Architecture for me is a dream in the reality, it creates a story, and that’s our daily lives. Context is important in
architecture today because it gives building a identity, of where and who the building lives with. Any site, locationor a place includes number of natural features, that characterize it and create the context of this place. In
architectural design, all these features should be determined, analyzed as well as considered in the design
process in order to integrate the building into its context. The context of a building includes the physical/natural
factors, and sociocultural factors, ecomical, political and historical context. In an architectural sense, context canbe perceived as the unified whole that gives meaning to the various parts of the building. However, contextual
architecture, or Contexualism, can be defined as the architecture that responds to the specific physical
characteristics of its site.
LECTURE 10
ARTICLE READING
What is the role of context in architecture today? Is context predominantly a physical, social, economic, or political issue; some combination of these; or something else?
Context is a way of telling stories of a building, it’s like the building was born on the particular place. With the
strong background of the context, a building can show more site friendly and be able to blend in with the
community and the activities there. Form follows function or funcion follow form is old school, because these
concept always restricting our design thinking and development. I was inspired by a quote from Bjarke Ingels’ talk,“If documentary is to document our world that’s already is, then fiction is to fantasized about how it could be.
Architecture is the fiction of the real world, turning dreams into concrete reality. Architecture is the canvas for the
story of our lives.” Instead of form follows function, applying form follows fiction in our design, we could think of
architecture and building as a space of stories, stories of the people that lived there. A building with strong contextis special, because they are irreplaceable and belongs to the people from the place.
VENA CAVA WINERY
The Vena Cava Winery by TAC Taller de Arquitectura Contextual is located in the most important wine region in
Mexico. It is a valley perpendicular to the sea, prevailing winds of Marian Humboldt current, surrounded by works with the landscape, using waste to mimic the building with the environment. This did pose a way to bring the sea
to the valley, the culture of the border, "Yonke culture" in which garbage and other wastes are combined with thelandscape, to people in the community there is no difference between the Garbage and the natural
environment, the two are in the collective memory.
The stars are infallible reference elements for the location work with the landscape by what comes of it, each
element of the plan referred to an emergency in the landscape, the architects seek the location but also
functionality, access to the site, winds, crops and equipment, dictating that the location was in a small mountain
to serve as a landmark in the landscape. To control the temperature, insulate the building with the earth of the
place, for which they use the rough cuts, leaving the soil bare and working only the floors and ceilings, which are made with boats discarded by the port to be used Domes as canon, in the style of the ancient builders who built boats like churches.
Another work by TAC Taller de Arquitectura Contextual, Casa Tabique is a building that is built with the historical background and the surrounding context. Since the eighteenth century, the urban layout of La Paz remains
constant. Currently, it is a space that still retains a significant portion of its historic buildings. In this project resulted
critical materials such as annealed red brick, and the proportions of the spaces. The partition, particularly red,
served as a binder and unique theme typological unit. It was the type of partition respect the historic building, but inserting elements of contemporary design and local materials.
The result of the strict combination of materials, with proper use, both in proportion and expression, resulting in
this creative exercise a plastic travel between the different textures and shapes, enriched by aesthetic rigidity as based on color a dialogue that travels in time, upsetting the different elements of memory. There is a pool
emerging from the garden floor as sculptural remnant, evoking the ancient troughs of the services of the houses
of the period .
CASA TABIQUE
