Aldo van Eyck: The Shape of Relativity

The Amsterdam Orphanage (1960), documented extensively in Strauven’s monograph, established the core idea of a mat building as a system of repeated rooms and courtyards arranged without a singular hierarchical center. The thesis describes the project as consisting of 336 modules organized on a 3.36-meter by 3.36-meter orthogonal grid, with smaller units for residential spaces and larger aggregations for communal areas. Each module is defined by four cylindrical concrete columns supporting a domed roof, creating a spatial experience that varies in height and quality across the field.

Van Eyck’s concept of “in-between” spaces — transitional zones that mediate between interior and exterior, individual and collective — shapes the building’s character. The thesis positions the Orphanage as the first in a lineage of mat-building precedents (alongside Correa’s Gandhi Ashram and Hertzberger’s schools) that provides the architectural foundation for the Lahaina Primary School design.