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 are now become one of the main inspiration for architects to generate idea. The contexts are influencing the traditional and contemporary architecture design. With good understanding of site, architects will be able to produce unique design while maintaining maximum efficiency.
Thus, it also resolve the architecture style, building material selection and site layout, which also one of a very considerable in creating an effective design. Unlike any other architectural style, contextual architecture can be seen as a set of values which help distinguish the architectural work. The building must be responsible to human and design from its context, means to design the right building in the right place. All these promote continuity between the building and local circumstances.
Context is the theory of how environmental design and planning of new development should relate to its project. Context in architecture means external element that influence an object or a building, it includes physical context and non-physical context. Roads,buildings, land and contour are examples for physical elements while non physical elements are weather condition ,local culture, economical constrain.
To my mind , i think that context is predominately combination of social and economical issues. Non physical issues is now slowly overtaking the site consideration in architecture. For instance, economical factor gives huge impact to building design. With given budget and limited technology, building tend to end up with clean and simple form.
In today architecture, context plays a very important part of the design process. For me, i think it work as a bondage between building and it’s surrounding. Imagine a building without site context elements, the building will become meaningless yet disrespectful to its surrounding.
South Tenerife Convention Center by Felipe Artengo. The building site has difficult environment due to the proximity of the South Tenerife motorway. The only reference points in the surrounding area are the rocky, semi-desert landscape and the sea, its imposing presence framing the building with a constant vision of La Gomera Island in the background.
Architect Felipe response to this situation with appreciating the landscape, which they extend with emerging geometric rocks that house the programme functions. These fault lines are arranged to encourage the flow of the roof, which they imagine as a liquid in movement that outlines the space in every direction. The liquid splits and multiplies, producing cracks of light and ventilation that intensify the sensation of lightness on the undulating surface.
The inspiration of building form are taken from the surrounding which is the shape of contour in site and the wave of sea. The form of the house and the metallic roof produces a calculated aesthetic ambiguity between the natural and the artificial, between the skin of a dragon set in the ground, when seen from below, and the waves of the sea, when seen from above.
In a nutshell, any site, location or a place includes number of natural features that characterize it and create the context of the place. Site analysis practice have to be taken seriously to ensure that the building is representing or blended in the surrounding or environment, or else it’s just a meaningless structure that can be placed at any corner in the word.
The House on the Cliff by GilBartolome Architects. It has a difficult plot on a hill with an inclination of 42 degrees, in front of the Mediterranean Sea with breathtaking views. The building were designed within the magnificent landscape surrounds it and direct facing towards the sea. It has also been about working with an extremely tight budget, a complex site. The construction of the House on the Cliff relies heavily on craftsmanship and local labor. The house was to be built during the worst possible financial crisis on Spain.
SOUTH TENERIFE CONVENTION CENTER
THE HOUSE ON THE CLIFF
CONCLUSION