ASSEMBLING

USES, USERS AND

SPACES
WHY ARE WE STUCK TOGETHER?

SAVING SPACES
OPTIMIZING RESOURCES
HELPING EACH OTHER
[THE PHALANSTERY, C.
FOURIER, XIX CENT.]
IS IT ONLY A MATTER OF OPTIMIZATION AND DENSITY?

WE WANT VARIETY
WE NEED OUR OWN SPACE
WE MOVE THROUGH THINGS
REPETITION OF A MODEL

EACH BUILDING CONTAINS

THE WORLD
RESHAPING URBAN BLOCKS (A SHORT HISTORY)

IN: IN: IN:

street continuity street continuity park development
private courtyard collective courtyard
OUT: OUT:
private courtyard street continuity
TERRACE HOUSE/ COMMON USE OF DISTRIBUTION

BYKER WALL, NEWCASTLE

INTERNAL CORRIDOR/ LINEAR REPETITION OF SLABS

RUSKIN PARK HOUSE,

LONDON
CENTRAL CORE/ AGGREGATION OF DIFFERENT UNITS

NOVETREDICI RESIDENTIAL
COMPLEX, MILAN
SIDE-BY-SIDE/ VARIATION AND REPETITION

VILLAGGIO MATTEOTTI,
TERNI
POINTS/ LINES

KOWA PUBLIC APARTMENT

COMPLEX, MIHAMA (JAPAN)
AGGLOMERATION OF USES

DEFINES COMMUNITIES
STANDS FOR ADAPTATION
(AND ADAPTABILITY)
DECLARES MIX/FRICTION
ENHANCES THE
UNEXPECTED
USING GOOD
REFERENCES
ALISON AND PETER SMITHSON

in three sentences:
“street in the sky”

“‘as found’ aesthetics”

“Mat-building can be said to

epitomise the anonymous
collective; where the functions
come to enrich the fabric, and the
individual gains new freedoms of
action through a new and shuffled
order, based on interconnection,
close-knit patterns of association,
and possibilities for growth,
diminution, and change.”
where? Candilis, Josic, Woods and Schiedhelm: Free University, Berlin 1963

[Candilis, Josic, Woods and

Schiedhelm: Free University,
Berlin 1963]
THREE PRINCIPLES OF MAT
BUILDINGS:

Metrics (general order and

specific characteristics)

Programme (relations enrich

the fabric)

Place (dialogue with the city)

ROTTERDAM | MARKTHAL

where:
rotterdam
when:
2014
what (in the past):
infrastructure in the historic city
programme (today):
market+apartments+...
size:
120 meters long, 70 meters wide
and 40 meters tall
land ownership:
public/ leased
developer:
City of Rotterdam
designer:
MVRDV
web reference:
https://www.archdaily.com/553933/
markthal-rotterdam-mvrdv
HOW TO COEXIST?
MORYAMA HOUSE | TOKYO

where:
tokyo (jp)
when:
2002-2005
what (in the past):
residential neighbourhood
programme (today):
residential neighbourhood
size:
7 units/290 m2
land ownership:
private
developer:
Mr Moryama
designer:
Ryue Nishizawa
web reference:
https://www.area-arch.it/en/tokyo-se
llinhabit-moriyama-house/
REFERENCES

Joost Grootens et al. 2018. Atlas of the Copenhagens.

Claus Bech-Danielsen, Mette Mechlenborg, Marie Stender.

Welcome Home. Trends in Danish Housing Architecture.

Multiple authors. Together! The New Architecture of the

Collective.

Alison Smithson (1974) “How to recognize and read

Mat-Building”, AD, 9: 573–590

A+T. WHY DENSITY? Debunking the myth of the cubic

watermelon.

http://densityatlas.org