AR1AR010 - Methodologies of Architectural reuse
Exercise week 1.7 - Essay
Reflections in an essay, about the scientific context of the lecture series in maximum of 400 words. Use one main theme from the lectures.
Congruence needs Contrast, and vice versa
Notes: 1: Jo Coenen, The art of blending, Delft 2006.
On September 20, The lecture was about ‘congruence’. Congruence is the state of being alike, or having the same size and shape as each other. In architecture, this theme is frequently used for new buildings in a historic context. ®MIT-professor Jo Coenen mentioned the comparable theme ‘appropriateness’ in his inaugural lecture.1 Another widespread theme for designing in historic surroundings is ‘contrast’, discussed on September 13. Creating a contrasting new building next to historic buildings can emphasize the beauty of the history. At first view, there is a tension between both concepts. But, is this reality? Does both themes exclude each other? Or is it also possible to combine them? Why are congruence and contrast useful means in architecture and when did they fail? By using Coenen’s text and pictures in his book I will investigate these themes. In the lecture about congruence, Lidy Meijers mentioned a project by Herman Zeinstra. Jo Coenen also placed a picture of that project in the printed version of his inaugural lecture. In 1975, Herman Zeinstra built a house in the canal zone of Amsterdam, using the facade rhythm of historic canal houses. Using the same rhythm is an example of congruence. When I cycle along the road, the building is not striking. Only by conscious observation I will discover the differences between the adjacent buildings. When I look better, I detect this is also contrast: Zeinstra used contrasting materials like concrete and steel, in stead of traditional masonry. This explains the term congruence, because it is not a copy of the history, but a subtle reference to the historic architectural language. So congruence includes agreements as well as contrast with the historic context.
Right: Congruency facades with new building, Amsterdam, Herman Zeilstra. Below: Contrasting volume, Carré d’Art, Nîmes, Norman Foster.
Another picture in Coenen’s book shows a project of Norman Foster: the Carré d’Art in Nîmes. In this French city, the previous theatre burned down in 1953. The empty space is filled in by Foster with a new volume, with contrasting materials. Everything around the building is built in ancient times and is made of brick and red tiles. Foster’s building is made of glass, steel and concrete. This is an example of contrast. But again there is congruence. The materials are contrasting, such as the house of Herman Zeinstra, but the fitting in the context follows historic contours. The surroundings are mostly original building blocks. Fosters’ new building forms a new, appropriate, block. Again, we see that contrast does not work without congruence, and vice versa. In my opinion, the themes ‘congruence’ and ‘contrast’ are not monochrome. Both concepts have many aspects. Both concepts are in that way the same. A total contrasting building, on every scale-level, will not fit in its context. Some of the scale-levels should show congruence to create a link between the building and its surroundings. A building with the predicate ‘congruent’ should have contrasts on some scale-levels, otherwise it is a copy of the existing context.
Name student: Eelko Kroon
Student number: 1303031