Contents list
10.1 The Central Telegraph Office was a very conformist place, down to the last moustache
My grandfather, who was 18 in 1900, worked for the Central Telegraph Office in the City of London (Figure 10.1). Though one of the most high-tech offices
in the world, it was a conformist place. As he used to say, coal was black and shirts were white. He dreamed of a brave new world in which not only the
rich could go university, in which young men could take off their jackets on hot afternoons, and girls could go to bed with the men they loved. The houses
in his street were all the same, with dark interiors and small paved yards. When Regent Street was rebuilt, between 1905 and 1930, he thought it wrong
that all the building owners were forced to conform with a neoclassical plan. Young architects of his generation also dreamed of a brave new world. They
wanted light interiors, functional exteriors and an end to the Victorian preoccupation with external style. By 1978, when my grandfather died, these dreams
had come about, yet he and most non-architects disliked the new architecture of the new age. It lacked character. It ignored context. It oppressed the
individual.
Designing buildings from the outside in, as the Victorians had done, produced consistent facades and drab interiors with parlours glaring across narrow
streets at other parlours. Designing buildings from the inside out, as the brave new functionalists did, produced bright interiors with incoherent facades.
Despite the rhetoric, external form had so little connection with internal function that, as Jencks relates of Mies van der Rohes work for the Illinois
Institute of Technology, a boiler house could be mistaken for a chapel and a chapel for a boiler house (Jencks, 1991). Many critics and designers now state
that architecture should relate to context, but we lack theory on how to establish satisfactory relationships. It is said that buildings should "fit in
with the character of their surroundings. This appeals to the public but is perplexing and rather depressing for those who toil at drawing-boards.
10.2 Contextual policies
Contents list
Fig 10.2 Roads, like other types of development, should respect their context. The cartoon shows a modern road insulting an Olde Inn
Where is this road? Texas
"What is the appropriate contextual relationship? This question should be asked of new buildings, roads, forests, parks, bridges, quarries and every other
type of development that will have a significant impact on environmental quality (Figure 2). Several positions can be adopted:
1. Context is irrelevant. As the man who built his house upon sand discovered, this approach lacks prudence.
2. Context matters functionally. This concerns the inward impact of contextual factors upon development. Relevant considerations will include ground stability,
humidity, rainfall, temperature, security and many others.
3. Context matters environmentally. This concerns the outward impacts of development upon context. They may be beneficial or harmful, and will include impacts
on air, water, soil, plants, animals and humans. Pollution is sometimes used as a collective term for these impacts.
4. Context matters aesthetically. This concerns both inward and outward visual relationships between development and context. The range of considerations
will include materials, colour, mass, line, pattern, shape and views. Sometimes, these are said to be private concerns rather than matters of public policy,
because "beauty lies in the eye of the beholder, or because individuals should be monarchs on their own land. But if one wants a visually coherent environment,
there must be principles upon which to act.
Traditionally, architects have worked in the style of their own times (Figure 10.3). Today, environmentalists urge planners and designers to respect context
and "minimize the impact of development projects on the environment. This plea appears reasonable but is muddled. When farmland is urbanized, moorland
afforested, or deserts reclaimed, the whole purpose of the exercise is to produce an impact on the environment. Minimizing that impact would be counter-productive.
You might argue that the world is overdeveloped and no further changes should be allowed, but this position will not command support so long as there are
poor people who need more food and living space. Do their demands make continued environmental despoliation inevitable?
The key points to remember are that the environment is not one thing, that conservation is not one thing, and that humanity does not have to make a single
choice between environment and development. With skill and with judgement, disparate aspects of the environment can be conserved and improved. Development
planners and designers must take a wide view of environmental characteristics and advise, topic by topic, upon proposed relationships between development
and context.
10.3 Similarity, Identity and Difference (SID)
Contents list
There are but four logical alternatives for the relationship between two entities:
Identity
Similarity
Difference
Coalition.
Fig 10.4 Possible contextual relationships between context and development
These are the only possibilities, with the term "coalition used to mean a combination (Figure 10.4). The four contextual relationships can apply to many
aspects of the environment, including functional and aesthetic matters. When an environmental impact assessment (EIA) is carried out, it should not be
assumed that Similarity is the objective. It is important to have a well-considered environmental impact design (EID), as a target for the relationship
between development and context. The EID should govern the scope of the EIA.
Context and Design: Identity
If a new house is built in a medieval village, it should not be a plastic cube. Likewise, if a gap appears in an old and well-loved facade, most of us would
want the replacement to have a relationship of Identity with its neighbours. This requires a detailed survey of brick types, mortar types, roof and window
details. This was the correct policy for rebuilding central Warsaw in the 1950s.
Context and Design: Similarity
If a new reservoir is to be constructed in an area of outstanding scenic beauty, it should be as Similar to a natural lake as possible. This is todays
view, and it is a justifiable policy. Nineteenth century practice shows that current policy is not the only alternative. Our predecessors aimed to make
drinking water reservoirs as Different as possible from their surroundings, and for good reason. This was before the age of water filtration and at a time
when medical science had proved waterborne bacteria to be a prime cause of infectious disease. When reservoirs were built, the central aim was to
10.5 Castellated dams were designed to stand out from their surroundings
make them functionally and visually Different from their surroundings. Dams were often castellated, to appear forbidding (Figure 5). Entire catchments were
planted with exotic species. All humans and all farm animals were excluded from the gathering grounds, from the water margins and from the water surface.
These policies gave consumers confidence in the purity of the product. One can appreciate their concerns. After 1947, British reservoirs came under the
influence of town and country planning legislation. This led to the employment of landscape architects on reservoir projects, and set the stage for environmental
impact assessments. The aim was to make the works look as Similar to natural scenery as possible: by using natural shapes, natural materials and native
plant species. Recreational use of the water was encouraged, as it would be on a natural lake. One can admire and respect these design objectives, removed
as they are from the Victorian need for purity.
Context and Design: Difference
If a decision is taken to make a new capital city for a South American country, there are several options. One could return to the pre-Hispanic South American
culture; one could build a traditional Hispanic town; one could adopt a wholly new style of architecture. Each policy requires a particular type of environmental
survey. Oscar Niemeyer and his clients adopted a policy of Difference for BrasÃlia. This avoided the political overtones of the alternatives and symbolized
the governments desire to found a modern nation on scientific and utopian principles ( Holston, 1989). One may respect their decision, though many observers
have disliked the results. Robert Hughes (1991) writes that it "was going to be the City of the Future -- the triumph of sunlight, reason, and the automobile.
But it turned out to be "an expensive and ugly testimony to the fact that, when men think in terms of abstract space rather than real place, they tend
to produce miles of jerry-built nowhere, infested with Volkswagens. One presumes that Hughes would have liked more Similarity with local contextual conditions.
Context and Design: Coalition
Sir Geoffrey Jellicoes plan for Hope Cement Works is a paradigm example of a Coalition project (Jellicoe, 1979). A policy of Difference was adopted for
the main bulk of the cement works. It was treated as a bold composition of abstract forms. A policy of Similarity was adopted for the serpentine mound
that surrounded the factory. A policy of Identity was adopted for the vegetation on the mound. A policy of concealment was adopted for the limestone quarry
on top of the hill and for the inevitable clutter that surrounds a manufacturing plant. It was a Coalition (Figure 6).
[FIG 10.6 ]
The above examples of Identity, Similarity, Difference and Coalition are mainly to do with visual character. "Environment, which means surroundings, is
a broader concept. A sophisticated contextual policy could lead to total identity with twenty aspects of the environment and total difference with twenty
other aspects. Designers should be asked to give an account of what decisions they have taken, and why. Let us consider some groups of environmental characteristics.
10.4 Climate and Context
Contents list
10.1 Icelandic house (photo courtesy Bjorn Axelsson)
10.8 Jidda street (photo courtesy T E Lawrence)
Had a nineteenth century explorer visited Iceland (Figure 7) and Arabia (Figure 8), he would have found settlement patterns that related to the local climates.
In Iceland, he would have found isolated low buildings with thick walls and sloping turf roofs. There was no advantage in placing buildings together and
there was considerable advantage in placing them in the midst of agricultural holdings. In Arabia he would have found high buildings with flat roofs packed
close together for defence against marauders and against the sun. A late twentieth century traveller visiting the same places would find astonishingly
little difference between the urban morphology of Iceland and Arabia. One cannot help regretting that architects and planners have paid so little attention
to Vitruvius advice, from Rome in the first century AD:
If our designs for private houses are to be correct, we must at the outset take note of the countries and climates in which they are built. One style of
house seems appropriate to build in Egypt, another in Spain, a different kind in Pontus, one still different in Rome, and so on with lands and countries
of other characteristics. This is because one part of the earth is directly under the suns course, another is far away from it, while another lies midway
between these two. (Vitruvius, 1914 edn)
Within countries too, there is great advantage in attending to the climatic context of development. Individual buildings should be sited to create desirable
climatic conditions in outdoor space, with varying degrees of shade, sun and shelter. When the building shown on the cover of this book was proposed, the
designers likened the space at its foot to Trafalgar Square. I predicted, correctly I am sorry to say, that its climate would be more like Cape Trafalgar,
where the sea battle took place (Turner, 1987b).
Climate and orientation were special concerns of Humphry Repton, the great landscape theorist (Repton, 1816). His interest was in the English lowlands,
but he considered the problem very carefully, declaring that "I consider the aspect as of infinitely more consequence to the comfort and convenience of
the inhabitant than any prospect whatever. By aspect he meant orientation. By prospect he meant views. The principle that Repton advocated was to orientate
the best rooms to the best aspects and the best views. This may seem obvious, but Repton remarked that in his long experience it is more difficult than
"all the rules which have ever been laid down in books by architects, or the remarks of all the admirers of rural scenery, with whom I have ever conversed.
Reptons advice on aspect was as follows:
Due north is "apt to be gloomy, because no sunshine ever cheers a room so placed.
Due east is "not much better, because there the sun only shines while we are in bed.
Due west is "intolerable, from the excess of sun dazzling the eye through the greatest part of the day.
Due south is "most desirable.
South east is "the best.
South west is "the worst of all possible aspects because "all blustering winds and driving rains come from the south-west.
North west "is far better than either due north or due west, because some sunshine may be preserved, when its beams are less potent... and the scene will
be illuminated by those catching lights so much studied by painters.
North east "is objectionable, during the cold winds of spring.
In discussing these principles, Repton explained that they should be modified according to local circumstance, topography, planting design and the habits
of the occupants. It would be wonderful if modern house builders had an interest in aspect and prospect, and were willing to adapt their designs according
to local climates. In the great majority of modern housing layouts, room orientation is fixed by a road layout, a standard house plan, or both. This decreases
the pleasure of living and increases the cost of indoor heating and cooling. As the sundials say, Sic transit gloria mundis.
10.5 Colour and Context
Contents list
Fig 10.9 Land can be zoned for Colour (A), Historic Character (B), Materials (C), Ecology (D), Hydrology (E), Culture and Ethnicity (F). This makes for
Plural Zoning (E), but each project team need only take account of the zones which affect their project (F).
Colour is a fundamental characteristic of the environment. Every site has a unique character, and every development decision will have a colour impact.
If designs are produced without regard to colour harmony, there will be a loss of regional character and a move towards a supermarket-style jumble of bright
competing colours. Mass-produced building materials accentuate the problem. As with other aspects of contextual policy, the objectives can be Identity,
Similarity or Difference. Michael Lancaster has written about these alternatives with regard to the colour of buildings ( Lancaster, 1984). He describes
them as follows:
Integration. The whole of a building complex can be integrated with its surroundings, by using colours and materials which have an affinity with their surroundings.
Distraction. Colour can be used to distract attention away from some part of a development.
Creative Expression. Colour can be used as a design element to attract attention.
As designers get work by becoming famous, there is a tendency for them to favour the Creative Expression policy on every occasion. From an environmental
impact point of view, this policy should be the exception. Where every building competes for attention, as a target, there can be no harmony and no order.
Lancaster proposes a number of questions that designers and planners should ask about colour, including the following:
Questions about the context:
What is the predominant colour of the area, and what are its constituents in terms of rocks, soils, vegetation, traditional buildings and other structures?
What is the quality of the light? Is the atmosphere polluted, damp, clear, changeable?
Would the context be spoilt or improved by the addition of a new focus?
What colours could appropriately be added?
Questions about the proposed development:
From where will the development be seen?
What materials, textures and colours are proposed, and what are the alternatives?
Do the proposed colours respond to any significant local or regional colour traditions?
Are the proposed colours fast, or will they develop a patina?
Samples of rock, earth, building materials
Judgements on the above matters can be assisted by colour measurements and other environmental surveys. Viewpoints can be plotted by intervisibility analysis.
Value, which is a measure of lightness or darkness, can be measured with the type of light meter used by cameras. Hue is a measure of intensity or saturation,
described as chroma in the Munsell system. It is measured by direct comparisons with colour cards. When an initial site inspection is made, it is very
good practice to collect samples of rock, earth, building materials and vegetation, for colour analysis and planning. It is desirable for planning authorities
to carry out general colour surveys and record the information in a geographical information system, as a strategic aspect of environmental assessment
(Figure 10.9a). This would enable the colour impact of development proposals to be checked and monitored.
10.6 Historic Character and Context
Contents list
Modernists, in the early twentieth century, suggested that traditional building styles were as obsolete as horse-drawn carriages. They designed modern buildings
to be Different from their predecessors but Similar to each other, in that they would all use similar materials and constructional principles. Modern cars
were also made to be Different from their predecessors but Similar to each other. Architecturally, the policy of Difference was a totalitarian approach
with a special appeal in totalitarian societies: "Stalinist continues to be used as the name for this style in the former Soviet empire.
The design of the
Poundbury
estate was commissioned by the Prince of Wales in 1988
Conservationists normally oppose the modernist line. They want old buildings to be protected and new buildings to have a relationship of Identity, or Great
Similarity, with their neighbours. In historic areas, their argument has gained increasing support since the 1960s. But what is a historic area? Every
part of the earths surface is as old as every other part. If one takes a small town surrounded by rural land, one could argue that new buildings in the
town should conform to the urban character while new buildings on the periphery should conform to the rural character. This makes new building styles unacceptable
everywhere, which is an unacceptable policy.
Recent authors have tried to reach a balance between the modernist and conservationist positions. Kenneth Frampton speaks of "critical regionalism (Frampton,
1985). Robert Hewison speaks of a new "critical culture (Hewison, 1987). Hewison has an equal dislike for "the heritage industry and for "the tacky stenography
of architectural postmodernism. "Critical, in this discussion, is used as a term of opposition to totalitarianism, be it doctrinaire modernism, doctrinaire
conservationism or tacky postmodernism. The usage derives from Karl Popper, who opposed the anti-critical stance of closed political systems, be they Platonic,
Nazi or Marxist. Popper distinguished between an open society, or critical society, which permits challenges to authority, and an uncritical society, which
relies on old laws and unquestioned obedience to political leaders (Popper, 1966). A critical approach to a historic design tradition involves learning
from the past without slavish obedience.
Alternatively, the modernist versus conservationist dilemma could be resolved by a zoning policy (Figure
10.9b).
For example:
1. The historic cores of old cities can be designated as Historic Heritage Areas. Within these zones, a strict policy of Identity with existing character
can be followed.
2. Development in zones of medium quality can be made similar-to or better-than the context.
3. Zones of indifferent quality, either urban or rural, can be designated as Development Zones within which a contemporary architectural character will
be encouraged.
Answer to question: *
Uzbekistan, Central Asia
In which country, or continent, is this building?
*answer
10.7 Context Zones
Contents list
The most comprehensive theory of context, in the West, was based on a zoning policy launched by three English squires in 1794 and known as the Picturesque.
This theory was described by Nicholas Pevsner as one of Englands major contributions to European culture (Pevsner, 1956). It derived from a century of
philosophical debate and artistic innovation. When writing about the theory, in 1986, I found it necessary to assume the role of technical editor for the
three squires. Richard Payne Knight, Uvedale Price and Humphry Repton were disputatious gentlemen and did not compile a collective account of their theory.
My editorial work was formulated as an opinion on how to plan a country estate. Having created a picturesque transition from foreground to background,
the three squires turned to architectural issues:
The principle of association which has helped us to plan the grounds should also be used to guide the design of your house. It should look like a building
which belongs to the age, country and place in which it will be built. The materials should be of a colour and texture which suit the style and the site
-- preferably a local stone. Since all the rooms and outbuildings should be planned to meet the needs of your family and servants, we think an irregular
floor plan is more convenient than strict symmetry.
The next task is to select an architectural style. We often think that an Italian style is best for a Claudian site, a Grecian style for a Poussinesque
site and an English style for a typically English site. It is also important for your house to look its part; it should not resemble a church, a university
or a temple. Since your estate is near the Welsh border and your house will be larger than a manor house but smaller than a palace, we think the English
castle style would be a very appropriate choice.
The picturesque theory established a logical basis for relating architecture to context, embracing such factors as climate, views, age, culture, colour,
texture, materials and style (see diagram, above). It was a very grand theory, but with two drawbacks. First, it lacked an urban counterpart: the Welsh
borderland had a particular and desirable character; Birmingham did not. Second, it was launched onto unpropitious waters: a rising tide of individualism
and romanticism. Architectural style had evolved before 1800, but there had normally been a favoured style at any given historical period. After 1800,
style became a matter of individual choice, like the colour of ones neckerchief. Wild eclecticism became the disorder of the day. Mordaunt Crook, writing
on style in architecture, mistakenly identifies the only theory that offered a way out as the cause of the problem: "It was the eighteenth-century philosophy
of the Picturesque which turned perplexity into dilemma by multiplying the range of stylistic options (Crook, 1987). Architects were perplexed by the
options.
10.8 Materials and Context
Contents list
In the Roman Empire, porphyry was transported everywhere from Egypt, for use in key positions on important buildings. Coloured marbles were brought from
afar. Most other building materials had to be local, for economic reasons. The results of using local materials are now seen as beautiful, charming and
historic. Guidebooks will
speak of a "stone district, a "brick district, a "timber chalet district and a "thatched cottage district (Figure 9c). Visitors flock to see them. Purchasers
bid up the prices of traditional buildings. Developers try to imitate old buildings by using traditional materials. Excepting such districts, modern towns
have an astonishing jumble of materials. The following account relates to a short section of Frederick Street, in Edinburghs New Town:
At street level new shop fronts obscure the original sandstone frontages... Martins Light Bite Restaurant and John Smiths Wools share a facing of cream-coloured
limestone full of crinoid, bivalve and bryozoan fragments. The facing on Millets is a brecciated serpentine marble, with dark reddish fragments in a pale
green matrix very similar to the marble known as Rosso Antico dItalie, which comes from Genoa. The next shop has a very light grey granite facing from
Baveno in the Piedmont district of northwest italy. The Stakis Steak House and the Anglia Building Society have a very dark green larvikite. (McAdam, 1986)
A curious feature of the above assemblage is that the designers of the various buildings probably did not even know what they were doing.
Choice of building materials could be left entirely to market forces, or it could be subject to zoning controls. Within a designated zone, design guidance
could relate to the use of materials for roofs, walls, paving, planting etc. If this is not thought acceptable, designers could be required to make a statement
of how the proposed building materials relate to those in the surrounding area.
10.9 Ecology and Context
Contents list
Until the advent of modern times, a State of Nature was conceived, in Hobbes famous words, as "a condition of war of everyone against everyone. Individuals
fought for food, land and sexual partners. As society developed, social relations came to be governed by ethical principles, typified by the Golden Rule:
"Do as you would be done by. Modern human societies have steadily expanded the scope of ethics. In Ancient Greece, slaves could be treated like farm animals:
When the God-like Odysseus returned from the wars in Troy, he hanged all on one rope a dozen slave-girls of his household whom he suspected of misbehaviour
during his absence. (Leopold, 1970)
They were his property, to be disposed of as he wished. Until the mid-twentieth century, the progress of civilization had been marked by the taming of nature.
The above quotation comes from a forester, Aldo Leopold, who argued that just as ethical principles were extended to women and slaves, the time had come
for ethics to be extended to plants and animals. The principle became known as the Land Ethic, on the ground that land is no longer a type of property
that can be maltreated at will. Proponents hold that we have no more right to kill songbirds than we do slaves; no more right to destroy wildlife habitats
than we do nations. Carried to an extreme, this principle would prevent agriculture, gardening and human life. In moderation, it commands ever-wider support.
In areas of natural or semi-natural habitat, application of the Land Ethic is straightforward: new plant communities should be similar or identical to pre-development
habitats. This applies, for example, when a new road is built through the mountains. Road embankments are made to resemble existing slopes; road verges,
which used to be mown like private gardens, are now managed like wildlife habitats.
In agricultural areas, a policy of similarity or identity is less applicable. If a road embankment is to be made where the pre-development condition was
a potato field, there are two choices. New embankments could be treated as potato fields; or they could be returned to a pre-agricultural condition. The
latter policy would be implemented by leaving the land bare of vegetable soil. In time, the subsoil would become colonized and a new habitat would develop
without human intervention. This would result in a road verge that is entirely different from its present surroundings, though similar to its "uncivilized
condition.
In urban areas, the contextual problem takes another form. Staying with the above example, there are many places where new roads with vegetated embankments
have been driven through existing towns. As the old habitat was garden, Similarity and Identity policies, which are so obviously right in the mountains,
would lead to embankments being treated as garden space. This is often done, but the policy is increasingly unpopular. Town dwellers feel isolated from
nature and yearn for contact with the wild flowers and animals that they see on TV programmes and read about in nature books. To satisfy this desire, and
to comply with the Land Ethic, a good case can be made for a large-scale habitat re-creation policy in towns. Information on pre-urbanization habitats
can be obtained from several sources: pollen analysis; study of
vestigial habitats; historical records; analysis of soil and water conditions; comparisons with similar environments outside towns. This information makes
possible the production of Habitat Potential Maps, which can show, for example: heathland, oak--birch wood; acid grass, marsh (Figure 9d). When a new road
is pushed through the town, or new public open space is created, landscape architects can consult these maps and set about re-creating pre-urban habitat
conditions.
10.11 Culture, Ethnicity and Context
Contents list
A huge communications revolution has taken place, since Knight, Price and Repton published their theory of contextual zoning in 1793. It has affected relationships
within countries and between countries. Ships, trains, cars, planes, cables and airwaves reverberate with people, goods, energy and information. Great
changes in city form have resulted, and have made cities rather similar the world over. Airports and four-lane roads, like lavatory seats, hardly need
to differ between countries. Buildings have also become similar, because architects adopted international styles and controlled interior climates.
Chinatown, New York
The communications revolution has also allowed peoples to move round the world. First, a great flood of Europeans colonized what were seen, disrespectfully,
as primitive countries. Second, a reverse trend began. There are Chinatowns in London and New York. There is a Turkish sector in Antwerp and a Bangla Deshi
sector in London. Los Angeles has so many ethnic sectors that Charles Jencks describes it as Heteropolis (Jencks, 1993). He believes it to have over 100
ethnic groups and more animal diversity than any other city. All this presents planners with a dilemma.
Cultural zones in Los Angeles
If an old Norwegian town comes to have a predominantly Asian population, what should happen to its character? The logic of the conservation movement suggests
that "historic character should be conserved. Traditional building materials, street patterns, architectural and planting styles should be retained. But
ethnic minority groups have every right to be suspicious. "Conservation could be a guise for cultural repression. Conservationists could be yet another
cultural group seeking to manipulate language as a means to power. Setting aside zones for a Chinatown, a Turkeytown, an Indiatown, and a Koreatown would
impose another type of uniformity. But an unplanned free-for-all could be worse, with cities losing all coherence, individuality and regional distinctiveness.
The answer, I believe, lies with a sensitive and thoughtful approach to contextual policy (Figure 9f).
10.12 Context and Planning
Contents list
Human communities can mix like the species in a natural community. On a rocky shore, one finds groups of barnacles, mussels and whelks. Sometimes one species
will dominate, as barnacles do in the area exposed at low tide. But in nature this is hardly ever to the exclusion of other species. There are always zones
of transition, and a singular zoning policy (Figure 10.10) would be absurd. In landscape ecology, the most typical pattern is of patches and corridors.
A patch will be a mix of plant and animal species that have learned to live together, with many symbiotic relationships. Corridors tend to be transition
zones. It is a good model for contextual planning, as shown by the "patch diagrams in (Figure 9a-f). Overlaid, the plural assemblage of zones may be confusing
(Figure 9g). But each project team need only fix their eyes on the zones within which the project falls (Figure 9g).
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