Mar del Plata, a coastal city that developed as a seasonal summer resort for the inhabitants of Buenos Aires in the 20th century, became mobbed with the construction of large European inspired apartment buildings and skyscrapers to meet the growing mass of tourists in the ‘60s. One could be forgiven for thinking they were in Biarritz or Costa del Sol if it were not for the strong maté tea culture and incredibly generous Argentinians. 

 

Mar del Plata’s universal architecture is represented as an infinite grid like that of Superstudio’s 1972 Supersurface, which makes fun of the possible outcomes of an unchecked modernist society. In this instance, the maté tea ritual itself is the player, appropriating the space while it is in circulation. The hosting space becomes an enclave from the homogenous world around it, suddenly vivid in detail and uniqueness. Like a campfire, the maté provides social warmth for sharing words, biscuits and laughter. However, arranged in the form of an hourglass, the maté cup and water flask remind us that the ritual is temporal like most forms of play.