URBAN CONTEXTUALISM: CAN THE EXISTING SITE BE USED AS A MECHANISM TO GENERATE A NEW SPATIAL CONDITION?
NORTH FACADE
WHY HAS THE RELATION BETWEEN ARCHITECTURE AND CONTEXT BEEN SO ANTAGONISTIC?
NORTH FACADE
ECONOMICAL
ENVIRONMENTAL
SITE
POLITICAL
BEHAVIOURAL
SOCIAL
HISTORICAL
CULTURAL CONTEXT BUBBLE
Architecture: Commodity, Firmness, and Delight
Hirarchy is formed between Architecture and Context
Architecture is oppressing Context
Context: Healthy Site suitable as a Platform
Vitruvius’s De Architectura (10 Books on Architecture)
PRE-HISTORIC
GREEK
ROMAN
MEDIEVAL / GOTHIC
TRUTH
ORDER
ISOLATION
SYMBOLISM
RENAISSANCE / BAROQUE
MODERNISM
POST-MODERNISM
CONTEMPORARY
ABSTRACTION
RULES
DECONSTRUCT
NARRATIVE
ARCHITECTURE MOVING AWAY FROM CONTEXT
Le Corbusier: Towards a New Architecture, 1923
Rem Koolhaas: “Bigness or the Problem of Large” 1995
Pier Vittorio Aureli: The Possibility of an Absolute Architecture, 2011
ARCHITECTURE
ARCHITECTURE
ARCHITECTURE
CONTEXT
“A building is like a soap-bubble. This is perfect and harmonious if the breath has been evenly distributed and regulated from the inside. The exterior is the result of an interior.”
CONTEXT
“Fuck Context” & “Architecture through its independence from context … does not take its inspiration from givens too often squeezed for the last drop of meaning but instead its own raison d’etre.”
CONTEXT
“Absolute Architecture. The very condition of architectural form is to separate and be separated.”
BIGNESS IN PHYSICAL CONTEXT
1. PILOTIS SEPARATE ARCHITECTURE FROM THE LANDSCAPE
2. OPEN PLAN NON-CONTEXTUAL FLOOR
BIGNESS IN SYSTEMATIC CONTEXT
3. FREE FACADE SEPARATE OUTDOOR TO INDOOR
4. HORIZONTAL WINDOW INCONSIDERATE SURROUNDINGS
5. ROOFTOP LANDSCAPE NON-CONTEXTUAL VEGETATION
‘FIVE POINTS OF ARCHITECTURE’ LE CORBUSIER’S RULE OVER CONTEXT
BIGNESS IN SOCIAL CONTEXT
‘BIGNESS’ KOOLHAAS CAN CREATE HIS OWN CONTEXT
‘A SIMPLE HEART’ AURELI’S CITY IS SEGREGATED FROM THE CONTEXT
LE CORBUSIER
REM KOOLHAAS
PIER VITTORIO AURELI
ARCHITECTURE
ARCHITECTURE
ARCHITECTURE
CONTEXT
CONTEXT
CONTEXT
ISOLATION WAS NECESSARY TO PROPEL ARCHITECTURE FORWARD
NEWCASTLE BYKER WALL
KUNSTAUS
FORMAL REPRESENTATION AS CONTEXUALISM INCREASING ANTAGONISTIC RELATION BETWEEN ARCHITECTURE AND CONTEXT
Le Corbusier’s bubble conundrum The bubble has a short lifespan. Even when floating in space, it is subject to several external deformative forces. Eventually, the bubble encounters an object and bursts. For the bubble, an encounter with a deformation by the context is inevitable.
Rem Koolhaas’s “Fundamentals” “Fundamentals”, theme of the 2014 Venice Architectural Biennial, tackles the current “process of the erasure of national characterises in favour for the almost universal adoption of a single modern language in a single repertoire of typologies.”
CONTEXT IN OTHER PROFESSIONS
JOSHUA REYNOLDS
PABLO PICASSO
PAINTER
ASGER JORN
FLIEGENDE BLATTER
WILLIAM GILPIN
HORST DE LA CROIX JAMES S. AKERMAN
FUNCTIONALIST
LEOPOLD EIDLITZ
STAN ALLEN ANTHONY VIDLER
REM KOOLHAAS
JOHN MCHALE
ECO-ARCHI
IAN MCHARG
MARC-ANTONIE LAUGIER
NEO-CLASSICAL
VITRUVIUS
ROMAN
JOHN MACARTHUR
KENNETH FRAMPTON VAL WARKE COLIN ROWE ALEX TZONIS & LIANE LEFAIVRE CIAM STEWARD COHEN & STEVEN HURTT ROBERT E. SOMOL MARK WIGLEY EMIL KAUFMANN JEFFREY KIPNIS PETER EISENMAN
CONTEXTUALISM
LEON BATTISTA ALBERTI
PICTURESQUE
NIKOLAUS PEVSNER
AUGUSTE CHOISY
PARAMETRIC GEORGE HERSEY RUDOLF WITTKOWER
ART
HENRY R. HITCHCOCK
GREG LYNN
& RICHARD FREEDMAN
& PHILIP JOHNSON & DENISE SCOTT BROWN
ROBERT VENTURI
PIER VITTORIO AURELI
MODERNISM POST-MODERN
CONTEMPORARY
GIULIO CARLO ARGAN
GREG LYNN ATELIER BOW-WOW OMA ARM SMAQ DANIEL LIBESKIND KENGO KUMA ZAHA HADID FRANK GEHRY PETER EISENMAN CODA
FRANCESCO DI GIORGIO MARTINI
RENAISSANCE
ANDREA PALLADIO
NORMAN FOSTER RICHARD ROGERS PETER COOK & COLIN FOURNIER JAMES STIRLING
LE CORBUSIER
MODERNISM
VAN DEN BROEK & BAKEMA MATHERS & HALDENBY
NEW BRUTALISM
JOHN CARL WARNEKE ALISON & PETER SMITHSON
GERMAIN BOFFRAND
JACQUES MOLINOS
ITALIAN RETREAT FROM MODERNISM
ALDO ROSSI ERNESTO N. ROGERS BITTORIO GREGOTTI BBPR MARCO FRASCARI MASSIMO SCOLARI
CLAUDE NICOLAS LEDOUX
FRENCH NEO-CLASSICAL SURVEYOR
DEVELOPER
USSR
JOHN RANDEL JR.
NAKHEEL
SERGEI EISENTEIN LEV KULESHOV
SCIENCE SOCIOLOGY
THE WHITE HOUSE CHATEAU DE RASTIGNAC
OBJECTS
VSEVOLOD PUDOVKIN
STATUE OF LIBERTY
EDAR RUBIN
KURT KOFFKA
PHILOSOPHY
MARCUS AURELIUS
PIERRE BOAISTUAU
FRANCIS BACON
IMMANUEL KANT
KARL ROSENKRAZ
ESSAYIST
MICHEL DE CERTEAU
PAUL RICOEUR EDMOND WRIGHT
ARTHUR SCHOPENHAUER SIR WILLIAM TEMPLE
J. J. GIBSON
PHYCOLOGIST KURRT LEWIN
PLATO
USA
MARK COUSINS
PETER R. BANHAM
SIR UVEDALE PRICE
UMBERTO ECO
GEOGRAPHY
DENIS COSGROVE ROMAN JAKOBSON
LINGUIST
NOAM CHOMSKY ADRIAN FORTY
HISTORIAN
ECOLOGY JAKOB VON UESKULL CHARLES DARWIN
D ’ARCY THOMPSON
ANTHROPOLOGY
TIM INGOLD
GREGORY BATESON CARL BERGMANN
JOSEPH GRINNELL WILLIAM BATESON
GEORGES-LOUIS LECLERIC, COMTE DE BUFFON CARL LINNAEUS
NATURALIST
1400s
1500s RENAISSANCE
1600s BAROQUE
1700s NEO-CLASSIC
BIOLOGIST JEAN BAPTISTE LAMARCK
JOEL A. ALLEN
BC
RICHARD GOLDSCHMIDT
1800s ROMANTISM
ZOOLOGY
1900s MODERNISM
G. EVELYN HUTCHINSON
2000s POST MODERNISM
Rem Koolhaas
Noam Chomsky
Venturi & Brown
Peter Eisenman
James Deetz
Tim Ingold
J. J. Gibson
Pier Vittorio Aureli
Francesco de Marchi
Marcus Aurelius
Jacques Molinos
Edmond Wright
Picasso
D’Arcy Thompson
The White House
Le Corbusier
New Brutalism
Italian Retreat
Colin Rowe
Nikolaus Pevsner
Lev Kuleshov
International Style
Laugier
Alberti
Claude Nicolas Ledoux
Kenneth Frampton
Carl Bergmann
Jakob von Uexkull
CONTEXT NEGLECTION
MONUMENTALISM
CONTEXT DECOMPOSE
FORMAL REPRESENTATION
CONTEXUTAL RESPONSE
PERFORMATIVE
GENERATIVE
REM KOOLHAAS’S ‘FUCK CONTEXT’
GREGORY BATESON’S NO MEANING WITHOUT CONTEXT
Rem Koolhaas
Noam Chomsky
Venturi & Brown
Peter Eisenman
James Deetz
Tim Ingold
J. J. Gibson
Pier Vittorio Aureli
Francesco de Marchi
Marcus Aurelius
Jacques Molinos
Edmond Wright
Picasso
D’Arcy Thompson
The White House
Le Corbusier
New Brutalism
Italian Retreat
Colin Rowe
Nikolaus Pevsner
Lev Kuleshov
International Style
Laugier
Alberti
Claude Nicolas Ledoux
Kenneth Frampton
Carl Bergmann
Jakob von Uexkull
CONTEXT NEGLECTION
MONUMENTALISM
CONTEXT DECOMPOSE
FORMAL REPRESENTATION
CONTEXUTAL RESPONSE
PERFORMATIVE
GENERATIVE
ARCHITECTURE
Architects Artists Scientists Sociologists
ART & SCIENCE & SOCIOLOGY
Rem Koolhaas
Noam Chomsky
Venturi & Brown
Peter Eisenman
James Deetz
Tim Ingold
J. J. Gibson
Pier Vittorio Aureli
Francesco de Marchi
Marcus Aurelius
Jacques Molinos
Edmond Wright
Picasso
D’Arcy Thompson
The White House
Le Corbusier
New Brutalism
Italian Retreat
Colin Rowe
Nikolaus Pevsner
Lev Kuleshov
International Style
Laugier
Alberti
Claude Nicolas Ledoux
Kenneth Frampton
Carl Bergmann
Jakob von Uexkull
CONTEXT NEGLECTION
MONUMENTALISM
CONTEXT DECOMPOSE
FORMAL REPRESENTATION
CONTEXUTAL RESPONSE
PERFORMATIVE
GENERATIVE
ARCHITECTURE
Architects Artists Scientists Sociologists
ART & SCIENCE & SOCIOLOGY
JAKOB VON UEXKULL
D’ARCY THOMPSON
LEV KULESHOV
J. J. GIBSON
NIKOLAUS PEVSNER
[UMWELT]
[ON GROWTH AND FORM]
[KULESHOV EFFECT]
[AFFORDANCE]
[FUNCTIONAL PICTURESQUE]
ON: ABSTRACT CONTEXT
SKY
SKY
EARTH
EARTH
SKY
SKY
EARTH
EARTH
IN: REALITY CONTEXT
TIM INGOLD’S SUMMARY
Tim Ingold, Being Alive: Essays on Movement, Knowledge and Description (New York: Routledge, 2011).
URBAN AMENITIES’ BEHAVIOURAL ANALYSIS
AMENITIY AND ARCHITECTURE
BEHAVIOURAL ARCHITECTURE
AMENITY ON ARCHITECTURE
ATTRACTING NODE: COFFEE CART, KIOSK, URBAN FURNITURE
THRESHOLD: BUS STOP, BIKE PARKING
ACTIVE: WATER FOUNTAIN, PLAYGROUND
REPELLING DEVICE: RUBBISH BIN
MANIPUALTE CIRCULATION: LIGHT POLE
PIT STOP: PUBLIC TOILET
BEHAVIOURAL MANIPULATION
KANGAN INSTITUTE UPGRADE:
KELSO ST
Kangan Institute, Cremorne Campus KANGAN INSTITUT E GWYNNE
ST
CUBITT S T
T
DOVER S
NE ST
CREMOR
AD
PUNT RO
GOSCHS PADDOCK
Kangan Institute, Existing Condition
Urban Contextualism - Cover
Urban Contextualism - Ground Plane
Urban Contextualism - Secondary plane
4 3
WORKSHOP
4 2
2
LIBRARY
1
ENCLOSED AMPHITHEATRE
3 1
Urban Contextualism - Programs
FABRICATION LAB
JAKOB VON UEXKULL
D’ARCY THOMPSON
LEV KULESHOV
J. J. GIBSON
NIKOLAUS PEVSNER
[UMWELT]
[ON GROWTH AND FORM]
[KULESHOV EFFECT]
[AFFORDANCE]
[FUNCTIONAL PICTURESQUE]
HABITAT’S EFFECT IN FISH’S EVOLUTION
APARTMENT HABITAT
CONTEXT
Argyopelecus Olifersi Silver Hatchetfish
Sternoptyx Diaphana Oblique Hatchet-fish
FLOORPLATE: INFRASTRUCTURE
Scarus sp Parrotfish DEFORMATION: CONTEXTUALISM
Sternoptyx Diaphana Sixband Angelfish
D’ARCY THOMPSON’S ADAPTATION
APARTMENT: EVOLUTION
D’ARCY THOMPSON’S ADAPTATION
RICH INFORMATION IS GENERATED BY EDITING
SPACE IN BETWEEN PROGRAM IS MONTAGE
ON
OFFICE
E TAG
MO NT A
M
GE
MONTAGE
HUNGER
HYBRIDISATION IS CONTEXTUALISM
SADNESS
MARKET
RESIDENTIAL
LANDSCAPE
LUST RESIDENTIAL
MO
NTAGE
LEISURE
LEV KULESHOV’S KULESHOV EFFECT
MARKTHAL ROTTERDAM
MONTAGE
RESIDENTIAL
MORIYAMA HOUSE
LEV KULESHOV’S KULESHOV EFFECT
SAME PHYSICAL WORLD, DIFFERENT PERCEPTION
RESIDENTIAL HOUSE’S UMWELTS
RE-CONTEXTUALISE COURT HOUSE
JU
DG
office cubicles
attached rooms
RY
JU
E
RT U O
C
LL
high wall
CE
RESIDENTIAL HOUSE enclosure
CONVENTIONAL THE REAL ENVIRONMENT
CHILD’S UMWELT
PARENT’S UMWELT
DOG’S UMWELT separate buildings
JU
JU
D
D
Y UR
porous view
J
CO
T UR
low wall
open
BEE’S UMWELT
JAKOB VON UEXKULL’S UMWELT
UMWELT HOUSE
UMWELT
D
JU
D
L
L CE
JU
JAKOB VON UEXKULL’S UMWELT
QUESTIONING FURNITURE
PRECEDENT: RAAAF’S THE END OF SITTING
J. J. GIBSON’S AFFORANCE
QUESTIONING SITTING
CHAIR
=
BEANBAG
=
IDENTITY OF HOUSE / OFFICE
AMPHITHEATRE
HOUSE’S AFFORDANCE
OFFICE’S AFFORDANCE
J. J. GIBSON’S AFFORANCE
ARCHITECTURAL PICTURESQUE
PRECEDENT: TINTERN ABBY PICTURESQUE
NIKOLAUS PEVSNER’S FUNCTIONAL PICTURESQUE
CONTRASTING IDEA OF DESIGN
PRECEDENT: CHAMP DE REPOS
FUNCTIONALISM EMBEDDED INTO PICTURESQUE
NIKOLAUS PEVSNER’S FUNCTIONAL PICTURESQUE
JAKOB VON UEXKULL
Umwelt: bees’ perception of the world is based on its purpose (behaviour) towards the world (existing condition)
D’ARCY THOMPSON
LEV KULESHOV
J. J. GIBSON
NIKOLAUS PEVSNER
On Growth and Form: the optimal-form (existing condition) of the fish is manipulated by its interaction (behaviour) with the habitat
Kuleshov Effect: series of clips (existing condition) are montaged (behaviour) to generate director’s intension
Affordance: inanimate object’s purpose is generated by the organism’s usage (behaviour) of its form (existing condition)
Functional Picturesque: agitating (behaviour) the functionalist’s idea (existing condition) generates picturesque
ATTRACTOR
HA-HA
ACTIVE
PITSTOP
BLURRING
THRESHOLD
SPATIAL CONDITION: ATTRACTOR
SPATIAL CONDITION: HA-HA
SPATIAL CONDITION: ACTIVE
SPATIAL CONDITION: PITSTOP
SPATIAL CONDITION: BLURRING BOUNDARY
SPATIAL CONDITION: THRESHOLD
SECTION: FABRICATION LAB
SECTION: CAFETERIA / LIBRARY
SECTION: ENCLOSED AMPHITHEATRE WORKSHOP
URBAN CONTEXTUALISM