Context in the PAST and NOW
What is context? There are a lots of perspectives given on the definition of context.
Alexander used “context” as a synonym for “environment”
“Rogers’s concept on “context” was the absolute importance of the historical continuity manifested by the city and existing in the minds of its occupants.”
“Rowe was uninterested on the speculative understanding of the historical environment, he thought of the environment as formed by objects, “monuments,” Rowe was more interested in the relationships between objects and the spaces they occupied.”
“..‘context’ is a kind of collective confidence about the possibility of adding on.”
Above are the quotes defining the term “context”, excerpted from the article “context” by Adrian Forty.
Is context today more important, less importance, or the same importance as it was a century ago?
Context is becoming more important compared to it was a century ago.
Taking two prodigy architectures as examples, one from the late 20th century, another one from the 21st century. Both are skyward extrusion architecture, which rises more than a thousand feet above the ground. They are the Eiffel Tower, in Paris and the World Trade Centre by Daniel Libeskind.
They both symbolise something, Eiffel tower was built to celebrate the centennial of the French Revolution whereas Daniel Libeskind's striking design exuding emotion, power, and spirit is to commemorate the 9/11 attacks at ground zero.
To me, context in the past is more about power, nobility, monument and religion. Ancient architecture which best portrays this this context is the master plan of Acropolis, Athens. It is where the most noble building, the Parthenon, equipped with huge columns which symbolises power, is geographically located at the highest point of Acropolis.
That was architecture 3000 years ago, in the late 19th century, it is no longer about nobility or power itself, functionalism is now a factor that architects look into it. The monumental and high tower symbolises power, while functions like restaurants, radio tower and scientific laboratory are incoporated into Eiffel's design.
Christopher Alexander mentioned that the aim of the design, is not to meet the requirements in the best possible way, but to prevent misfit between the form and the context.
Eiffel tower, considered as a misfit in the 19th century, and was initially criticized by some of France's leading artists and intellectuals for its design and it was once facing the risk from being destructed, but it has become a global cultural icon of France and one of the most recognisable structures in the world. most-visited paid monument in the world; 6.91 million people ascended it in 2015.
I believe in this 21st century, the new surrounding buildings will take good advantage of the Eiffel tower as their important context and also as their marketing tricks.
"You can have a view from your room to the Eiffel tower"
"It's just a 10 minutes work to the ICONIC Eiffel tower"
The monstrous structure contrast with the context in the past, but it becomes others context today.
Comparing to Daniel Libeskind's World Trade Centre Masterplan in New York, much more aspects are taken into account and his architecture has also becomes more meaningful with the contexts been considered.
"..idealized forms can be adjusted to a context or used as ‘collage’ that contextualism seeks to explain," quoted by Thomas Schumacher.
As we know, Daniel Libeskind is a deconstructionism architect, the form might however looks bizarre or misfit to the surrounding, but the stories behind (his concepts which actually takes contexts into consideration) had persuaded us to accept his kind of architecture.
The twisting angular glass structure was chosen to coincide with the date of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. The spire on top of the building reached out on one side to mirror the Statue of Liberty's arm, a visual Libeskind remembers himself as he arrived in New York on boat from Poland as a child. (surrounding building context)
The plan also included five smaller skyscrapers surrounding the tower and a plaza called the "Wedge of Light" which would align with the sun on the anniversary of the attacks each year. (nature context-position of the sun)
The Memorial Museum, designed with underground galleries reveal the slurry wall that withstood the terrorist attack and will forever remain as a testament to the strength of America’s foundations. (historic context). The Transportation Hub is well under way and can be seen from all points in the site.
Comparing to Eiffel tower, contexts have becomes seemingly more important as contexts has becomes a guide to a persuasive and good piece of architecture.
However, we could still see architectures that disobey the context today such as Frank Ghery and Zaha Hadid's work. Some people is fond to this kind of architecture, as it is recognised as a extraordinary, but it is a distaste to some of us too, as it is known as a alien building to the site. To conclude, I think prodigy architecture could still becomes the aim of the architects, but contexts should not be taken for granted.
