical housing designs.

The Pasodoble project’s combination of residential, commercial, and rehabilitation spaces serves a diverse community. The arched portico connects these areas structurally and visually, forming a cohesive foundation for the building. This unified design reflects a commitment to accessibility and inclusivity, bringing together various functions to support both community living and social integration within a single, connected space.

The design is composed of two distinct volumes that accommodate varied functions, connected by a sequence of slightly offset patios. Together, they reconcile the dual site alignments and center around a grand cedar tree, creating a spatial and visual dynamic that reflects the pasodoble dance, which inspires the building’s architectural theme and fosters collective enjoyment.

The SGIPA communal residence and student apartments follow a linear cluster layout, while the remaining apartments are organized as cross types. All living spaces surround the courtyard, with individual rooms facing outward.

This binary rhythm is reinforced by green and white ceramic tiles, handcrafted in Vietri sul Mare, Italy. These tiles mirror each other’s qualities, adding beauty and orientation, in contrast to the typically somber aesthetics of social and clinical housing.