Prefabrication experiments - 424 - ML(mat-building) - Fredenborg Houses

 

A proliferation of row-houses in multiple directions, the mat-building concept has been applied to low-rise, hi-density housing in varied types, scopes and scales; all share fundamental principles including compact rational plans, shared party walls, grid configurations, standardized constellations and common building methods. Some twentieth century prototypes also explored an ideal of adaptability or even expandability; modular arrangements could be composed in response to varying landscapes, evolving functional requirements determined by an entrenched systemic capacity to add units, organically breeding neighborhood fields.

 

System building, adaptability and modularity seem to go hand in hand, and their underlying approaches were posited by three generations of modernist architects from Walter Gropius’ expandable house system to Cedric Price’s steel houses and as seen in the last post, Steven Holl’s Dense Pack Dwellings. The creative association of building elements with harmonized volumes to achieve uniquely industrializable forms, at least in narrative, informed flexible carpets of territorial expanses. Their adaptability also pointed to enabling users to interact, design and construct their own environments. 

 

Danish architect Jørn Utzon, best known for the Sydeny Opera house, also explored affordable housing through modular, adaptable organizational systems. His proposal for the Expansiva Byg A/S building kit system was sold by local timber builders and marketed as flexible, adaptable and expandable. The modular components were standardized for repetitive detailing and for maximum user involvement in their assembly.  The basic post and beam structure with a shed roof was completed with panels for walls, roofs and normalized openings regulated for the overall modular scheme. Employed for Utzon’s Fredensborg Houses (1959–1963) described as flowers on the branch of a cherry tree, the archetype outlined a clustered planning of housing units surrounding collective courtyards accessible from public walkways inserted in the spaces between units all leading to a centralized public square. The link between modern grid principles and classical urban concepts were united to shape a field of dynamic dwelling spaces. Built as individualized patio houses anchored to site topography, each unit was placed according to ideal conditions for views, daylighting and shelter from prevailing winds. 

Expansive Byg A/S building system by Jørn Utzon