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Dismantling and refraining programme and composition, mat-building envisaged architecture as a dynamic, flexible armature
We owe the term mat-building to Alison Smithson. Her article 'How to Recognise and Read Mat-Building. Mainstream Architecture as it has Developed Towards the Mat-Building' in Architectural Design of September 1974 included a definition of this type of building and an extensive list of works and projects from the 1950s to the '70s related to it. Several studies have recently revived the interest in this topic.1 As in the case of the buildings themselves, the appeal of re-reading Smithson's article lies in its open and flexible theoretical framing.
Smithson reviewed the items discussed at Team 10 meetings, pointing out that mat-buildings were not dependent on a specific architectural language, and identifying certain contemporary works as offshoots of this phenomenon. 'Mainstream mat-building became visible, however, with the completion of the Berlin Free University', she said - but what are the characteristic features of a mat-building? We aim to answer this question by analysing five case studies: four projects mentioned by Alison Smithson and another in our own locale of Valencia. Our research, which gave rise to an exhibition, explains and provides clear examples of the main mat-building strategies. The basic hypothesis focused on three compositional principles: metrics, programme and place.
To understand those decades of the last century, some context is needed. The link between Team 10's ideas and French structuralism had already been analysed, demonstrating the belief of that generation of architects in the new social sciences, the application of relational thinking to the programme, and the legacy of linguistics to be seen in the re-organisation of architectonic and urban concepts.'2 Examples include the revised concept of association, the concern for cultural identity, and the understanding of urban life as a function of the relationships among its inhabitants.
It is no coincidence that this happened at a time of social and economic growth. After recovering from the Second World War, the countries of central Europe aimed for a welfare state requiring new programmes for a growing middle class. Large housing estates, tourist facilities, universities and administrative centres were often commissioned with short lead-times and governed by notions of flexibility and growth. They all allude to Opera aperta (The Open Work)...