book
How to Recognise and Read Mat-Building
Smithson, Alison
Architectural Design, 1974
housing precedent
housing Theoretical framework for mat-building typology; the organizational logic behind the school and housing module system
Smithson’s seminal essay defines the mat typology that the thesis draws on extensively for the primary school design. The mat typology is defined by a horizontal field of modular units that combine to create a continuous, adaptive ground plane. The thesis traces this typology through a lineage from the Amsterdam Orphanage (van Eyck, 1960) through the Gandhi Ashram (Correa, 1963) and Hertzberger’s schools (1970s-80s) to the Lahaina Primary School, extracting historical rules including aggregation rather than monumentality, environmental responsiveness, distributed program, ground plane as primary organizer, and incrementalism and modularity.