Contextual architecture, also known as Contextualism is a philosophical approach in

architectural theory Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing buildings o ...

that refers to the designing of a structure in response to the literal and abstract characteristics of the environment in which it is built. Contextual architecture contrasts

modernist architecture Modern architecture, or modernist architecture, was an architectural movement or architectural style based upon new and innovative technologies of construction, particularly the use of glass, steel, and reinforced concrete; the idea that form ...

, which value the imposition of their own characteristics and values upon the

built environment The term built environment refers to human-made conditions and is often used in architecture, landscape architecture, urban planning, public health, sociology, and anthropology, among others. These curated spaces provide the setting for human ...

. Contextual architecture is usually divided into three categories:

vernacular architecture Vernacular architecture is building done outside any academic tradition, and without professional guidance. This category encompasses a wide range and variety of building types, with differing methods of construction, from around the world, bo ...

, regional architecture, and

critical regionalism Critical regionalism is an approach to architecture that strives to counter the placelessness and lack of identity of the International Style, but also rejects the whimsical individualism and ornamentation of Postmodern architecture. The stylings ...

all of which also inform the

complementary architecture Complementary architecture is a movement in contemporary architecture promoting architectural practice rooted in comprehensive understanding of context, aiming to contribute to the environment in such a way as to continue and improve or emphasise ...

movement.

Etymology

The term ''contextualism'' is derived from the Latin , meaning to weave together or to join. The term was first applied to the arts and architecture by the aesthetician and philosopher

Stephen C. Pepper Stephen C. Pepper (April 29, 1891 – May 1, 1972) was an American pragmatism philosopher, the Mills Professor of Philosophy at the University of California at Berkeley. He may be best known for World Hypotheses: A Study in Evidence (1942) but wa ...

in the 1960s, who originally coined the word as applied to philosophy.

History

The essential ideas of Contextualism in architecture long preceded the term's coinage. The Roman notion of ''

genius loci In classical Roman religion, a ''genius loci'' (plural ''genii locorum'') was the protective spirit of a place. It was often depicted in religious iconography as a figure holding attributes such as a cornucopia, patera (libation bowl) or snake ...

'',

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass id ...

decorum Decorum (from the Latin: "right, proper") was a principle of classical rhetoric, poetry and theatrical theory concerning the fitness or otherwise of a style to a theatrical subject. The concept of ''decorum'' is also applied to prescribed limit ...

, and Beaux Arts tirer parti mirror modern definitions of contextualism. The 1920s development of

Gestalt psychology Gestalt-psychology, gestaltism, or configurationism is a school of psychology that emerged in the early twentieth century in Austria and Germany as a theory of perception that was a rejection of basic principles of Wilhelm Wundt's and Edward ...

, which investigated the ways in which independent parts could be combined to make a cohesive result, provided the intellectual foundation for the philosophy. Contextualism as applied to architecture was first championed in the 1960s by architect

Colin Rowe Colin Rowe (27 March 1920 – 5 November 1999), was a British-born, American-naturalised architectural historian, critic, theoretician, and teacher; he is acknowledged to have been a major theoretical and critical influence, in the second h ...

as a reaction to modernist architecture, which valued universality and the projection of utopian ideals onto sites. Pushing back against the perceived failure of modernist buildings to adapt cohesively with their environments – in particular with cities' historic buildings, Rowe advocated for architecture that was designed with a focus on existing in continuity with the surrounding features of the built and natural environments. Rowe notably advocated for the use of figure-ground diagrams as a method of understanding the existing features surrounding a site's surrounding environment. Contextualist philosophy experienced a revival later in the 20th century with the advent of the

New Urbanism New Urbanism is an urban design movement which promotes environmentally friendly habits by creating walkable neighbourhoods containing a wide range of housing and job types. It arose in the United States in the early 1980s, and has gradually in ...

movement, which stressed "context-appropriate architecture" in urban design, particularly in the context of

environmentalism Environmentalism or environmental rights is a broad Philosophy of life, philosophy, ideology, and social movement regarding concerns for environmental protection and improvement of the health of the environment (biophysical), environment, par ...

Criticism

Contextualism, particularly in the decades following the 1980s, has faced criticism for its association with postmodernism and perceived conformism. Architectural pragmatist

Rem Koolhaas Remment Lucas Koolhaas (; born 17 November 1944) is a Dutch architect, architectural theorist, urbanist and Professor in Practice of Architecture and Urban Design at the Graduate School of Design at Harvard University. He is often cited as a r ...

' assertion "fuck context" served as an infamous rallying cry against contextualism. In 1988, while curating an exhibition on

Deconstructivism Deconstructivism is a movement of postmodern architecture which appeared in the 1980s. It gives the impression of the fragmentation of the constructed building, commonly characterised by an absence of obvious harmony, continuity, or symmetry. ...

MoMA Moma may refer to: People * Moma Clarke (1869–1958), British journalist * Moma Marković (1912–1992), Serbian politician * Momčilo Rajin (born 1954), Serbian art and music critic, theorist and historian, artist and publisher Places ; ...

, architects

Philip Johnson Philip Cortelyou Johnson (July 8, 1906 – January 25, 2005) was an American architect best known for his works of modern and postmodern architecture. Among his best-known designs are his modernist Glass House in New Canaan, Connecticut; the p ...

and

Mark Wigley Mark Antony Wigley (born 1956) is a New Zealand-born architect and author based in the United States. From 2004 to 2014, he was the Dean of Columbia University's Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation. Career Wigley receiv ...

denounced the philosophy, stating "contextualism has been used as an excuse for mediocrity, for a dumb servility to the familiar."

Notable examples

* Olympic Archery Range,

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ...

, Carme Pinós and

Enric Miralles Enric Miralles Moya (12 February 1955 – 3 July 2000) was a Spanish architect from Barcelona. He graduated from the Barcelona School of Architecture (ETSAB) at the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC) in 1978. After establishing ...

(1992) * Water (Honpuku) Temple, Awaji, (Japanese: **E1-. *ME),

Tadao Ando is a Japanese autodidact architect whose approach to architecture and landscape was categorized by architectural historian Francesco Dal Co as " critical regionalism". He is the winner of the 1995 Pritzker Prize. Early life Ando was born a fe ...

(1991) *

City Gate (Valletta) City Gate ( mt, Bieb il-Belt, literally "Door of the City") is a gate located at the entrance of Valletta, Malta. The present gate, which is the fifth one to have stood on the site, was built between 2011 and 2014 to designs of the Italian arch ...

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

Renzo Piano Renzo Piano (; born 14 September 1937) is an Italian architect. His notable buildings include the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris (with Richard Rogers, 1977), The Shard in London (2012), the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City ...

(2015) * Kingo Houses,

Helsingør Helsingør ( , ; sv, Helsingör), classically known in English as Elsinore ( ), is a city in eastern Denmark. Helsingør Municipality had a population of 62,686 on 1 January 2018. Helsingør and Helsingborg in Sweden together form the northe ...

Jørn Utzon Jørn Oberg Utzon, , Hon. FAIA (; 9 April 191829 November 2008) was a Danish architect. He was most notable for designing the Sydney Opera House in Australia, completed in 1973. When it was declared a World Heritage Site on 28 June 2007, Utzon ...

(1958)

References

{{Reflist Architectural theory